Page 42 of Worth the Risk

CHAPTER SIX

Gideon

I WATCHEDHER leave the deck, my cock on fire and my insides all twisted up once again. What was supposed to be an enjoyable interlude had turned into something else.

She reached the stairs and glanced back at me, a contemplative look in her eyes that unsettled me further. It said she saw beneath my surface, perhaps saw something even I wasn’t aware of. I wanted to race after her, demand she tell me.

I stayed put and let the moment pass until she left the deck.

Maybe I was overthinking things. I blamed that email sitting in my inbox and the flurry of emails from Aunt Flo that had followed it.

As if conjured up by my thoughts, my phone buzzed, displaying a picture of Aunt Flo.

With more than a little trepidation, I snatched it up. ‘Calling to check up on me?’

‘You haven’t answered any of my emails. Do you need checking up on?’

‘Probably.’

‘Should I be worried?’ Aunt Flo asked.

My irritation dissolved and I smiled. ‘No.’

‘Good. Now, tell me how the business with the Russian is going.’

I filled her in, welcoming the chance to dwell on something other than Leonora. Or Damian. Or Bryce. Or, dammit...my feelings.

‘Hmm, I’ve dealt with a troublesome Russian once or twice in my time.’

I laughed. ‘I feel a bout of sage advice coming on.’

‘The trick is to drink them under the table first. Once you show your stamina they’ll be yours for life.’

‘I need him sober to sign on the dotted line.’

Aunt Flo snorted. ‘Well, that’s unfortunate. But you’re clever. That’s why you’re my favourite.’

The peculiar note in her voice drew me up short. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘I’m fine. You know I always get a little low just before my birthday. Besides, I didn’t call to talk about me.’

Her voice had grown soft, a sure sign that I wouldn’t like what was coming. ‘Whatever you called to tell me, let’s have it.’

She sighed. ‘I know you haven’t opened the email. But there’s no other way to say this, my dear. Your cousin is back.’

The sunshine beating down on my shoulders turned arctic. ‘Say that again.’

‘Damian is back in London.’

‘Did we or did we not agree I wouldn’t kill him on condition he stayed away for a bloody long time? And by a bloody long time I mean indefinitely. The last I checked indefinitely wasn’t three fucking years.’

‘Things were said in the heat of the moment that night, Gideon. I had to get you out of there before you two killed each other. I’m hoping cooler heads will prevail now—’

‘I wouldn’t hold your breath. You give me too much credit if you think I’m anywhere near as calm as you want me to be.’

‘You can’t avoid each other for ever,’ she snapped, her voice brusque once again. ‘And, like it or not, he’s still a member of this family.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong. He means less than nothing to me.’

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