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“I know I can trust you.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“It’s not appropriate to talk to you about this,” he says.
“Not appropriate? I think that ship has sailed with us.”
He downs the contents of his glass and refills it. I take the glass right out of his hand again. It’s mine now. “Use me, not the bottle.”
“Use you.” He laughs a bitter laugh. “You have no idea what a loaded offer that is, Bella.”
“I am many things, but naïve is not one of them.”
“You’ll just end up hating me and I really don’t want you to hate me. I’m actually surprised by justhow muchI don't want you to hate me, Bella.”
He’s confusing me again, sending mixed messages. “I’m not as delicate as you think.”
“I have never thought of you as delicate except when you were on my tongue, woman, and that was the right kind of delicate. You’re special, Bella. Sweet like honey and pure fire at the same time.”
I swallow hard with the surprisingly intimate and wildly erotic words he’s spoken, and there is no escaping a memory of him on his knees, licking my clit while I moaned. But I shove it aside with rough insistence, all too aware of what he’s doing. “You can’t shock me into seeing nothing but sex, Tyler. Because sex is clearly how you solve problems. Butthisis how easily I shock. This isn’t about how I taste on your tongue. It’s about something else. What is that something else?”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Bella
Seconds tick, his words and my words, the memory of our intimacy hanging in the air between us before he laughs one of his deep, wonderful laughs, and says, “God, woman. You’re really everything I don’t expect.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“To be decided. My mother is in Europe,” he adds, in what is a seemingly random reply.
I blink in confusion but follow the lead he’s given me. “Again?”
“Still. She ran off with a man and hasn’t been back. I don’t know if she’s coming back.”
“Is that causing a complication for Hawk Legal?”
“No. She’s completely out of the picture, per my father’s will. From what I’ve put together, by the numbers, she got half his wealth and none of his hell. Apparently, she knew a long time ago but didn’t tell me.”
“What does that mean, she’s known for some time and didn’t tell you?”
“My portion of the will wasn’t read until this week.”
“Why the delay?”
“It’s all part of a head game my father is playing.”
“As in via his will.”
“Exactly,” he confirms.
“What does that mean?”
“He placed stipulations to my inheritance that impact the stability of the company, therefore the security of the staff. If I don’t do what he demands, not only will I not inherit, but I’ll alsolose my stock. That would force the firm’s leadership into limbo, and the operation into chaos.”
“Oh my God,” I breathe out. “Based on your mood, I’m afraid to ask but I have to. What are the stipulations?”
“Youdon’twant to know, Bella.”
