Chapter 8
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I twist a little under Christian’s gaze at he stares at me, wordless, G od – the intensity of it. I mean, I had just tried to make a little joke, but the
way he’s looking at me?
I mean, what on earth is he thinking?
“Master is clear, boss,” Nico says, striding out of the main bedroom and heading for the kitchen almost precisely at the same time that Frankie does.
“Rest of the apartment too,” Frankie adds, joining Nico as they start to dig through the fridge. I watch them, awkwardly wondering what the hell happens next.
I mean, do I just…sit here, in Christian’s suit jacket, until they tell me I can go? And wait – when will that be?
“Do you want a bottle of water?” Christian asks, making me jump, and I turn my head up to him. He smirks at my surprise and leans down towards me, just an inch. “It’s just a bottle of water, Iris. You don’t have to look at me like I’m offering you a choice between life and death.”
I instantly narrow my eyes at him, scowling, and he smirks like he always used to do. G od, we did this a thousand times as a kid – Christian used to love to tease me. Not about anything mean, like other kids. And then I’d scowl, and he’d smirk – just like that.
“So?” he says, glancing at Nico and Frankie in the kitchen, “water?”
“Um, sure,” I say, shrugging. “If…it’s not too much trouble.”
Christian shakes his head at me before calling to Nico to toss him a bottle. It flies through the air a moment later and Christian catches it neatly with one hand before holding it out to me.
“You’re not a burden, Iris,” he murmurs, his voice rumbling. “You’ll be comfortable here.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves on that,” Nico chimes in, his voice cold as he walks over. I sit up straight, my
eyes moving to the black piece of plastic that’s suddenly appeared in his hand. I know instantly that it’s a metal detector – we use them at the club.
“Get that out of here, Nic-” Christian snaps, glaring at Nico. “It’s not necessary
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“The hell it isn’t!” Nico protests, glaring hard right back at Christian. “I know that you’ve got some kind of white- knight deal going on with this girl, Chris, but we are not breaking protocol just because
“Where would she even hide anything.” Frankie interrupts, coming to stand next to Nico and taking a swig out of his own water bottle. “Come on, Nic, you hauled her out of the club with nothing but two fistfuls of cash and a bikini – there’s nothing going on
“This newest generation of covert listening devices are tiny!” Nico insists, looking between Christian and Frankie as I blush, embarrassed and a little angry to be talked about like I’m not there. “She could be hiding anything-
“Go for it.” I snap, standing up suddenly and dropping the bottle of water on the couch before letting Christian’s blazer slide from my arms, I drape it over the back of the couch before slowly turning back to Nico and brushing my long hair back over my shoulders, deliberately moving slow and se xy like I do when I’m dancing, trying to make him uncomfortable. “I’ve got nothing hide.”
I stand then with my hands on my waist, glaring at the three of them, because they kidnapped me and I didn’t do anything wrong. So I’m sure as hell not going to sit around and let them debate whether I’m some kind of mafia
spy.
“Thanks, Bambi, you’re a real peach,” Nico says, his voice dry as he takes a step forward, deliberately not looking at my nearly naked body. But Christian just smacks a hand against Nico’s chest, stopping him in his tracks.
“I’ll do this,” he snarls. “If you insist on being ridiculous.”
Nico readily offers the wand. “Be my guest.”
Christian clenches his jaw as he takes the wand before stepping close to me. I hold my arms out to the side like I’ve done before at the airport. “Will this do?” I ask, my voice overly sweet, my eyes locked with Nico’s. “Because I know other positions too.”
Nico’s face stays grave, but Frankie’s mouth twists in a smirk as he clearly works to hold back laughter.
Christian just sighs, beginning to slowly wave the metal detector along the length of my left arm, starting at my finger tips and moving inwards.
“Check her hair,” Nico directs. “Could have something on…a bobby pin or whatever.”
I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to Christian, though I’m pleased to see that he’s rolling his eyes too. He checks me thoroughly though, and I find that I’m a little distracted by the closeness of him – the way his hand
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Chapter 8
drifts so close to me, but never touches.
The way I can feel his body heat coming off him.
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Despite myself, my breath comes a little shorter as I watch his muscles move under his shirt as he swipes the detector over my body. This close, I can smell him, and go d but he smells good. Like leather, and whiskey, and…
I throat, deliberately looking up and away.
E
Christian finishes my upper half and torso, finding nothing, as I knew he would. I’m not wearing any metal. tonight-not even any earrings. He puts a gentle hand on my shoulder and turns me, sweeping the wand down my back and then surprising me by dropping to one knee, waving the wand over my butt and then down my legs.
“Make sure you check my shoes,” I say, shooting a sarcastic glance over my shoulder at Nico. “They’re about the only place big enough to put anything.”
“Not true,” Nico says, equally dry, glaring at me. “How do we know you didn’t -”
I gasp, spinning suddenly, appalled at his clear implication. “We are not doing a body cavity examination, you
a ss-”
“Enough,” Christian says, loud and sharp.
I snap my mouth shut, glaring at Nico, who glares right back. Christian sighs, looking between us, before tossing the wand to Nico. “She’s clean. Obviously. Apologies, Iris, but it is protocol. You’ll forgive me, I know.”
I look up at Christian then and nod to him, grateful that he’s at least being polite about it.
“Come on,” he says, wrapping a hand around my upper arm. “Let’s get you some warmer clothes.”
I follow him, of course – I mean, I don’t want to be left here with Nico, of all people. Christian leads me around the couch and towards the hallway, which I guess leads to other rooms. Honestly, how big is this place?
“You’d better not be taking her to my room!” Nico calls after us, suddenly mad,
“Oh, I am definitely taking her to your room,” Christian calls back. “You can sleep on the couch for once, cousin.”
I blink up at Christian in surprise as we walk down the short hall, entering the first room on the left. “You have a
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cousin?”
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Christian nods sharply, closing the door to the room behind us and dropping my arm as he goes to the closet. I look around the room, which is neat and clean, but doesn’t look like a room that belongs to anyone. Like the rest of the apartment, it’s well-appointed and comfortable but there is…no personality here. No pictures, no personal belongings.”Oh,” I say, feeling awkward again as I stand nearly naked in the middle of the room. “I thought he was your…bodyguard, or something.”
“He’s both,” Christian answers, coming out of the closet with a black sweatshirt and a pair of basketball shorts, both of which are going to be gigantic on me. I smirk, taking them.
“Is your cousin/bodyguard going to be pissed that I’m wearing his clothes?”
“These are mine,” Christian sighs, slipping his hands into his pockets and turning around. “All the laundry gets. dropped off together.”
I frown at him, confused. “Why are you facing the wall?” I ask.
“So you can get changed,” he says, like it’s obvious.
“Oh,” I say, blinking rapidly. I hesitate before doing as he says. He’s the Mafia King, after all.
And so as my childhood crush stands three feet away, with his back to me, I raise my hand to the back of my
neck and pull at the tie that’s holding my top up.
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