He doesn’t hold back. “I can’t make any statements about the depth of your knowledge–your education is not my concern. ButImake it a point to know the names of powerful families. I don’t know yours.”
Oh?I mentally purr.Tell me how scary and fucking crazy you are.Out loud, I say, “We keep to ourselves. Real shy, us Claremonts.”
Yeah, we are still shaking hands. He’s got surprisingly big hands.
Strong, firm.
Choke me, holy fuck.
Thank god my dick doesn’t get hard most of the time, or I’d be really embarrassed right now.
“I think you misunderstand,” he squeezes a little harder. “I didn’t say I know the families that seek my attention. I said I know the families who have wealth and power. Whether they know me or not, I know them.”
“I–” Lexie tries to get a word in.
“Good for you,” I say, infusing my tone with saccharine praise, like I’m talking to a puppy. “That must be such hard work.”
Yeah, I’m a brat. I know it, and I don’t give a fuck.
He raises a brow for a nanosecond, finally giving me a micro expression to work with. He’s annoyed, maybe. Or unimpressed, at the very least. There is a twitch at the corner of his mouth and I can tell he thinks I’m an asshole.Well, that makes both of us, baby.
We finally let go of each other’s hands. He wipes his on his jacket without even trying to be subtle about it.
“I’ll leave you to your friends,” he says to Kira, who is watching us with huge owl eyes of trepidation and surprise. “I don’t want to get in the way. I simply wanted to say goodnight and let you know I was here.”
“You won’t have dinner with us?” she asks, and I see the way her face falls. Despite her complaints about her uncle being overbearing or overprotective, she cares about him. It makes me refocus on him, reevaluate him. Because if Kira–an anxiousmess–likes him and wants him around, he must have a gentle side to him that he saves for her. Maybe he’s not a total asshole, then.
“Unfortunately, I’m on a working vacation, so I have some calls I need to take,” he says, patting her head like she’s a pet he’s fond of but isn’t comfortable with. She takes the weird affection without flinching or making a face, so I can only assume it’s a common thing for him to do.
“Will you stay the whole week?” Kira asks hopefully, her fingers squeezing mine as she waits for the answer.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Young-gi confirms, giving a single sharp nod. And then he looks at me. “I’ll be keeping an eye on things here.”
Oooooh, a threat, so sexy. I want to smirk at him, but I decide to act stupid and stare at him blankly like I have no idea that he means me.
“Kira, come on!” Lexie calls from the hallway. “We’re going to make everyone wait on us!”
Kira immediately grabs my hand and drags me down the hall away from Young-gi, who sighs at our departing backs as we race to catch up with the rest of the group for dinner.
****************
Young-gi
I watch my niece and her new boyfriend leave the parlor, narrowing my eyes at their joined hands, unsure if I approve of him.
Tommy Claremont.I’ll look into him.
He seems…off. I can’t put my finger on it. Something just isn’t adding up there.
I glance at the poker table he’d been sitting at with those three other young men. Gambling isn’t a great sign of his character,and he seems to be shit at it. I didn’t even need to see his face to read his thoughts. His body language and tone made it clear he had a weak hand and no strategy.
I’m about to spin on my heel and join Yosef in my home office, but I hesitate.
I don’t like underestimating people. I try to make sure it never happens.
So, moving quickly, I go to the table and flip over his cards to see what he had.
A king, and a three.
