Page 62 of No One’s Daughter

​Ailsa sat curled into the worn armchair by the window, one leg tucked beneath her, a book in her hands—the one that Marlette had insisted on sending over with the files. Something to ‘keep her occupied’.

​She looked so… normal.

​My grip tightened around my pen.

​Why did it feel like everything was tied to her?

​What if they’d been tracking her? Not me… but her?

​Valerius hadn’t made much sense that day in his office.

​And this thing too… was it looking for her?

​A quiet voice broke my thoughts. "I'm going for a shower.”

​It took me a minute to register her words. “Don’t take too long,” I said finally, my voice absent as my attention drifted back to the files.

​I faintly heard the soft rustling of falling clothing, and that’s when I realised she hadn’t closed the door to the bathroom.

​I knew I shouldn't have, but I turned my head just slightly, catching sight of her. My gaze snagged on a rather interesting looking tattoo on the back of her calf. I wanted to ask about it, know its story. And before I could stop myself, my eyes travelled the path from her calves up her deliciously soft looking thighs and higher still to the black material in the space between her thighs.

​Fucking hell.

I looked away sharply, swallowing down the dryness in my mouth.

Why did I have to be so infatuated with her—her of all women.

Her blood was long out of my system now, so I couldn’t blame it on that.

This woman I knew I could never have.

I was already risking everything as it was, I didn’t need to add my heart to that.

Still, my eyes found her again, only this time she was pulling her t-shirt over her head, and fuck my life because she wasn’t wearing anything beneath it.

“Stop gawking would you?” She said without turning to face me. How the hell did she even know I was looking? “You’re acting like you’ve never seen a woman.”

Was she doing this deliberately?

Trying to fuck with me?

I cleared my throat, looking down at the papers in front of me once more. “I wasn’t.”

And I knew as soon as I said the words that I’d fucked up.

She’d baited me and I, like the fool I was, fell straight for it.

She chuckled under her breath, the sound far too fucking seductive. I shifted in my seat, spreading my legs further. “Maybe close the door then.”

She turned around and I practically bolted from the chair to face the opposite direction. I did not need to get a good eyeful of her tits. The mere flash of bare skin I’d just seen had been enough.

How far was she going to take this?

What was her end game?

“If I make you uncomfortable, maybe you could consider a hideout with separate bedrooms for us…”

And there it was. She was doing it deliberately.