Page 21 of The Billionaire's Vow

And now, he wanted to know everything about it.

“Wait,” Giselle gasped, eyes widening, but Dimitri lifted a hand, a silent command for the waiter to continue on his way.The man disappeared without hesitation, leaving Giselle flustered and scrambling to protest.“Sir, the steak—it’s too expensive!I’ll just have the chicken.Or a side salad.”She glanced at the quickly retreating waiter.“That’s not too much.”

A hint of a smile flickered across Dimitri’s face.“You want the steak,” he stated, his voice firm.“I saw you licking your lips as you read the description.”

Her cheeks turned pink, and she straightened, clearly affronted.“I wasnotlicking my lips!”she came back with a scowl.

He arched a brow.“You were.”

Giselle huffed slightly, and again looked around for the waiter.When she didn’t find him, she leaned forward.“But it’s too expensive,” she whispered, glancing around like someone might overhear her scandalous concern.“I can’t afford it.”

Dimitri’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table.He felt a sharp stab of irritation—not at her, but at the fact that she had even considered needing to pay in the first place.Had no one ever taken her out to dinner and paid for her meal?Was she so used to counting every penny that the idea of ordering what she actually wanted was unthinkable?

“You will never pay when you are out with me, Giselle.Never,” he told her firmly, his voice low and final.

Her lips parted, like she had a counterargument ready, but he wasn’t in the mood to listen.

“Tell me about your family,” he continued, unwilling to waste another second debating the cost of their dinner.

Her mouth snapped shut, her brow furrowing as if she wasn’t sure how they had suddenly jumped topics.She glanced helplessly toward where the waiter had disappeared, then back at Dimitri, her hesitation clear.

“My family?”she echoed weakly.

“Yes.Are your parents still alive?”

He already knew they were.He had read enough of the dossier Tom had put together on her this afternoon to have the basics.Her mother was a stay-at-home wife who never stayed home, preferring to spend her time shopping for things she didn’t need.Her father worked in one of Dimitri’s factories.And her brother?Twenty-three, unemployed, and still living at home after getting kicked out of college for failing every single class.

But those were just facts.He wanted her version.

For a brief moment, something flickered across her face.Sadness.Then, almost as quickly, it was gone, replaced with a tight, forced smile and eyes that burned with frustration.

“Yes.My parents are alive.As is my brother.”The way she said it, clipped and formal, made it clear she didn’t want to elaborate, but then something snapped, and the irritation in her eyes turned into something fiercer.“My brother, Craig, is a sweet kid who just needs time to pull himself together.”Dimitri noted the way her fingers clenched around her napkin, twisting the fabric like it was the only thing keeping her from pounding her fist against the table.Her lips pressed together before she added, “He’ll figure things out.He just… needs some space.”

Her words were defensive, but the tension in her voice told him she didn’t fully believe them.

“He still lives at home?”Dimitri asked.

Giselle exhaled sharply, her fingers tapping against the table.“Yes.”

“And he isn’t working?”

Her fingers stilled.A muscle ticked in her jaw.“Not currently.”

There was something there.A hesitance.A frustration bubbling within her, just beneath the surface.

Dimitri had seen this kind of reaction before.It wasn’t just sibling loyalty.It was the exhaustion of someone who had been repeatedly forced to make excuses for someone else’s failures.

She might try to cover it up, but her irritation was unmistakable.

“What about you?”she asked, clearly trying to steer the conversation somewhere safer.Dimitri let it go.For now.

But the more she spoke, the more he understood something important.Giselle wasn’t just someone who worked hard and lived frugally.She had no other choice.Because she was supporting people who should have been standing on their own feet.And that—more than anything—intrigued him.

“Both of my parents are gone,” he admitted.“And no siblings.”He sipped his water.“Why did you choose accounting as your career?”

Dimitri noticed the way she toyed with her napkin, the slight tension in her shoulders as she spoke, as if she were letting him glimpse something she didn’t share easily.“Numbers make sense.They don’t change.They don’t lie, cheat, or steal.They don’t manipulate anything.They simply tell a story.Numbers are…” She hesitated, tilting her head, as if searching for the right words, before nodding and continuing, “reliable.”She nodded her head for emphasis.“Yes, that’s exactly why I like numbers.I can count on numbers.”

That was a revealing answer.Dimitri studied her, noting the way her gaze dipped slightly, her hands pressing against the linen as though grounding herself.Who had let her down?Clearly, her brother.But there was more there.Her parents?A friend?A lover?He had the means to find out, but something about the way she spoke made him want to hear it from her, to learn her secrets firsthand rather than reading them from a file.