Page 52 of Ruthless Devotion
“You’ve got some interesting reading choices.”
Aidan smirks. “Are you shocked I can read?”
“More curious if they’re yours or if they were your uncle’s or your father’s.”
Aidan’s expression goes dark when I mention his father, and I immediately regret it. But it doesn’t look like grief, more like anger. He was so young when he lost his parents. Why would he be angry?
“They’re mine,” he says.
“All of them?”
“Yes. And I’ve read them all.” Aidan crosses to the bookshelf and pulls out a pink leather bound book with silver foiling on the outside. He hands the book to me.
If I’d noticed this book before seeing Meditations, I might not have discovered the secret passage. I can’t believe what I’m holding in my hands right now.
It’s a copy of Pride and Prejudice.
“You haven’t read this,” I say as though I’m accusing him of something.
“I haven’t?” Aidan asks. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
I just stare at him.
“It’s one of the best opening lines ever written, and you have to admit, Jane Austen knows her stuff. I mean, look at us.”
Aidan indicates a row of pink books behind him. “I have all of her novels.”
This man has killed people. He’s running a criminal enterprise. A vicious snake tattoo slinks up the side of his neck drawing the eye to the harsh scar on his face, and he’s read Pride and Prejudice enough times to have memorized the opening line?
“What’s the matter, Maddie? Am I messing up your evil villain profile?”
He is, actually. Has no one else noticed these books on his shelf? Jane Austen isn’t exactly the kind of reading material a man who wants to look lethal has lying around.
“Maybe you planted them just for me to find. To soften me up. I can’t imagine these books raise your profile in the criminal underworld.”
“No, but I killed the man who made a snide comment about it, and that did raise my profile.”
I can’t tell if he’s joking.
Aidan sighs. “I’ve got to go take care of some business. I’ll be gone for a few days. Cora will take care of anything you require while I’m gone. I’ve instructed security not to let you go anywhere without an escort, and Vinny will be happy to drive you wherever you need to go.” He moves behind the desk, opens the middle drawer, and passes a long white envelope to me.
“What’s this?”
“I added you as an authorized user to my black card two weeks ago. It’s your copy of the card in your name.”
“You aren’t afraid I’ll buy a private jet and flee the country?”
“I get alerts of all charges over a certain amount.”
“So no private jet?”
Aidan shakes his head. “No private jet.”
“Damn.”
Aidan ushers me out of his study and locks the door.
“What about…” I realize I’m still holding Pride and Prejudice.
