Disillusioned (Swept Away, #2)(17)

“Bianca!” David stood up and waved to me from a table by the wall, his face bright as he watched me walking toward him. I stopped at the table and took in his appearance. It was hard not to compare him to Jakob. Next to Jakob, David was a boy. Handsome, yes, but roguishly attractive, no. His face and build seemed almost babyish when compared to Jakob’s wall of muscle and sinew. David was a prince to Jakob’s king.

“Hello, David.” I smiled at him weakly as he stepped forward to give me a kiss. I turned my cheek quickly so his lips didn’t meet mine. I saw a slight frown on his face and knew it was going to be harder than I’d thought to fake it with him.

“You look stunning.” His eyes showed their appreciation for the efforts I’d made.

“Thank you.” I nodded and took a seat as he pulled my chair out. It was almost as if we were on a first date and his brother hadn’t kidnapped me.

“How are you?” He took a seat across from me and I kept my face passive, though a storm was brewing inside me. How do you think I am, motherf*cker? I smiled weakly and turned to the side. My body froze as I saw someone on the street peering through the front window. I furrowed my brows to get another look. Was it Steve? My heart was racing and I looked back at David, searching his face to see if this was a setup.

“What’s wrong?” He frowned and grabbed my hands.

How could I ever have thought he was cute? My stomach churned at the softness of his fingertips on my palms. “Nothing.” I looked back toward the window and the figure was gone.

“You look great.” He leaned forward. “Really beautiful.”

“Better than what you expected for someone that just came back from being kidnapped?” I raised an eyebrow at him and pulled my hands back. I wasn’t going to let him get away with this so easily.

“Bianca, I . . .” He sighed and sat back. “You’re mad at me?”

“Are you joking?” I shook my head. “Am I mad at you?” I laughed bitterly. “What do you think?”

“Well, it sounds as though you have some anger toward me.” He pursed his lips, and I think only then did he understand that this wasn’t about to be a night of hot sex between the two of us.

I leaned forward and went on the offensive. “Why did Mattias kidnap me?” This was my new strategy. I was going to go hard on the Mattias angle, even though I knew David was unlikely to tell me the truth. I hoped if I pushed hard on that point, he would answer my other questions without becoming suspicious.

“You were asking too many questions.” He shrugged.

“Did he kidnap me because he was worried I’d stop the merger from going through?”

“Bianca”—he bit down on his lower lip—“I really don’t know what to tell you. Mattias makes these decisions without me. I wish I could tell you what he wanted.”

“Mattias told me something about Maxwell when we were on the island.” I causally sipped some water, hoping the redness in my face wasn’t betraying my lie.

“Oh yeah?” He picked up a bottle of wine and looked at my glass. “Would you like some?”

“No, thanks.” I shook my head. No way was I drinking wine with David. I didn’t want to be drugged, and I didn’t want to end up in his bed either. “I’m sticking to water.”

“Fair enough.” He placed the bottle back on the table. “Shall we order before we get back to the deep conversation?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“I recommend the arctic char, though the pork chop with brussels sprouts is divine as well.”

“I’m not really a pork eater.” I opened the menu and looked down. I couldn’t afford to go too hard too fast or that would be it.

“You can’t go wrong with any of their entrées.”

“I might get the chicken.” Safe, plain, boring chicken. It was pretty hard to mess chicken up and I’d know if it was raw.

“The chicken is good.” He smiled widely. “So, Bianca, Bianca, Bianca, I was surprised when you called me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “The fact that Mattias kidnapped you and tried to scare you on the island with his henchman Steve?” He looked at me with a sad expression. “I’m so sorry. If I’d had any idea what he was capable of, I never would have told him you were looking for him.”

“So you knew?” I asked him softly, leaning forward. “When, exactly?”

“I—I—” He stuttered for a few seconds and looked at me with a sorrowful expression. “I thought he was joking when he told me his plan. I thought he was just saying stuff.”

“Where is Steve?” My eyes never left David’s face as I launched another question and waited to see his response.

“Steve?” He looked confused. “No idea, why?”

“Steve disappeared.”

“What?” David frowned and looked away for a second. I could see a vein throbbing in his neck. “Mattias must have done something to him.”

“He doesn’t know where Steve is.” I shook my head.

“That’s not possible.” David’s voice was rough. “He has to know where Steve is. He’s the one who sent Steve to the island. He thought it would be a good way to get you to trust him faster—said that the quickest way to make two people bond is to make them think they need to work together against a mutual enemy.” David gulped some more wine. “Steve was working for him.”