His jaw tightens. “That was Kolya Sokolov. He needed to see you as staff, nothing more. If he’d thought that you were important to me?—”
“I’m not important to you.”
“—he would’ve used it against me,” he finishes, his tone clipped. “So yes, I dismissed you. Because keeping you safe is more important than protecting your feelings.”
I open my mouth, then close it. What the hell is he talking about? Keeping me safe?
Before I can think too much about it, he takes a step closer.
“The event tonight is different. It’s neutral ground. Public. I need you there.”
“Why?”
“Because showing up alone sends a message that I don’t want to send. A man who shows up alone to such an event says that he doesn’t care about women. That he has bigger things on his mind, dangerous things.”
“Then take one of the other girls here. Hell, I’m sure you’ve got a little black book or something in your office full of women who you could get here on a moment’s notice. Or call Amanda.”
He narrows his eyes, shakes his head.
“I don’t want any of them. I want you.”
Another step closer.
“There’s another message that I want to send tonight, a more important one.”
“Which is?”
“That you’re mine.”
There it is again, that word—mine.
The last time I was in this room with him, it felt good, like an admission, a bond.
Right now, I don’t know what it feels like.
“I don’t have anything to wear.”
“What about the closet upstairs?” he asks, “in your room. There are plenty of clothes in there. I told Lara to make sure of it.”
“There are clothes, yeah. Casual stuff. Nothing appropriate for a black-tie event.”
As soon as I speak the words, another question comes to mind—why the hell did he have that closet filled with clothes in my size? Was he expecting me? I push the thought out of my head.
Gabriel studies me for a long moment. Then he moves to his desk, picks up his phone, and makes a call.
“Lara,” he says. “I need a favor.”
I can hear her voice on the other end, bright and curious.
“Thea needs a gown. Something elegant. Black tie. Tonight.”
They chat for a moment, Gabriel sharing my size.
How does he know?
Gabriel flicks his eyes to mine for a flash of a second.
“She’ll cooperate. Be here as soon as you can.”
