Gone - Anna Brooks Page 0,39
the power behind it is enough to speak a thousand. “Don’t fuckin’ talk to her like that. Respect.” Danny points at me. “Understand?”
Dr. Rickman is as taken aback as I am, but he clearly understands the influence Danny has, because he nods. “Yes, I’m sorry.” Then he turns to me. “What can I help you with, Isabel?”
“Um. Grant’s here. He brought samples.”
Danny pushes up from the seat. “Isabel is going to show me out. Don’t forget what I said.” He turns on his heel and motions for me to walk ahead of him. I scurry away but can feel him behind me. Men don’t normally intimidate me, but Danny is no ordinary man.
When we reach the front desk area, Jesse eyeballs me bewildered, and I can’t see myself, but I’d imagine I look a lot like her right now. Grant lifts his head, and I have no clue what to say, so I merely tilt my lips as I walk past him. Danny puts his hand on my elbow and steers me outside where he walks around the corner and presses me up against the brick, out of sight.
“Hi.” His voice is gentle unlike the hold he has on my arm.
“Hello, Danny.” I could puke right now. This man terrifies me to no end. Does he seriously think that after what he did to Mario and the position he put me in that I’d want anything to do with him? It’s enough I had to see him once a month to pay him, but now he’s having meetings with my boss. No matter why he’s here, it’s definitely not good… not good at all.
He drops his hand from my arm finally, and I press my palm to my stomach. He’s never given me an indication that he’d physically hurt me, but I don’t trust him for a single second. “It’s been a while.”
Only a couple of weeks, really. “I guess so.”
“Ah, Isabel, no need to be frightened. I’d never hurt you.”
I want to laugh, but worry overrides that emotion, and I can do nothing but wait. He may think that physical pain is all that counts, but he’s already tampered with my emotions to no end. Seeing what he can do and understanding the actual aftereffects of his wrath is a level of fear I didn’t even know existed.
“There is no need for you to be afraid. Surely, your man relayed that message.”
“What message?”
“I should rephrase that.” He chuckles eerily. “You didn’t have a reason to be frightened before, but even more so now that Damien has secured your debt.”
My mouth opens and closes like a guppy. “What are you talking about?”
He snickers. “It means that I have agreed, reluctantly, to transfer your debt over to Damien.” He winks at the shock on my face. “With stipulations, of course.”
“Wh… what are those?”
“He hasn’t shared?”
“No, he’s gone right now for work.” I curse myself internally because that was one of the dumbest things I could ever have said. Letting him know I’m alone right now… idiot.
Danny leans in and rubs his thumb across my cheek. I hate to admit that up close his features are mesmerizing. It’s also messed up to confess that he’s really, really good looking… an unusually hot combination. His eyes are sky, slate, and liquid steel, his skin is a shade darker than tan, his jet-black hair on top is long enough to be slicked back, and his cheekbones and jawline are sharp and perfectly symmetrical.
“I understand why he wants to keep you out of his business. If you were mine, I’d do the same thing.” He drops his arm. “Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s no secret that I want inside, but I know once wouldn’t be enough, and there is no place in my life for any type of comfort. There never will be. What I do is too dangerous, and I’m too possessive. Your boss in there.” He lifts his chin. “They’d never find the body. There is no way in fuck I’d allow him to treat you the way he does.”
“How do you know how he treats me?”
He smirks. “I have my ways. Now stay out of trouble, Isabel.” He starts to walk away backward. “Our paths should not cross again. However, I wouldn’t mind having a reason to see you again, so be as bad as you want.”
And with that, he disappears around the corner, and I sag against the wall in relief. That was weird. But most importantly, informative. I knew