“See you tomorrow,” I tell her.
When she leaves I make a point of ignoring Eric and he puts the same effort into watching me while we eat.
“I heard you spoke to your father the other day,” he states.
I chance looking at him. “Yes.”
“How did it go?”
Awful.I want to say it was awful and hard but I don’t. The less I say about anything the better.
“It was difficult but I managed.”
There’s a moment of silence and I return to the food on my plate. I know he’s getting ready to strike. What I can’t stand about him is he’s unpredictable.
I return my gaze to him when he continues watching me.
“What now?”
He finishes chewing on a piece of chicken before he answers.
“I’m still trying to figure you out. It’s not often that I come across people I can’t make heads or tails of.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t bother. I’m sure a man like you has better things to do than worry about trying to figure out one woman.”
The corner of his lip turns up into a predatory smile. “Depends on the woman, Babydoll. Men like me have spent their entire lives obsessing over a woman who intrigued them.”
“There’s nothing intriguing about me.” I shake my head.
“Oh Summer Reeves, it’s never good to lie to yourself. Shouldn’t do it baby. Not when there’s a fuck ton to intrigue me about you. I’m still wondering what sent you to Club Montage.”
This again. At least I got to finish half of what’s on my plate before there was any discussion of my former life to turn my stomach.
“Are you going to tell me to put me out of my misery?” he adds.
“No.”
He holds my gaze and I can practically see him thinking about whatever the hell he would have seen on the website. I know what pictures were on the main site and they were all designed to make me look like a slut.
“Are the pictures still on the website?” I ask in a weak voice.
That asshole Cassius—and Robert, for that matter—are the kind of people to keep them. As Cassius was the main owner, he came up with the most disgusting ideas. It won’t matter that they think I’m dead, he’d still find a way to use my pictures.
“They were.”
“Were?” I narrow my eyes. “So they’re not there anymore?”
“I have them. All of them.” He speaks with a deadly calmness that grips me. “I removed all of them from the site and any private files containing images of you and any information. As far as anyone is concerned, you were never there.”
My lips part and while I can hear everything he’s saying to me, I just can’t believe it.
Everything he said is good and something I could only dream of, but there’s an element to it that’s not good. That part is illustrated by the wealth of dark possession brimming within the depths of his eyes. And the fact that he said he has all the pictures.
Why would he need them?
A playful smile inches over his lips and he looks me over.
“Speechless?” he asks.