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The message was loud and clear, and it matched the defiant tilt of her chin. She’d come here to make a point.
Interesting, but ultimately pointless.
The house always won.
And she should know that better than anyone, given that she was working in a casino.
Dismissing the two men with a nod of his head, he held her gaze.
‘Ms Thorn,’ he said softly. ‘Won’t you join me?’
Eyeing him warily, Dora followed him through the apartment.
Wow, she thought silently, trying not to gape.
But it wasn’t the beautiful understated interior that was making her breathe out of time.
In the twenty-four hours since she had last seen him, she had built up Charlie Law in her head to be a monster, skulking in the shadows. And yet here he was, clean-shaven, the tiger stripes in his dark hair gleaming in the pale sunlight that was creeping out from behind the grey clouds. He looked...not ordinary—he could never be that—but certainly not like the villain she had conjured up.
She glanced furtively up at him through lowered lashes. Just looking at him dried her mouth.
She had forgotten how innately imposing he was. He might not be wearing a suit today—or at least not a jacket—but he still had that air of power. So much so that his light blue shirt with its top button undone and loosened navy tie seemed only to emphasise his discipline and poise.
Her cheeks felt warm, and her pulse began to beat in her throat.
Unfortunately, the shirt also accentuated what lay beneath.
Her eyes fixed momentarily on the taut definition of muscle, and a flurry of awareness scampered over her skin. If someone had shown her a picture she would have assumed he’d been airbrushed. He was just too beautiful, too perfect to be real.
But he was real, and he was standing in front of her. With an effort she looked away, and gazed around the apartment.
Of course she already knew that the Lao family were fabulously wealthy. Della had sent her photos on her phone of Lao Dan’s mansion in Macau, but it had been difficult to see much. This, though, was real.
Picturing Della’s small terraced house, Dora felt a rush of panic. How was she supposed to compete with all this?
You don’t have to, she told herself quickly. You’re Archie’s guardian, and that isn’t going to change if Charlie Law owns one penthouse or even a hundred.
Dropping onto one of the huge leather sofas that barely filled a corner of the vast open-plan living area, he leaned back, resting one leg carelessly over the other. ‘Would you like some coffee?’
She gave him a small, tight smile. ‘No, thanks. I’d prefer to get down to business.’
He held her gaze, his eyes narrowing fractionally at hearing his own words in her mouth.
‘So how did you find me? I hope it wasn’t too expensive.’
Her heart pulsed high in her throat. It had taken quite a lot of phone calls, and a fair amount of emotional blackmail, but she had called in a favour with Pug, one of Della’s old contacts.
She shrugged. ‘Not everyone has to bribe and bully their way through life, Mr Law. Sometimes, if you ask nicely, people actually do what you want. You should try it some time.’
‘Good to know,’ he said softly. ‘Next time I want anything from you, I’ll ask nicely.’
The air thumped out of her lungs. She didn’t know how to respond to that, and suddenly she had a fleeting but sharp memory of that moment when he had first looked into her eyes and she had felt that strange, unsettling wave of attraction.
Last night, when she had finally persuaded Pug to tell her where Charlie Law was staying, she had expected to be given the name of a hotel. The idea that he had a home in the city where she and Archie lived had made her stomach turn into a ball of panic.
Clearly he didn’t live here all the time, but as she’d sat last night, watching a documentary about tigers in Northeast China, she had realised that she didn’t want to be like some poor, hapless deer.
This morning, standing outside, gazing up at his state-of-the-art penthouse, she still hadn’t worked out what she was going to say to him. She’d just known that she wanted him to experience what it felt like being hunted and watched.
