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“Well, sir, if you want to curl a girl’s toes, that’s certainly an option.”
“Or?”
“I’ll let you figure that one out.” She kisses me and laughs, and that laugh is a symphony in a firestorm. It’s a promise that at least for now, she’s in a better place. And it’s up to me to keep her there, which I’m getting the feeling from Blake might be a larger than hoped for task. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be bringing his wife as a back-up.
Which leads to the question: Is Ri so damn devious that he’s still coming at me from the grave?
CHAPTER TEN
Mia
We arrive at the hotel and Walker is cautious, arranging our entry through a side door, where we won’t be spotted. That they feel the need to do this does nothing to calm my nerves. What does calm my nerves is Grayson. We exit the backseat of the SUV and his hand is at my waist: protective, possessive, and amazingly, I feel the sizzle of his touch. That’s how reactive I am to this man. I’m wearing a coat, I’m a nervous wreck, and I’m aware of him on every level.
Once we’re inside the hotel, we are herded to a staff elevator and it’s a quick ride before we’re inside a room that is larger than many apartments. There’s a living area, dining room, bedroom, and sitting area. There’s even a kitchen. I know this because it’s not my first time in a Ritz presidential suite with Grayson.
For now, we’re in the entryway, and Grayson helps me off with my coat while Smith and Adrian crowd the hall next to us. Grayson hangs up my coat and I turn to watch him shrug out of his own, all that perfect muscle and manliness a welcome distraction. He watches me watch him, his stare burning as it meets mine, his hands catching my arms. I’m hauled forward against Grayson as Smith and Adrian are smart enough to head on into the living room.
“If you keep looking at me like that, we’re going to the bedroom and shutting the door.”
My teeth scrape my bottom lip and slip away, my intent is to be playful, but that’s not what happens. “I love you,” I whisper.
His eyes soften, worry I didn’t intend to stir bleeding into them. “I love you, too. Baby,—”
There’s a knock on the door. I push to my toes and kiss him. “I’m good. Remember?”
“No. No, you’re not, but we’ll walk the fire together.” He kisses me hard and fast. “Let’s get this over with.” He sets me away from him and Smith is now back in our small space.
“I’ll get that,” he says.
The degree at which we’re being protected feels excessive, as if there’s something we don’t know. I need out of this tiny space and I quickly hurry down the hallway to the living room, where Adrian is standing in front of the desk off the right wall, arms folded in front of him. I pass him by and sit down on the cream-colored couch, setting my purse on the simple but expensive walnut coffee table.
Hushed voices sound in the hallway in what is obviously a discreet conversation. A conversation they want to have without me. Adrian seems to react. He sits down in the chair next to me. “There was a mama tomato, a papa tomato, and six baby tomatoes. One of the babies falls behind and the mother rushes to her child and yells, ‘Catch Up!’”
I laugh despite myself. “That is the stupidest joke ever.”
“Then I’ll assume that you haven’t heard many stupid jokes.”
It’s in that moment that Grayson and Smith appear with Blake—a tall, good-looking man, with long dark hair tied at his nape. Also present is Kara, Blake’s wife, a pretty, petite brunette who like Blake is in jeans and a Walker Security T-shirt. She was there the night Ri attacked me. She’s someone I trust.
“Hi, Mia,” Kara greets. “Please tell me he didn’t tell you the tomato joke.”
I laugh. “He did.” I eye Grayson, whose green-eyed stare is fixed on my face. “You missed the world’s stupidest joke.”
He rounds the coffee table and sits down next to me. “You can tell me later.”
“Or not,” I say, giving Adrian a tease. “I don’t think I can tell it as perfectly as he did.”
Kara claims the chair opposite Adrian, and Blake perches on the arm. Smith leans on the desk behind Adrian. Everyone falls into an awkward silence. My teeth are back on my lip and I decide this has become a nervous thing for me. My fingers are back in my palms and I glance around the room. “What’s going on?”
Grayson folds one of my hands in his bigger one. “Nothing unexpected,” he assures me. “The press are nuts.”
“We’ve been working with Eric this weekend,” Blake interjects. Eric being Grayson’s right-hand man, best friend, and a literal savant. Eric’s involvement is good but not a surprise. They’ve made a fortune together. They’ve built trust. And Grayson has talked to him over the weekend, as he did all the key players in the company. But it’s Eric who is always welcome and in the middle of all things Grayson. “That bastard’s brilliant,” Blake says. “Between his genius and my hacking, we’ll do what we need to do to end this.”
