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Daniel tilted his head slightly. “You want me to stop pursuing you. Forgive me, I cannot do that. I will give you everything you want as long as it is within my power, except letting you go.”
Charlotte fell into silence. “Then I’m going to ask you to respect my boundaries. You’re taking this too fast—it’s scary.”
Daniel thought for a second. “Understood.”
“Don’t do stuff without asking my permission.”
“Hmm?”
“What does that mean—hmm?”
“If you mean chickennapping your pet, it was done. It had to be done.”
“What do you mean by it had to be done?”
“I have an important business meeting tomorrow in Seattle. You will accompany me there. We’ll depart early, six A.M., so it will be easier on our schedule if you sleep here tonight and have everything already prepared. Since we’ll be travelling in my personal Gulfstream, we can bring Silkie on board without having to go through all those restrictions about animals and carriers.”
“Wait a minute. This doesn’t make sense. I have to go to work tomorrow.”
“That won’t be necessary. As of today, Addington Enterprises became Graynor’s biggest client. Your company will supply sixty percent of our paper needs. Think about the spike of revenue Graynor will see in the next quarter. Your boss couldn’t be more pleased, and it’s all thanks to you. Naturally, missing a few days of work won’t be a problem for you.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “In other words, if I decline coming with you, you’ll cancel the account at Graynor?”
The smile on his face widened. “There’s no reason to do such a thing, don’t you think? My company looks forward to a long partnership with Graynor.”
“This is blackmail!” She was enraged. “What gives you the right to mess around with my life?”
“Simple—because I’m your mate.”
There was a finality in his tone that made her pause. No amount of protest would make him change his mind. Mate. It was like that status changed the hierarchy of people she should give shit about in her life. He was more important than her family, her boss, or the President of the United States of America. Before she could think of something to say in rebuke, someone rapped on the drawing room door.
“I’m very sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Addington. The London office is on line three. It’s an emergency,” said a middle-aged woman in a conservative fashion. Her hair was pulled back into a bun. Black rimmed glasses. Severe black skirt suit that screamed she lived and died for bureaucracy.
Addington didn’t look happy. “Excuse me. Let me handle this so we can have an uninterrupted conversation afterward,” he said to Charlotte. He got up and snatched the receiver from the counter.
The woman acknowledged Charlotte with a nod and left.
Just how many people live in this apartment? Charlotte wondered. It seems Daniel’s daily life isn’t just fun and games. But, whatever. I don’t want to sign up for this.
She grabbed Silkie and plotted her escape. If she couldn’t reason with him, she’d just avoid him. Avoiding people was what she did best.
Charlotte saw her chicken had left a dropping on Daniel’s expensive sofa, and somehow it delighted her. Hah. That’s what you get for kidnapping my pet. Good girl, Silkie!
She went to the room and put Silkie in her cage. She grabbed her purse and sneaked toward the foyer. Daniel must have bought more than one unit in this posh building, and the layout of the place rather co
nfused her. She managed to find the way to the front door, but to her surprise, it was locked. There was no key in sight. Daniel had employed a sophisticated security system that required no actual key. She had to swipe a card and enter a password on the keypad, which she didn’t have.
Just peachy.
Charlotte looked around but there was no one in sight. Not even Daniel’s sister was around. Had Anika left while they were having dinner?
Suddenly, she heard a low growl.
Big animal. Beastly.
Lion?
She paused. Crap. She walked fast toward the foyer again, and before long, she was faced with the big beast himself. Lion. Male lion. Huge. And he didn’t seem very happy.
