AllFreeNovel
Share Us
GLORYWASUNNERVED. Castor Xenakis’s intensity was back again, a fierce glitter in his eyes that made her breath catch.
She couldn’t look away.
A moment before he’d seemed to relax, the hard look on his face easing, his mouth curving in a smile. He was once again the charming man she’d seen flirting with the woman in his lap out in that room.
Except she suspected his charm was a mask he wore, that he could put on and take off at will. How she knew that, she wasn’t sure, especially when he was still a stranger to her. But that was the thing about being polite and quiet. You got good at observing people, and since they pretty much forgot you were there, it was interesting watching how they reacted and how they behaved when they thought no one was looking. You got good at seeing things in them they probably didn’t mean to reveal, secrets they thought they could hide.
She could tell this man had secrets, just as she could tell that despite his infamous reputation, he wasn’t a bad person. A bad person wouldn’t have cared Dimitri had touched her. A bad person would have let Dimitri take her away, not interrupted his evening to save her.
It didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous though, because whatever secret he was hiding, it seemed...painful. And she couldn’t help being drawn to people in pain. She wanted to help them, wanted to make them feel better, and that wasn’t something she should be doing for him.
He was notorious, a powerful stranger, not to mention disturbing in a way she couldn’t put her finger on, and if she was sensible, what she should be doing was getting out of here, not listening to his proposition.
Perhaps you could use it to help Annabel?
Well, that was true. Perhaps she could.
‘What proposition?’ Glory asked cautiously.
His posture was casual, his long-fingered hands loosely clasped between his knees. Yet he seemed to vibrate with an intense, leashed energy, as if he was barely holding himself back from exploding into movement.
She had no idea why she found that so attractive, but she did. Then again, everything about him seemed designed to appeal, and not only to her but women in general.
‘How would you feel,’ he said, ‘about marrying me?’
Glory blinked. Marry him? What? Surely she’d misheard. ‘Excuse me?’ she asked. ‘I’m not sure...’
‘You heard right.’ His dark golden stare and the sheer perfection of his face were far more mesmerising than they had any right to be. ‘I’m asking you if you’d considering marrying me.’
She blinked again. He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t.
‘I...I don’t understand,’ she began hesitantly. ‘Wh-why would you want to do that?’
He remained perfectly still, energy crackling around him. Looking at her as if the very fate of the universe depended on her answer.
She’d never been looked at that way before. Never had anyone stare at her with so much intensity, seeing her. Reallyseeingher.
It was disturbing and thrilling and frightening, and she didn’t know what to do with herself.
‘I have a...project that’s important to me.’ His voice was coloured with that warm richness she’d heard out in the living area. ‘And the success of it involves presenting a certain facade. However, that facade does not mesh with my current reputation, which means I need some way of improving it.’
Glory frowned, not understanding. ‘What kind of project? And how is marriage going to improve your reputation?’
He made a dismissive gesture. ‘The project itself is confidential for a number of reasons. And as for my reputation, I’m hoping marriage to someone like you will improve my standing with certain...people.’
She frowned, her brain somehow skipping over the vague parts of his statement and settling on the thing that probably didn’t matter. ‘What do you mean, someone like me?’
He smiled the fake smile that he probably thought was charming, that he probably thought no one saw through. ‘I meant no offense. It’s only that you’re not famous or rich, or powerful. You’re a perfectly ordinary young woman, which in my world makes you rather...extraordinary.’
Glory already knew she was nothing special, she’d always known that. But for some reason she didn’t like this beautiful man pointing it out to her.
You want to be special. Special and not a burden.
She ignored that thought, unfamiliar anger gathering inside her. ‘Um, thank you,’ she said and then, before she could think better of it, added, ‘Though that’s not really a compliment, is it?’
His smile flickered like a flame, warm and bright. And maybe if she hadn’t been as sensitive to people as she was, she would have been charmed by it. But she could see the darkness behind that smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes.
And it came to her suddenly that it wasn’t that horrible Dimitri who was the wolf in this scenario.
