“I’m not finished.”
Approaching me with dominant authority, he took the bottle from my hand and set it on the coffee table. Then he did what I hated. He wrapped his arms around me.
“You’re okay,” he whispered.
I didn’t hug him back. “I hate you.”
“I know.” He squeezed me tighter. “But you can stop fighting anytime, love.”
“Don’t call me that.” I hated it. I hated that it was him saying it. I hated that his exact color eyes didn’t look like his brother’s.
I hated everything about anything.
But I really, really hated that his brother wouldn’t look at me.
So I fought.
Because it was the only outlet that made sense anymore.
It was the only time I felt safe.
Not the kind of safe when I had seven overly muscled bodyguards surrounding me, but the kind of safe in my head that said everything would be okay. The kind of safe I hadn’t had in ten years. The kind of safe that Ronan always made me feel.
“I’ll make you a deal.” Pulling back, Vance tucked my hair behind my ear.
“I don’t want a deal.” I’d had ten years of deals.
Smoothing my wrinkled dress over my shoulder, he smiled down at me. “This is a good deal.”
For a second, I swore I saw something in his eyes. Something I didn’t usually see. The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Why aren’t you trying to have sex with me?”
Flawless and perfect and with zero emotion attached to it, his smile spread across his face. “Should I?”
I didn’t answer. I stared at him.
I liked how I wasn’t Sanaa the famous singer with him. I liked how he treated me as not only an equal but as a real person. I even liked how he used fake charm to hide a streak in him that wasn’t one hundred percent ethical or well-intentioned.
But I didn’t actually like him.
“Right.” He chuckled softly and broke eye contact for a moment as he rubbed his hands down my arms. Then, lacing his fingers in mine as if he had a right to the intimate gesture, Vance brought his gaze back to me. “Are you ready for the deal?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“You’re too good for me, and I’m not your type.”
He was both wrong and right, but I didn’t argue. “What’s the deal?”
He gave me a cheeky grin. “No protest on that last statement?”
“No.”
His expression sobered. “Take the meeting and stick to the plan.”
I already was. “And?” I knew him enough to know that wasn’t all of it.
“Stop fighting with me and start fighting for what you really want.”
“I have more than enough money for a hundred lifetimes.” Suddenly uncomfortable, I pulled out of his grasp. “What could I possibly want?”
He grasped my chin. “You know exactly what you want.”
One knock and the door to the suite opened.
Tyler took in Vance’s hold on me, and his expression hardened. “Lobby secure. Showtime.”
My jaw tight, I dialed Luna.
He picked up on the first ring. “Luna.”
“Remind me to kill Vance when this is all over. Did you find anything new?” I’d been asking him a variation of the same damn question for two days. We were missing something.
“Hold.” A door opened in the background, then closed before Luna spoke again. “You someplace we can talk?”
I glanced around the empty suite a floor below the two penthouse suites where Vance and Sanaa were staying. Me, Harm, Ty and Tyler were using it as a base, and suddenly I wondered if Trefor, Vance or anyone on their team had bugged the place. “Yeah.”
“Did you know Vance has been making rounds through the lobby, outside grounds and parking garage for the past thirty-six hours?”
“Yeah.” We were all doing perimeter checks. Even Luna.
“Dressed in black,” he added.
“What the hell do I care what he wears?” But the second I said it, understanding hit. “Fuck.” I glanced down at my L&A black logo polo and black cargo pants. “Fuck.”
“My sentiment exactly,” Luna agreed.
“Every perimeter check he’s been dressed as me?” How the fuck had I not noticed this?
“No. He’s alternating. Hang on.” Luna clicked on a keyboard. “I hacked into the hotel’s security feeds two days ago, and I’ve been keeping an eye on things, but I should’ve noticed this yesterday. He’s not only alternating his outfit, he’s altering the path he takes each time. When he’s in all black, he takes one route, and when he’s in a suit, another. Systematic each time.”
I should’ve caught it too, but my head was so wrapped up in a