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“AH, YOU’VE FINALLY decided to join us.”
The impeccably dressed man I’d seen speaking to Henri while I broke up with Sam grinned and raised a goblet full of amber liquor. He leaned nonchalantly against a private bar, his lips quirked into a smile that made my stomach tangle with nerves.
“Roland and I had a bet that you’d tucked tail and ran.” He sipped his drink as Henri pulled me over the threshold and closed the thick door behind us. Immediately, the racket of the night-club faded, leaving only the heavy thud of bass.
Henri didn’t speak as he tugged his fingers from mine and strode forward, shaking out his hand as if I’d contaminated him.
What the hell?
He’d offered me a million euros to most-likely sleep with me, yet he acted as if holding my hand was the worst thing imaginable.
Not what I expected at all.
What’s going on?
I froze by the door, blinking at the strange space.
Why had he brought me here? A place with company, not privacy.
I bit the inside of my cheek as Henri threw me a glower and stalked toward the other men. His suit glimmered with wealth and perfection as he crossed the room, his image bouncing from every direction thanks to the mirror-covered walls.
So many mirrors.
I frowned as my image reflected over and over again.
My rose-gold skirt, navy top, and silver boots looked utterly cheap compared to the three expensively dressed men. My black hair seemed to suck the light from the room, and my mascara-lashed, distrusting gaze gave the terrifying impression of a rabbit. A wide-eyed rabbit that couldn’t quite believe it’d agreed to hop into the fox den, all because the fox dangled a carrot worth a million euros in front of it.
What a stupid rabbit.
God, what was I thinking?
My heart rate picked up as I dropped my stare. Thick, ruby-red carpet covered the floor, doing its best to swallow up my boots and climb my legs as if I waded through a lake of blood.
Terror darted down my spine. All the false bravado I’d wrapped around myself shredded like a flimsy coat as I glanced back up.
Henri refused to look at me.
I’d agreed to follow him because I was pissed off and hurt and burning with recklessness. I had nowhere else to go. Nowhere to stay. No one to turn to for help. The idea of going to the train station at one in the morning and sitting alone, vulnerable and rejected on a cold bench had paled in comparison to staying in Henri’s orbit for a little longer.
There was something about him.
Something that drew me in, despite his prickly, unreadable strangeness.
And to be honest…the tiniest part of me thrilled that a man who looked like Henri wanted me enough to pay for my company. Any other day, I would’ve slapped him the moment he propositioned me. Any other night, I would’ve run in the opposite direction.
But tonight…well…
There’d been something.
And now…there was fear.
Those darts of terror turned into daggers of panic as I made eye contact with the eldest man. He lowered his glass and licked his bottom lip. His dark blue gaze drifted over me from head to toe. The way he studied me was approving but also clinical, almost as if he saw me as stock to buy or a painting to invest in.
My skin crawled as he smiled. “Hello.”
I locked down every atom suddenly straining to run. Social niceties almost bent me into saying hello back, but then I glanced at Henri and choked on every wrong thing I’d just agreed to.
He stood with his hands balled and jaw clenched. Grey eyes churned with vicious storms, and his entire body bristled with…fury? Despair? Hunger? I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t tell because I didn’t know him and this was all a very, very bad idea.
