Page 14 of The Recluse’s Obsession

And I fall in love.

There are no other words to appropriately describe it.

It’s a ballroom, complete with murals on the ceilings, stunning chandeliers and polished hardwood floors.

The entire inner wall is one giant gilded mirror complete with elegant scrollwork. The outer windows are just as drapeless as the upstairs penthouse windows, but these ones are arched and scrolled in gold to match the decor.

It’s like something out of a fairy tale and my mouth gapes as I spin in a circle. “Oh, my God.”

“You like it?” Jared asks.

I face him and there’s a look in his eyes, a touch of vulnerability that makes my stupid chest squeeze again. I nod, because I can’t lie. This is a room taken straight out of my dreams. “I love it. It’samazing.”

He does that caressing thing with his knuckles over my cheek again. “Good. Good. I hoped you would.”

I gasp. “Youhoped…you had this done…for me?”

“Hmm,” he half-growls and he glances away, as if he doesn’t want me to read his expression. “Do you ever dance in those flats?” he asks without looking at me.

I frown down at my feet. “No.”

“Didn’t think so.” He reaches into his pocket for his phone. He rasps a torrent of French—I assume to one of the housekeepers—and ends the call. “While we wait, we’ll go through the rules. I’m sure you’ve noticed the security I have up here. Tell me you won’t disappoint me by doing anything stupid like your father and attempt to run?” he bites out.

“You’ve already told me you and, I presume, your guards have been watching my every move. Most of the rooms in this place have cameras and all the outer doors require a handprint and biometric eye scan to access them. How am I going to get out?” I snap.

A shadow of a smile twitches his lips. “As long as we’re on the same page.”

We’re not. He’s forcing me to be his captive until he finds my father. But telling him that will just prolong the inevitable. And risk him getting pissed off again.

That hint of a smile intrigued me. It certainly stoked the strange fire building inside me, ignited a yearning to see more of it.

But I sense movement and spot Noelle standing in the doorway, my pointe shoes clutched in her hands.

She hands them to Jared and shuts the door.

The intense look is back when he holds them out to me. “Dance for me.”

Self-consciousness swallows me whole.

I’m used to dancing in a group setting, with people I know and trust—up to a point. I’m not used to a fixated audience of one who exhibits unexpected gallantry but looks a whisker away from going feral. “R-right now?”

“Why the hell not? Do you have somewhere else to be?”

The sudden edge of cruelty to his tone proves my point. I want to say yes, I have a dozen appointments. Dinner with friends and walks through the park followed by mindless shopping.

But we both know it’ll be a lie.

He’s been watching me for weeks. He knows my routine probably more thoroughly than I know it myself.

He’ll know I go from home to studio and back again most days. That my only indulgence is my coffee stop one block from home. That the only thing I have resembling a friend is the neighbor’s dog I stop to pet whenever I meet him outside our brownstone.

I snap back into focus when Jared’s hand curls over my neck to drag me close.

“Just in case you’re thinking up an excuse, you should realize that no isn’t an option,” he growls against my lips after stealing another hard kiss.

Anger bubbles up but, dammit, it dies far too quickly. Because he’s asking me to do the one thing I love most in the world. The one thing I’m good at despite what my father thinks. Despite the challenges that have stopped me turning my passion into my profession.

And hell, maybe doing this, pleasing him might make him more lenient toward my father when he eventually finds him.When, not if.

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