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He begins to unbutton his white dress shirt, and my eyes widen. He can’t possibly undress right here, in the main living area.
“Keep using that smart mouth of yours as you are and you just might find yourself back there,” he warns, continuing to release several more buttons. His shirt begins to open up, revealing a muscular physique with a tattoo I can barely make out over his left pec and a smattering of hair over his chest.
Damn it. Everything about this situation is so fucked.
I don’t bother to apologize for my attitude and return my attention to my food, which is getting colder by the second. I start shoveling the pasta into my mouth so that I don’t have to continue conversing with this man.
He is dangerous for more than one reason, and my story won’t be like Justine’s.
I sense him walking by the table where I sit, and he says nothing more, continuing to the bedroom. My eyes betray me, glancing up as he passes, and I can’t help but check out his backside.
His shirt is all the way off now, held by one hand at his side. I let my gaze travel slowly over his naked broad shoulders, down his back, noticing a couple of scars that look a lot like bullet wounds.
That has my lips turning down and my eyes focusing back on my food.
I remind myself that this is not the man or the life for me. I’ve just been through the traumatic experience of losing my mother then being kidnapped by a man who also saved my life. As soon as I can escape from this place, I have no doubt that any flicker of attraction I feel now will fade away effortlessly.
It has to.
11
LUCA
Inviting this woman into my personal space had seemed like a logical solution earlier, but now that she’s here, the absurdity of it all weighs heavily on me. Seeing her cleaned up, her presence in my bed… It tempts me to banish her back to the cell.
Yet, I made this choice against the advice of others. Unless Olivia does something to warrant being thrown back into that cage, I won’t prove them right. I won’t let them know how deeply she bothers me.
Instead, I’m going to have to think more strategically. Find a way to finish this mess with Titan and get Olivia out of my life for good. All sooner rather than later.
I shower for the second time that day just to give me something to do, and once I step back into the bedroom, she still hasn’t returned. One glance through the door shows me she’s not at the table, either.
With only a towel wrapped around my waist, I look out into the living room and find her with the paper and pencil I found shoved under her pillow back in the cell.
She’d been sketching flowers, quite well in fact. When I had the items that Justine had given her brought up, I’d purposely left the paper out where she’d easily find it.
I might be a murderer, but I’m not a monster. I haven’t forgotten that this woman just lost her mother, been shot at, and was essentially kidnapped.
While this is currently the safest place for her—something she’s yet to realize—and I don’t feel bad about holding her against her will, I also need her to cooperate if things are going to be settled quickly.
Giving her what I can to bring some solace isn’t me being soft. It’s me knowing how best to get what I want. That’s what I keep telling myself each time I do something that benefits this woman more than it does me. At least, for the moment.
I go back to my room and put on black sweatpants, dry my hair with a towel once more before heading out to the living room, and head to the small fridge behind the bar for a bottle of water. As I twist the cap off, I turn to Olivia.
Her gaze flicks up toward me, and her pencil halts its movement over the page. Her flushed cheeks and the faint scraping of her teeth over her luscious lips catch my attention.
Fuck, why couldn’t she be an old hag?
Finishing the water, I approach her. “Are you planning to stay out here?”
Her gaze cautiously meets mine. “Would that be preferable for you?”
“What would have been preferable for me is if you had left the hotel through the front, like any normal fucking person,” I practically growl.
She swallows nervously. “Right. Well, that didn’t happen.”
“Clearly.” My chest expands, and I don’t miss how her eyes observe the action. “You can sleep wherever you want, but if you’re sleeping in my bed, then you better be in there soon. I don’t take being woken up well.”
She nearly snorts. “I’m not sure you take anythingwell.”
