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15
A DUCHESS’S ESTATE
“Don’t you hate her?”I asked Theo through the side of my mouth as we took the staircase, where Rada awaited.
“The transaction you’re remembering from two years go, Rada and I have long since come to a truce,” Theo said in answer.
“I’m sorry I’m not up to date on the Saxon profit-and-loss sheet, but maybe you could give me a little more than that before we hit the last step.”
It was exhausting, entering into situations I wasn’t prepared for. Granted, I failed to utilize our car ride to elicit more information like I should’ve and instead jumped on top of Theo like a spider monkey, but I was determined to change. In the end, I had to remember one crucial detail: Betrayal.
Once I turned he and his brother in, Theo was never going to forgive me. To add sex to that, to mix his feelings, if any remained, with mine, would be such a brutal, irreparable mistake. Which I’d already made.
I tripped over a step and Theo steadied me. I’d gripped his helping hand too hard and let go as soon as I had balance.
“Are you all right?” he asked. Rada was now a few feet away.
“Yeah, fine. Might’ve just … pulled a muscle.”
It was clear, by the tightening of his face, what I’d caused him to reflect on. What we’d done in the car, me writhing on top of him, our mouths so close we could taste each other’s orgasms. His expression went hard with dark promise.
My pulse ricocheted in more directions than one, as my words had the dual effect of putting me in the same flashback, but I schooled my expression into dark threat.
“Don’t even think about it,” I said to him.
“About what?” Rada interjected, her accent light, unplaceable. She’d lived in so many countries, I surmised, and originally from Pakistan, that it was hard to root her anywhere based on her vocabulary alone.
The years between us hadn’t aged her in the slightest. Her black hair remained flat and shiny as a placid river, flowing down her back when she moved. Her wide, brown doe-eyes, while showcasing innocence, disguised the calculated reflection going on underneath. She was a head taller than me without heels, a gorgeous tower with them on.
“Sax here wants to prevent me from joining in on a game,” I said to Rada. Then added, “How nice to see you again.”
Theo proved his displeasure by gripping my elbow. Not so tight as to leave bruises but included enough of a squeeze to let me know that I was approaching restricted airspace by daring to speak first.
I turned to him briefly, my smile saying,If you don’t include me in your plans, I’ll just do the talking myself, and left it at that.
Rada did a double-take, her gaze turning sharp. “My goodness. I never thought I’d see you again.”
She looked to Theo, curious for clarification. Was I still Theo’s girlfriend, she might be wondering. What other possible reason would there be for me to be accompanying him again?
I also wondered if Theo kept in contact with Rada, took protection from her and entered this house, maybe even her arms. He knew where she lived without searching for her address or picking up his phone. They greeted each other like they’d only seen each other last week andthathad been much too long.
Rada lingered when she kissed both his cheeks hello, her eyes steady on mine.
I hoped she could smell me on him.
“Come in,” she said, sweeping her arm out.
I could tell by her careful blankness, for the life of her she couldn’t remember what the hell my name was.
“Take a right into the drawing room,” she said behind me.
Theo, wearing chivalry like he would a top-hat that he could take on and off, stepped aside so I could enter first, then Rada.
I followed her directions and turned left into a minimalistic environment in various shades of gray, with thick-cushioned suede couches and tufted upholstered leather ottomans framing a gray, wood-bordered glass coffee table. Heavy smoke-colored drapes framed the three floor-to-ceiling windows facing the front, and the most ornate piece was a fireplace, the mantle seemingly beveled straight from the wall. The only hint of color was a close-up painting of ocean waves above one of the couches. The whole space exuded the word CALM.
This was probably where she took prospective clients and various henchmen before she threatened them with imminent death on behalf of her father.
The property was, at least in my value, worth $25 million. I’d played in enough places like this to catalogue them.
