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“Wow,” I said.
“My cousin insisted,” Daniel said, and I couldn’t help it, I gave him a surprised look. “He owns the building. I would’ve been fine with anything so long as it had a door that locked and solid walls.”
“Generous cousin,” I murmured, my heart pounding faster and faster. He had to mean Tyler Michaelson, didn’t he? The head of the family. Although, what did it mean that the mafia owned this building?
And all that security… I swallowed as the doors opened on the top floor, and we walked down a quiet hallway. My heels sounded loud, and I couldn’t help but glance back as the elevator door closed. It was as though the enormity of the night was hitting me.
Or maybe the whiskey was wearing off.
“It’s one of our legit businesses,” Daniel said suddenly, his voice heavy with an ironic tone that I didn’t like. “I think he wanted me to be safe.” My hand found his and squeezed, causing him to laugh. “Ah, sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”
Another strange emotion surged through me, something that felt protective and sad at the same time. Because I suspected that deep down, Daniel had told me that to make him sound normal. To try and pretend that his protected penthouse wasn’t bought with blood.
He let go when we got to a thick door, tapping his keycard, pressing his thumbprint on the pad, and then typing in a code. Finally, he pulled out a ring of keys, unlocking three separate locks, and I tried not to shiver with impatience or concern at all these layers of protection.
“I have a wicked nice TV,” Daniel said as he twisted the doorknob and gestured for me to go in. “And expensive pet fish.”
That got me to laugh, and I walked in, curious and shivering, but also aware of the heat pulsing between my legs. I didn’t watch as Daniel locked up, instead stepping into the beautiful living room, noting the big TV and the massive fish tank. Everything was done in shades of modern black, with gold accents, and leather. Tasteful and expensive, the kind of place where a guy would have a few pieces of boring art on the wall.
Daniel, however, had walls crammed with art—from black and white photographs to intricate sculptures, to gorgeous paintings, and strange, mesmerizing stained-glass pieces. I wandered in, aware my mouth was open, and tried to take it all in.
I love this,I thought. It was such a perfect contrast. My fingers trailed over the butter-soft couch as I went to the window and gazed out into the harbor, the city nothing but a glow to the left, and the dark ocean stretching ahead, with a glitter of boats and a flash from a distant lighthouse on one of the harbor islands.
“Sunrise must be spectacular,” I said.
“It is,” Daniel said, and I jumped when I realized he’d come up soundlessly behind me. “We could stay up.”
At that moment, I realized he’d come over with two glasses and a sealed bottle of whiskey. Music, full of yearning and rolling beats, now played softly in the background and the lights were a touch dimmer.
My heart fluttered and I tried to shove down the satisfied feeling of a man taking the proper steps to seduce me—but when Daniel proffered the bottle, I couldn’t help it. He was so good, down to the last detail. I’d noticed that when we were dancing, then we were kissing, and I wanted to know what that attention would be like during sex.
“I’m already back at your apartment,” I said and waved away the bottle as though it didn’t mean the world that he wanted me to feel comfortable. “You can use an open bottle.”
“You do know there are some sick fucks out there who use roofies even when you come back home with them,” he said.
I hugged myself and gazed out at the night. “Are you trying to kill the mood? Do you want me to go?”
“No, and definitelyno,” he said. “But you should give yourself time—don’t force yourself to act unbothered now. You’ll suffer later.”
“Okay, Doctor Danny,” I said and took the bottle, using my nails to break the seal. I twisted off the cap and ignored the glass he tried to hand me, swigging from the bottle instead. “Fuck, that’s good.” I turned the bottle over and gasped, then looked up at him. Danny hid a grin. “This—this is the most expensive whiskey in the world.”
“Something like that,” he said.
And I had chugged it like it was cheap moonshine. “I’m…” My face flushed. “I’m so out of pocket, I can get like that sometimes, I didn’t mean…” I could’ve slapped myself during that rambling, something I only did when I was super embarrassed.
Now his smile broke free. “Watching you chug it like a ‘gansett was pretty goddamn funny. Worth it.” He took it and winked, then swigged from the bottle too. “Don’t feel embarrassed. Although that was cute, too.”
“Stop it,” I said, shoving him, and getting that fluttery, teenage feeling again. Something that I’d thought I’d lost the capacity to feel—four years ago to be exact.
“I mean it,” he said. “Get out of pocket all you want. It’s fun.”
“Glad I’m entertaining you,” I said and flicked my hair back, taking a step closer.
“Me too.”
My heart pounded as his eyebrow twitched and a ghost of a smirk flitted over Daniel’s face.I’m getting better at reading him, I think.I had to fight a smirk of my own. This cool, aloof man could kid himself all he wanted, I always—
He walked away, and I felt a momentary idiocy, wondering what I did wrong. Only to go on alert as Daniel set the bottle down with a very deliberate clink and turned, gesturing for me come forward. As I did so, he leaned against the arm of his couch, folded his arms, and ran his thumb up his throat. Something about that movement made goosebumps break out over me and I paused about a foot away, realizing that the look in his eyes had changed.
