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The bastard grinned. “Hey, I’m not the one that trapped some poor woman into marrying me.”
“Go find out what you can about Emil Schulz,” I replied, makingit clear that I was finished discussing the difficulties of my marriage.
Five minutes later, I was walking into what used to be my bedroom, and Kasen was already taking off her shoes, getting ready for bed. She’d taken a shower this morning, so I didn’t know if she planned on taking another one tonight, but something told me that she was willing to run all the hot water cold just to avoid having to speak with me.
“Have you eaten?”
She let out a heavy sigh as she started pulling clothes from one of her drawers. “Yes.”
“Do you always stay at the office this late?” I already knew the answer, but I wanted to see what excuse she was going to come up with.
“No,” she answered honestly, which surprised the fuck out of me. “While I’ve always worked a lot of hours, I usually worked them at home.”
“And the reason that you can’t do that now?” I prompted.
I watched her lips curl inward, and it was easy to tell that she was desperately trying to rein in her temper. Kasen wasn’t used to being questioned, and sheclearly didn’t like it.
Finally, sheanswered, “Because of the lack of privacy.”
“The lack of privacy?” I echoed.
“Before moving in here, I had a private home office that no one ever entered but me,” she went on to explain. “My job is all about confidentiality, Mr. Sartori. Everything that I deal with is sensitive in nature, so I can hardly leave my client files lying around a house filled with guards and housekeepers.”
That pissed me off.
“Have you any idea how big this fucking house is?” I bit out. “Pick a room, Kasen. Hell, pick five of the motherfuckers. There’s more than enough space in this house to remodel a home office for you.”
“A room where I’ll be the only one with the key?” she challenged. “C’mon, Mr. Sartori. You and I both know that Iwill never be allowed that kind of privacy in your home.” She lifted her chin with attitude. “So, the hours needed to do my job well will be spent at my work office because I take my job seriously enough to understand the delicate issue of privacy for all my clients.”
“So, your planisto avoid this marriage,” I surmised.
“I’m not avoiding anything,” she lied. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yet, you won’t ever be here for any meals together or conversations beyond where you’ve been.”
Kasen let out a dark laugh. “Oh, please,” she scoffed. “You and I both know that we’ll never need to have any conversations about where I’ve been anymore.” She cocked her head. “Rafael’s very good at his job, by the way.”
“As expected,” I shot back. “He was chosen to guard my wife, so he’d better be good at his job.”
Ignoring that, she asked, “What do you want, Mr. Sartori?”
“I want you to quit fucking calling me Mr. Sartori for starters,” I snapped, wondering how this woman kept knowing exactly what to say and do to piss me the fuck off.
“Just making surethat neither of us loses sight of what this really is,” she replied flippantly.
“And what is this?”
“Revenge,” she stated easily, andthat surprised me as well.
“I see,” I said, sliding my hands into my pockets. “Revengefor what, exactly?”
“For Fia and Mano,” she answered, shrugging a shoulder. “I mean, someone has to pay for their betrayal, right? Why not it be me? After all, isn’t that what Saturday night had been all about? Fia and Mano humiliated you by going behind your back like that, so turnabout was fair play?”
While she couldn’t be more fucking wrong, I couldn’t tell her that. At least, not yet. Not only would she not believe me, but I was still keeping my distance from Elio. Even though what he’d done was unforgivable, I hadn’t realizedjust how much damage he’d done until right now. Kasen believed the whole thing had been a setup to make her pay for her sister’s transgressions.
Instead of getting into a messy conversation this late at night, I said, “I want you home for dinner from now on.”
Her hazel eyes flared. “I’m not coming all the way out here for a meal, then drive all the way back into town to finish working.”
