Disillusioned (Swept Away, #2)(21)

“You didn’t though, did you?” His expression changed. “You might be beautiful, Bianca, but your beauty isn’t enough to make me lose my head.”

I started then to realize that maybe David wasn’t as innocent as he had let on. Maybe he’d spoken to Mattias and told him things that had made him kidnap me. Maybe after all this, it was really about the money. Maybe my perfect charade hadn’t been so perfect after all.

“Shall we eat?” He nodded toward the food

My stomach churned. This was the last place I wanted to be right now. I’d made a mistake. Another big mistake. I shouldn’t have come here. Now more than ever, I needed to speak to Larry. David wasn’t going to lead me to Maxwell any more than he’d led me to Mattias. If history was any indicator, David would be on the phone to warn Maxwell that I was trying to find him. I needed to learn to be smarter. I needed to keep my mouth shut. I was wasting precious time and energy with David. Time I should have spent trying to figure out where Larry was. Larry was the man with the key to answers I needed. I’d been making fun of David’s lack of detective skills, but maybe I was the one that was about to fail the academy.





five


Dinner ended awkwardly, but I didn’t care. I left the restaurant eagerly? but my journey home wasn’t as satisfying as it used to be after a long night out. My home used to be my refuge, my comfort in good times and bad. Now it was just a place to rest my head. Even when all I wanted to do was walk into my apartment and head to my bed, I hesitated. My keys were in the lock, but I didn’t want to turn them. Some part of me was scared to open the door. My body was on edge; the hairs on my arms standing at attention, the voice in the back of my head telling me to go somewhere else. My apartment was no longer the place I could seek solace. It was a place I wanted to hide from. It held too many secrets, had seen too many things. And I didn’t feel safe there anymore. It doesn’t matter how many doors I lock or how many windows I close, I know that someone can still get inside.

My fingers trembled on the keys, their grip tight but unwilling. I took a deep breath and shook my head, annoyed at myself for being so silly. Nothing was going to happen to me. Nothing at all. I opened the door and stepped inside quickly, shutting it behind me. Only two seconds later did I feel the hand on my mouth.

“Be quiet, Bianca,” he whispered in my ear, and I froze, my body relaxing against my will, melting back into him and letting him know how much I’d missed him.

“Jakob?” I said finally as I turned around to face him.

His blue eyes were angry as he stared at me. “Why did you have dinner with David?”

“So much for the pleasantries,” I grumbled. “?‘How are you, Bianca?’ ‘I’m fine. How are you, Jakob?’ ‘I’ve been better.’ ‘Oh, me too.’?”

“Stop muttering to yourself.” He grunted, but I could see a hint of a smile on his face.

“What are you doing in my apartment? How did you get in here?” I glared at him. “And is this the first time you’ve been in here?”

“Tell me why you had dinner with David.” He glared back at me and his eyes dropped to my lips. I couldn’t stop myself from taking him in wholly. It hadn’t been so long since I’d last seen him, but it felt like months and months.

“And you look so sexy,” he growled. “Why?”

“Why do I look sexy?” I frowned at him, secretly thrilled that he’d called me sexy. I felt that my body was a traitor to the rest of me.

“Why did you go to dinner with David looking sexy?”

“You know I used to date him,” I said childishly, looking for a reaction.

“And you said that was for a reason. You said you never had sex with him—or did you lie?”

“We didn’t have sex, not that it’s your business, but we also did more than nothing.”

“Oh?” His eyes narrowed and he grabbed my wrists and pulled me toward him. “Did you do more than nothing tonight as well?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Goddamnit, Bianca.” His arms circled my waist and he peered down at me. “Why do you make this so f*cking hard?” He pulled me into him as his lips came dangerously close to mine. His eyes were dark with desire.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I gasped, my heart beating fast as my hands clutched his shoulders, not wanting to let go.

“What I should have done as soon as I saw you.” His lips crashed down onto mine, taking possession and dominating as his tongue forced its way into my mouth. His lips took control of my tongue and sucked on it hard. My brain became mush as he filled my senses, completely overwhelming every internal protest trying to escape.

“Oh, Bianca,” he muttered against my lips as his fingers played in my hair. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.”

“Been thinking about me stopping the merger?” I responded churlishly as he sucked on my lower lip.

“No.” His eyes met mine and his teeth bit down on my lip.

“Ouch! That hurt.”

“You deserve to be punished. You didn’t listen to me.”

“Listen to you? About what?”

“I told you not to trust David.”