Grievous (Wanted Men #5) - Nancy Haviland Page 0,59
class she’d needed to graduate college.
Lucian’s next words smashed through any pride she’d felt at being the one her haughty boss had chosen as his second. “I am LDF Holdings; Lucian Darius Fane.” His head tipped at an arrogant angle. “Nebulous World Art, the gallery not far from the medical center in Flushing, is mine. Therefore, I must know where it is located because I know where all of my favored interests are located. You, for instance, live in a three-story house near 35th and Bell, not far from Crocheron Park where you run every morning. You take up the third level, a Yoga studio is on the main, and an older gentleman resides in between. Richard Jaimeson is a retired homicide detective from Chicago. Do you know him personally or is he just the landlord?”
Shock held her immobile. She didn’t know what to say to this. She’d never told him these things, so he shouldn’t know them, goddammit. Yet he did because he knew nothing of personal boundaries.
His lip quirked at the corner, but there was no humor in his eyes. “You look pale, draga.”
Her nostrils flared. “I’m scared of you, and I sort of hate you now, too.”
“Do you?” He tugged her into motion, bringing her back down the corridor that had brought them there. “The tour can wait. I do not like your color. It should improve with something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” she murmured, trying to keep up with his long stride with legs that felt like rubber. “Why do you know those things, Lucian? Why have you looked into me so thoroughly? Why didn’t I know you owned my gallery? Did I have anything to do with—” She didn’t finish because she wasn’t sure she could handle the answer right then. She could barely breathe around how inconsequential she felt. She was a fraud, having taken such pride in something she’d had nothing to do with.
“I’d like a room of my own. And I want to go there right now.”
“We will retire after I have fed you.”
“I don’t want to be fed. I want to go to my room. My room. I want one of my own.”
“I’m afraid you are going to be disappointed then, pet, because you belong in my room, and it is my wish to put some nutrition into your body. We will retire after I have fed you.”
Inconsequential. What she wanted didn’t matter. What she said didn’t matter. What she felt didn’t matter. This grieving billionaire was pulling the strings, and she was to act accordingly.
She grew numb and didn’t say anything more as they made their way through the castle. He checked his phone a few times when it beeped, but he also stayed silent. They entered a dining room that would have easily swallowed her apartment. The scent of dinner made her glands water but not in anticipation of eating. She wanted to throw up. On the walls hung priceless artwork. The doors and crown molding were carved and polished. There were narrow floor-to-ceiling windows partly covered in stunning tapestries. There was another that beckoned one to it for the warmth it would provide. A sideboard along the one wall had small silver trays with the little blue flames lit beneath to keep their contents warm.
Yasmeen discounted everything but the hollowness in her chest.
“Sit.”
She sat in the chair he pulled out and tensed when he squatted in front of her.
He took her hands and kissed both her palms before laying them flat on her thighs. “I am aware of how it must sound to you, but it was not my intention to upset you by admitting I have kept tabs on you. After you left me the last time, I felt the need to protect you. I could not do that if I was ignorant to the details of your life. I have never personally been inside your apartment, though I have seen you running through the park on three separate occasions. I have been by the gallery more often than that and have…observed you in your element. I sat in a small Thai restaurant and watched you with your friends, Miranda and Eric. Just the once. Again, I felt the need to see you around those you were most comfortable with.” He smoothed his hands over hers and kept going down her legs until he reached her calves. “You were the same. In every instance, you were…you. I was very impressed by that. Proud of you, if you