Page 118 of Vicious Temptation

Amalia’s eyes narrow. “Does she?”

Fuck.

I’ve spent years being questioned by people trained to pull information out of me, and somehow Remi’s mother manages to make two words sound like she already knows I’m full of shit.

“She will in about thirty seconds.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“No, ma’am. It is not.”

She holds my gaze after the “ma’am,” unimpressed by my attempt at respect, then moves closer, putting herself squarely between me and the direction I was headed. Normally, someone her size stepping in front of me wouldn’t register as much of an obstacle. With Amalia Cain, I know better.

“I’ve never seen you before,” she says. “And my daughter has enough going on without strange men showing up where they aren’t invited.”

“I understand.”

“Do you?”

I lock eyes with her, resisting the temptation to look toward Remi’s office. “I’m not here to hurt her.”

Her face goes completely still.

Shit. Wrong choice of words.

“I didn’t suggest you were.”

“No, but maybe you were thinking it.”

“And you thought saying it would make me less suspicious?”

Despite myself, I almost smile. “No. I realized how bad it sounded about halfway through.”

For the first time, something other than suspicion touches her features, but it disappears before I can decide whether I imagined it.

“Go downstairs,” she says with finality. “If Remi wants to see you, she can find you there.”

Pushing my luck with Remi’s mother would be stupid even if I didn’t know what she was capable of.

I’m about to turn around when Remi’s voice comes from farther down the hall.

“Thiago?”

Amalia looks toward her daughter, and I finally let myself do the same. Suddenly, I forget all about the woman standing between us.

Fuck, it’s good to see her.

It’s only been a day since I left her condo, but seeing Remi again hits differently after having her the way I did. My mind immediately goes places it has no business going, with her mother standing five feet away, replaying flashes from yesterday that I’ve already spent most of my shift trying to forget.

Then I get a better look at her face, and every one of those thoughts disappears.

“Hey, Remi.”

Her eyes shift from me to her mother. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see if you felt like grabbing something to eat after closing.”

Amalia glances between us. “You know him?”