Page 25 of Nemesync
I reached for my glass of whiskey, needing to stop my brain from overthinking again.
This time, there were no sexist remarks from my father’s guest. Instead, Zaidan smiled, “Good choice, shows you have taste.”
Who was this Zaidan? I had never heard of him before tonight. He was trying too hard to come across as charming. But then his eyes lingered on my cleavage before meeting mine again.
There he was, I knew my father couldn’t just have a meeting with a respectable man.
The Emir, Elias Dellé had to show off, talking about his achievements and me. He loved to remind people that his daughter knows how to catch a lie just by looking at their eyes. “As I was telling Zaidan, you studied criminology, specializing inprofiling. You’ve been a major help on several projects of mine,” my father boasted.
Major help? I did most of the fucking work.
Zaidan smiled coldly but with interest, “Ah, so that’s why I get those intense looks from you? You’re studying me? I thought I had charmed you.”
Rolling my eyes, I retorted, “I observe because I don’t know you, and it’s always interesting to see how people behave and what it reveals about them.”
My father chuckled, “Watch out, Zaidan, this one bites.”
The comment made my skin crawl.
Breathe Z, breathe.
Zaidan’s foot touched mine, and I couldn’t determine if it was accidental. I hoped for his sake that it was, but his smug smirk suggested otherwise. “No problem, it doesn’t bother me,” he remarked.
“I don’t think that’s the point. My father only brings me along when he needs someone to read beyond the words of the people he’s dealing with. I catch liars, traitors, and anyone too stupid to hide things from me.”
He smiled and turned towards me after glancing at my father. “Is that so?”
“Men have never had the talent women do for focusing on details,” I replied, not looking away from him.
Intellect has always been a woman’s forte, outshining the brightest men. I was convinced that women’s intelligence could break in pieces the illusion of male superiority, if they only had the courage and the protection to speak up without fear of judgment or reprisals.
I personally loved shattering men’s fragile egos with knowledge, because I had worked harder than they had to earn my place among the ranks of my own family.
Isn’t it painful to understand? I had to be the best, to be something in the eyes of my own bloodline.
Father chuckled as if I’d just told the funniest joke ever. “I don’t think it’s a talent, but since people don’t necessarily take you women seriously, you have the advantage of catching us by surprise.”
Bastard.
Zaidan contradicted him, holding his gaze on me. “I agree with her. Women have an indescribable talent for remembering details and paying attention to hidden things.”
Surprised, I widened my eyes and glanced at my father, who clenched his jaw.Feeling rejected? Oh, poor boy.“I need to freshen up; I’ll be back.”
Zaidan turned back to me, his leg still trying to enter my personal space under the table. “Zanae, a beautiful name for an incredibly beautiful woman, I must admit. Who gave you that name?”
“Honestly, I have no idea, certainly not my father, given his lack of interest in anything that concerns me.”
He laughed for a moment. “In addition to being beautiful and intelligent, you’re funny.”
I tilted my head, trying to decrypt his intentions. “Are you flirting with me?”
His gaze lingered on my lips, his tongue darting out to lick his own before returning to my eyes. “I asked your father to bring you to this little meeting.”
“Why?”
His hand grazed my arm on the cold marble surface. Though he wasn’t touching me, his skin was in contact with mine, and I didn’t feel an ounce of comfort. I hated it even.
“I heard about you, the prodigious girl who is dragged everywhere by her family, helping her father detectuntrustworthy people in his inner circle, his hidden right-hand. Do you know what they say about you?”
