Afterward, they lay side by side on their backs, breathing heavily. Her stomach growled, making her giggle. “I’m starving.”
“Let me order food.” He fumbled around for his robe, retrieving his cell phone from the pocket.
Seeing him do so was a stark reminder of her prisoner status, but she swallowed the angry words that rose and suppressed the urge to complain that she didn’t even have a way to communicate. It would serve no purpose because she hadn’t earned his trust yet, and the idea of arguing with him again when they had a tentative truce didn’t appeal to her.
When he’d stopped speaking with whichever of the kitchen staff he’d called, he surprised her by drawing her against him to cuddle. They didn’t speak, and she didn’t have the urge to break the silence.
Instead, her thoughts turned to the miserable childhood he must have endured. At least she had been mostly ignored by her father and raised by kind, if distant, nannies. Her nightmare hadn’t begun in earnest until she was thirteen, but he’d been a victim all through his childhood. Was it an adequate explanation for how he’d ended up so selfish and driven, without the limits of moral decency that bound most people? That was too simplistic, but she was certain it at least partially explained why he could be so cruel.
“Where is your sister?” she asked a few minutes later. “And your mother?”
“My mother lives in Florida with my second stepfather, who is a nice old guy. She’ll probably outlive him like she has her last two husbands.”
She frowned. “Did you do something to her second husband?”
Shane groaned. “Do you think I’m responsible for the death of everyone, babe? No, I had nothing to do with Jake croaking. They were only married a short time, so I had never even met him.”
Treading lightly to avoid further offense, she asked, “And your sister?”
“Siobhan is a ballerina in the city.”
She licked her lips, searching for a delicate way to phrase the question. “Does she know what you do?”
He hesitated. “Vague bits, but nothing concrete. I keep her separate from this life, Mia.”
She didn’t know whether to be touched by his protectiveness toward his sister or annoyed at the way he had dragged her kicking and screaming into the seedy underbelly of his lifestyle when she had escaped it long ago. Or had she? Had Aldo ever really let her go, or had he been biding his time for some reason known only to him? Would he have taken her in the future without warning?
Imagining his goons coming for her and what would have waited for her at Aldo’s hands made her shudder. Perhaps in some fucked up way, Shane had saved her from a far worse fate.
A tap on the door had her pulling the covers up to her chin. It opened a second later, and she groaned at the sight of Selena carrying a heavy tray. The older woman glared at her before giving Shane a polite smile. “Good morning, sir. Your breakfast, as requested.”
With what appeared to be perfect servitude, Selena set down the tray and lifted the salvers to reveal two plates of food. She poured two cups of coffee into silver cups, handing the first one to Shane before turning to her with the other.
Mia knew what was going to happen before the cup started to tip, but she had nowhere to go. The hot coffee splashed her shoulder and seeped through the blanket in a flash, making her hiss with pain.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. O’Mara. How clumsy of me.” The tone was contrite, but her dark eyes gleamed with satisfaction and hatred.
Shane ignored Selena as he jumped from the bed, still naked, and whisked Mia straight to the shower. She whimpered in agony when the cold water hit the burns on her shoulder and chest but sighed when the pain started to fade to numbness a minute or two later.
Shane left her to go to the bathroom door, hanging out his head to shout, “Call Dr. Burke and clear up the mess.”
The sight of his taut buttocks as he leaned around the doorjamb provided a bit of pain relief too, and she was surprised to find herself getting wet as he turned and came back to her. Her gaze remained on his shaft and her pussy twinged with want.
A second twinge, this one of pain, shot through her burned skin and distracted her from the carnality of her thoughts. As Shane knelt beside her again, she gritted her teeth, which wanted to chatter from the icy water. “She did it on purpose.”
He frowned. “Selena?” Shane shook his head. “She’s never been anything but competent. I rely on her to keep the household running smoothly.”
Mia shifted to allow the nearest nozzle to center on her shoulder. “She was rude to me the first night she met me, Shane. She called me a slut and worse. For whatever reason, she hates me, and she did this on purpose.” He scowled, and she expected him to protest again. Bracing herself to defend her accusation, she blinked when he spoke.
“I’ll get rid of her today.”
Mia frowned. “You don’t have to do that. Just please keep her away from me.”
He looked furious when he gently probed her shoulder, which bore the worst burn, since that area hadn’t been protected by the thick comforter. “Baby, if she did this deliberately, she’s lucky to get fired and not dropped in the river with concrete shoes.”
She cracked a small smile. “Do you mafia guys still use those? It seems like such a cliché.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Why mess with something when it works?”
