Page 45 of Bossy Trouble

“It’s not important,” he responded, and then suddenly, his eyes dropped to around my neckline.

I felt a shift in the atmosphere when he did, even though his expression didn’t change. I squirmed a little in my seat. Why was he watching me? I couldn’t read him very well.

“So you’re positive you didn’t find anything that might lead us to Donovan’s true motive?” he asked again in a much quieter voice.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I responded. “Why?”

His arctic eyes suddenly flipped up to mine. “Nothing. I’d just hate to think you’re hiding something from me.”

A trickle of fear ran up my spine. There was something about this man that made me uncomfortable, like he was a snake coiled into a ball at my feet, waiting to pounce.

“I’m not hiding anything,” I told him.

He was quiet, and my apprehension grew. Not for the first time, I thought maybe I should call off this deal altogether. Instinct was telling me that I had made a mistake by dealing with Alexander. After all, how much did I know this stranger?

The devil you know is better than the angel you don’t.Why didn’t I remember the adage before I got myself into this mess?

“It’s good that you’re not hiding anything,” he said, and his last words sent my stomach drawing into a ball. “You don't want to betray me, Ms. Peyton. Because I assure you, I’m a very dangerous enemy to have.”

He waited until I nodded, my throat tight. Then, without touching his food, he got up and walked out without another word.

Only then could I take a breath, shaking my head and wondering just what on earth I got myself into.

The waitress came around to tell me that Alexander had already paid for the food and then asked me if I wanted anything, but I shook my head. At that point, my appetite had disappeared, and I just wanted to go home. I headed to the bathroom to freshen up before I did, and that was when I saw it.

The thing that probably set Alexander off.

I moved my collar a little to see it in its fullness and gasped.

There was a big red hickey on my neck.

18

DONOVAN

Restlessness rustled through me.

I was still at the office and had been there for several hours already.

I would have liked to say that most of that time was spent productively, but then I would have been lying. I couldn’t focus on my work because my mind wandered constantly, and finally, about an hour earlier than usual, I gave up, throwing down my pen and going to sit on the couch on the balcony instead. The office had a terrace overlooking the entire financial district, and I watched people hustling up and down the street. It was rush hour, and everyone was in a hurry to get home. To their families, I supposed.

It was the same reason I told Georgia to go home once I came back from lunch with the sheikh. She initially refused, but I forced her to leave two hours later. There was nothing urgent that she needed to take care of at the office, and she probably needed to go spend time with her kid. I knew that quality time was important for a growing child.

Not that I would know.

I ran my fingers over my head, feeling like my brain was a constant stream of thoughts. They were arranged into two major topics.

First was how to get my company out of the mess my father put it in. And the second was what to do about my relationship with Georgia.

And unfortunately, the two were growing more intertwined in more ways than one.

With Georgia’s company now under my conglomerate, it was inextricably linked to me. Any scandal that befell Dresden Inc. would affect her as well. And it was becoming increasingly crucial that that did not happen.

Even if it all fell apart, I needed to make sure Georgia was taken care of, and her life work was not destroyed.

The realization bothered me. The fact that Georgia’s well-being was so important to me meant that I cared about her. She was extremely meaningful to me. It was startling. Even though I’d always carried some affection for the girl, it wasn’t like this before—this intense, this…distracting. At least, I didn’t think it was.

Something changed between us in the past few days.

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