“Go ahead.”
“Watch your back.”
Cold shivers down my spine.
“I don’t give a damn what people say about that man—a slightly standoffish, well-mannered old-world gentleman and all that bullshit. He’s no personal assistant.” Antoine snorts.
“What makes you say that?”
“People who are aboveboard and have nothing to hide don’t have their past buried as deeply as this Tolya
n guy. And the reason people around her don’t say much is because they can’t. They don’t know anything about him worth mentioning. I don’t know why Elizabeth keeps him around, but it isn’t for his organizational skills.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Elizabeth
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?” Tolyan asks.
“I’m sure,” I say, pulling out another couple of dresses—one an asymmetrical cream wrap and one a turquoise dress with a sweetheart neckline and skirt that ends an inch above my knees. I hold one over my body, then the other.
Tolyan watches me. He enters and leaves Ryder’s Hollywood mansion at will without being detected. Even its fortress-like security can’t stop him. Ryder’s men are excellent, but nobody’s quite like Tolyan.
Thankfully, they don’t know Tolyan’s been coming and going as he pleases. Ryder’s place is so large, my privacy is more or less guaranteed, especially when I’m staying in the opposite end of the house from Ryder and his wife Paige’s master suite.
“What do you think?” I ask, unable to decide.
My closet overflows with tons of designer clothes I handpicked for an excellent and stylish fit. It should be simple to choose. But every time I’m about to settle on one, I feel like it isn’t quite right. I’m already over-packed for the trip. Maybe I should dig through my suitcase to find something I can wear on the flight.
Tolyan tilts his head, his flat eyes studying the two dresses I’m holding. “Demure or vivacious?”
“Vivacious.”
“Turquoise.”
“You think?” I swear he just throws out colors at me without thinking. But I ask anyway because I need to make a decision.
He sighs. “Why does it matter? You never spend this much time on an outfit.”
“You’re right…” I look away.
I want to impress and appear confident. I already wore my pink dress to the dinner, the one I wear every time I need that extra boost in confidence. Unfortunately, I can’t wear the same thing again, not so soon. Dominic will notice.
And even if he didn’t, I would wonder if he did.
Then there’s the sense of unease and anger that’s been plaguing me since the leaving the café with Kristen. It simply makes it impossible to be decisive.
“Anything in your closet is fine.” Tolyan’s soft voice is almost paternal—the closest I’ll ever get to having a father figure.
“I’m a little nervous, is all.” I’m even nursing a glass of Chardonnay to settle myself.
“Don’t be. You’ll get what you want out of Dominic. I’ll make sure of it.”
I nod and go to the huge walk-in closet to change.
“If you want, I can make you disappear,” Tolyan says when I come out, now in the turquoise dress.
“What?” I couldn’t have heard that right.