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I tried for a scowl, but it was impossible to stop my lips from curving. “Ruthless little shit.” My smile dimmed as I added, “I was worried you were going to propose that we restart our arrangement. I wouldn’t have been down with that.”
“I know.” He traced the shell of my ear with his fingertip. “But I’m not going to let you leave me again so, yeah, you now have what you want. I’ve got to warn you, Cat, there’ll be times when my overprotectiveness drives you insane. Times when you’ll get tired of the gilded cage and wonder why you ever thought you could handle it. But, honestly, I’ll have no sympathy for you.”
A surprised chuckle escaped me. “No?”
“No. You know here and now what you’re getting into. You know that my security measures are necessary. You can nonetheless be annoyed by them. You can even bitch about them. But you can’t try to leave me. You already did it once. I didnotfucking like it. I’m telling you straight, Cat, I won’t allow you to do it again.”
I caught his face with my hands and gave him a pitying smile. “I can’t tell you how cute it is that you think you can hold me against my will without getting shanked.”
Amusement lit his eyes. “Shanked? You got a makeshift knife, baby?”
“Hmm, maybe.”
“I wouldn’t put it passed you.” He closed his mouth over mine again and sank his tongue inside. He feasted as he tangled a hand in my hair, swallowing my moans. Breaking the kiss with a growl, he gave me a scorching look that went straight to my womb. “Bed.” He stood and picked me up as easily as if I weighed nothing. Silently urging me to wrap my limbs around him, he carried me to his bedroom. “And unblock my fucking number.”
My mouth curved. “Will do.”
Chapter Eight
Locking my car with the key fob, I gave Duke a brief smile. He’d tailed me to Danton’s apartment building, just as he’d closely followed me wherever I went over the past six days. He was a deliberately visible presence now—a warning to any potential threats.
Duke wasn’t much of a talker. He mostly just grunted and nodded and busied himself looking scary. The latter wasn’t at all difficult for him. He had a real ‘Piss me off and I’ll bury you’ air going on that tended to make others move out of his way. Which was real helpful, since it meant that they also moved out of mine.
It wasn’t so bad having him follow and escort me places. Maybe because, after what happened in my parking lot, I felt safer having him around. Especially since I didn’t trust that my father and Julian would leave me alone despite Danton’s warnings.
Both had tried calling me until I’d blocked their numbers—though not before I’d received a voicemail from my brother, who’d pled his innocence and demanded that I ‘answer the fucking phone.’ Like his attitude would make me inclined to do anything other than continue to ignore his attempts to contact me. Idiot.
I hadn’t had a single message or call from my mother to ask if I was okay after what had happened. And yeah, it stung that she clearly didn’t give a shit.
Whatever.
Duke took my duffel from me without a word and then, as per usual, escorted me into the building. Yes, it had become ‘usual’ for me to visit Danton during the week. I came by each day after work, and I spent each night in his bed—hence the overnight bag. As such, we also had both breakfast and dinner together.
I’d offered for him to occasionally stay at my place so we could switch things up now and then. Mostly because I worried he’d get antsy about having me in his personal space so often. But he’d vetoed my suggestion on the basis that his apartment was safer. I didn’t mind. Not when he had a huge bed, a luxurious bath tub, and a walk-in shower that gave us plenty of space for shower sex.
I smiled at the concierge manning the lobby’s desk, who then greeted me by name. Danton had apparently given it to him, making it clear that I was always welcome here. Something he’d also made clear to me.
Danton might have initially danced around the idea of ‘more,’ but he wasn’t half-assing it now. It was both a relief and a surprise, since I’d originally worried that he’d continue to be somewhat closed off with me. It was the only dynamic we’d ever had before, and he wasn’t exactly open by nature. But he wasn’t keeping an emotional distance from me.
More, he asked me questions.Realquestions. He also answered mine. Unless I requested that he share the details of his not-so-above-board businesses. He was tight-lipped about that stuff, saying he didn’t want that side of his life to touch me.
I was okay with that. Being in the dark when it came to such things didn’t make me feel like I wasn’t his partner or hisequal. Especially when he easily answered any questions I had about his legal dealings.
Duke led me to Danton’s private elevator and pressed the ‘up’ button. The metal doors slid open pretty much immediately. Satisfied that it was empty, he gestured for me to enter first and then followed.
I watched as he leaned toward the operation panel and slid a key into the button for Danton’s suite. Duke twisted said key and then jabbed the button hard. It turned green just as the shiny doors slid closed. But it wasn’t until Duke pressed his thumb to a small screen beside the button that adingfilled the air and the elevator began to ascend.
The first time I’d taken a ride in it, I hadn’t realized that it was a private elevator. Nor had I noted the security measures. I’d sensed Danton fumbling near the operational panel, but I’d been too out of it after the Cory incident to really register what he was doing. It turned out that only three people had a key for this elevator, and the thumbprints of those same three people were logged into the security system—Danton, Duke, and Vicente.
I glanced up at the video camera bubble on the ceiling, knowing that Danton checked the footage via an app on his cell each time the same app notified him that someone had entered the private elevator.
He’d told me that if anyone did somehow manage to bypass his security measures and get the elevator going, he could cause it to screech to a halt with a mere jab of his finger on his phone screen. He could also secure the metal doors closed so that they had no avenue of escape.
Yeah, Danton took no chances.
Still, he wasn’t as overbearing as I’d worried he’d be when it came to my safety. The bars of his gilded cage were unmovable, but not unbearable. There was no dictatorship, nodemanding unfair things of me. He’d even compromised on certain things.
Danton only really had three non-negotiable rules. One, I would never go out in public without a guard. Two, if I needed to venture out, I had to tell Danton both where I’d be going and who I’d be with. Three, I had to always answer his calls and respond to his texts, even if I was pissed at him so that he’d know I was okay.
