Desmond chuckled, taking a seat on the long couch. He patted the cushion next to him, and I sat down on the opposite end, giving us plenty of space.
“I have it recorded,” he said. “Would you like to see the video?”
A cold sweat surfaced on my skin. “I’ll pass.”
“What’s bothering you, then?”
I pulled the card out of my pocket and unfolded it:We know what you did.
“Someone left this on my husband’s desk,” I said. I handed it to him, and he studied the note. “Was it you?”
“What reason would I have to leave a note like this?”
“I don’t know.” I lifted my shoulders. “To mess with me?”
A smile stretched across his lips, then faded away. “True. But no, I won’t take credit for it.”
I rubbed my forehead, then squeezed the back of my neck, trying to make sense of it all. “I have no idea if they left it for me or John. All I know is that it wasn’t there yesterday and it’s here today.”
“Your house staff resumed work recently.”
My hands twitched in my lap, the nerves getting to me. Desmond’s gaze heated me, his dark eyes calm and penetrating.
“I will have one of my researchers do background checks on each of them,” he said.
Relief swelled through me. And it shouldn’t have. I had no reason to trust Desmondorhis researcher, but it felt better knowing that there was someone there with me, that I wasn’t doing this alone. I gave Desmond their names and he shifted forward, resting his hands on his knees.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said, his voice so confident that it irritated me. I leaned away from him.
“You’re blackmailing me,” I whispered. “That’s not protecting me.”
“In a way, it is. You’re not being prosecuted, and you owe that to me.”
A flush crept over my skin. He was right. And I hated that. Because if it wasn’t for him, I wasn’t surewhereI would be. And Iwantedto believe him. I wanted to believe that he could protect me. But I had been let down again, and again.
“I don’t understandwhyyou want to protect me,” I muttered. “Maybe you want to hurt me.”
“Why would I hurt you when you haven’t fulfilled your end of the bargain?” Finally, I lifted my eyes to his, and he gleamed at me, completely rapt. “You are my sacrifice, Lena. Don’t forget it.”
Masked strangers filled my mind. He was using me like John and Aaron had. But I had to give him credit for being honest.
“Some lousy bargain,” I muttered.
“But I won’t let anyone hurt my assets.”
He stood up from the couch, coming toward me. My chest tightened and I fiddled with my hands. I folded my fingers together, trying to occupy myself. My skin flushed with heat.
“Look at me, Lena,” he said.
His dark eyes were haunting, seeing through my fears and worries, down to that incessant need that lurked within me. Consuming me. Making me think of him all the time.
The note had made me stop thinking about Desmond like that, but all he had to do was come closer to me, filling my nose with his spicy, musky scent, and in my mind, I was back on my knees before him. He gestured at the open door, to the bathroom across the hallway.
“You’re going to go into the bathroom. You’re going to insert the toy. And when you’re done, you’re going to kneel naked on the floor of my office, in front of me.”
My entire body flamed at those words, my breath catching in my throat. A hint of a smile puckered his lips.
“What if your estate manager sees me?” I asked.
