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“Wow, didn’t know you had that many friends.” Sarcasm drips from my voice.
Marnix ignores my snarky comment and moves through the doorway to our right. “This is the kitchen. Mariana is around here somewhere—she’ll make you whatever you want.” My brows scrunch at the thought of someone making my food for me.
When his large frame moves out of the way, my jaw drops. Holy fuck. I’ve never seen anything like this. My eyes roam over the most beautiful kitchen I’ve ever seen. It has gorgeous marble countertops and dark brown cabinets, tons of cabinets.
The most amazing aspect is the commercial ovens and stoves. They’re like the ones at the restaurant, only newer and sleeker. I resist the urge to run up and hug them. Marnix would really think I’ve lost it. But they’re stunning, and I’m itching to cook in this glorious kitchen.
Something is missing though. “Do you not own a fridge? You’re so fancy you get fresh food whenever you snap your fingers? Or are you actually a robot who doesn’t need to eat? That would make more sense.” I continue to look around, but I don’t see it anywhere.
Marnix chuckles, the low, raspy sound making my thighs clench involuntarily. Calm down, girl. It’s a sound I rarely hear, and one that I wish would happen more often. Maybe then we wouldn’t be at each other's throats all the time.
Moving across the kitchen, he stops beside the flat-top stove, gripping the handle of what looks like a huge cabinet door. “I have a fucking fridge, Tara.” He opens it, showing me the inside.
What the hell is this contraption? A hidden fridge that looks like a cabinet? Other than the large commercial ones at the restaurant, the only ones I’ve ever really seen are small white ones that only work half the time—well, that’s how ours always were. But we always got ours second-hand, seeing as we could never afford a brand new one.
I fake a gasp, pressing my hands to my chest. “It would be a shame if people discovered you do have a fridge, like a normal person.”
His face doesn’t react except for the tiny movement of his top lip. He closes the fridge door, moving past me. “This is going to be a long year,” he mutters under his breath.
“Touché.”
Leading me out of the kitchen, we’re now circling back through the hallway behind the foyer. He gestures toward the bathroom I had my freakout in that night of the engagement party. “Bathroom.” He stops suddenly, and I crash into his back.
“What the hell?” I groan as he turns to face me.
“I just remembered I don’t need to show you this hall, seeing as you’re already... familiar with it.”
Someone’s a little salty.
The only other room on this floor I’m familiar with is the office, because Cohutta dragged me in there. I know Marnix is suspicious about what happened that night—as he should be. But neither Cohutta nor I are willing to give up our secret.
“And you’ve already seen your room upstairs. There’s nothing else of importance to you to see here. Downstairs, there’s a gym and the living quarters for Mariana and Rush.”
A vibrating noise catches my attention, and Marnix pulls his phone out of his pocket. “I have to take this. You can look around, but don’t do anything stupid.” He doesn’t even give me time to respond before he answers the call, his tall, muscular frame retreating down the hall and disappearing into his office.
There’s another door further down, and my curiosity quickly gets the better of me. So much for not doing anything stupid. I reach the door, twisting the knob and pushing it open. A wall lined with computer screens comes into view. My gaze travels over all the video feeds. I’d noticed a few cameras around the place, but I had no idea there were this many. From what I can tell, the only place I’ll have any privacy is my room and the bathroom.
“Tara,” a deep voice sounds near me.
I jump, startled. “Shit!” My eyes land on Rush, with his unruly curls and the screens lighting up his dark eyes. He’s looking over at me from a large black computer chair, which faces away from the door I just came through. My hand falls to my chest, my breathing heavy. “Fuck, Rush. I didn’t know you were there.”
He grins. “Sorry, I figured I should make myself known. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay,” I say, moving closer to his chair. “Wait, how did I not scare you?”
Rush chuckles, pointing to the screens. “Saw you coming.”
The cameras, right. That was a stupid question. “Of course you did.”
He goes back to doing something on the laptop in front of him. My eyes catch on the cut I gave him, right above his eye, back when he stormed into my bathroom. It’s almost completely healed; all that’s left is a patchy line of scabs. “Hey, do you mind if I hide out in here for a little while? Marnix is an asshole, and my friends are heading home.”
Rush’s gaze meets mine, his eyebrows pulled together like he’s confused about why I’d wanna hang out with him. “Uh, yeah,” he finally says, pulling out the chair beside him so I can sit.
“Marnix didn’t tell me what this room was, so I wanted to check it out. Do you spend a lot of time in here?”
Rush types away on his keyboard as he talks. “Yeah. Pretty much if I’m not going somewhere with Nix—well, now you—or sleeping, or with my family, I’m in here.”
“Speaking of that, is this little driver-bodyguard thing really necessary?”
