“Ah. Much better.”
Dimitri didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. I knew his eyes were on me even though mine were closed. He had such a penetrating stare that I could feel it anywhere, and it made me shiver with unrequited anticipation. Our quick encounter in the desert had been a fluke, not something he seemed eager to repeat.
So why had he brought me here?
I opened my eyes, and just like I thought, Dimitri was watching me, my shirt crumpled in his hands. I couldn’t read his expression, and that bothered me more than I expected.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
He only stared at me, those dark eyes unreadable, but there was a faint line etched between his brows.
I stood up, not sure why I felt the need to go to him. Maybe it was just being sensorily overwhelmed, his striking face and powerful body against such a gorgeous backdrop. Or maybe I sensed that he wanted to tell me what was on his mind.
And that was when I realized I reallywantedhim to. I wanted to know more about this complicated man. Why he’d chosen this life for himself, what he’d lost along the way that had closed him off so much. The things he liked and loved, his family, the people he kept close and trusted.
Why he was really keeping me around…
I took another step toward him. “Who are you,mon monstre? Will you show me?”
Dimitri took in a deep breath through his nose, like he was preparing to open up, but the second he let it out, a wary look entered his eyes and he stepped back.
“The house has five bedrooms,” he said, thrusting my shirt back into my hands and then heading back inside the house. “There’s no chef, so if there’s something you want, get it yourself.”
I bit back a sigh and followed him inside, forgoing putting the shirt back on. I was so close. I could feel it. He’d almost opened up, just a little. But Dimitri was a stubborn, stubborn man, something I was all too familiar with, and he’d snapped shut and locked himself away like a private diary.
I’d get my hands on that key, though. Being here, in his private sanctuary, was a step in the right direction, and it only proved he didn’t think I was as much of a threat as he’dproclaimed. I’d never let an enemy intomyhome, so whether he wanted to admit it yet or not, he didn’t see me as his enemy.
Whatexactly he saw me as remained to be seen.
29
DIMITRI
THERE WAS A very real possibility I’d lost my mind.
Bringing Benoit to my home—my real home. Giving my guards and my staff their leave.
It was an unconventional decision, one Omar had tried to talk me out of until I’d sent him packing. Not for good, but until I needed him again. We were in the thick of the holiday season, and I wasn’t such an asshole that I’d keep them away from their families this week.
Benoit, on the other hand, I didn’t give a fuck about keeping for myself. I didn’t fully understand why, not when he’d proven himself to be a liar. I didn’t tolerate liars. Didn’t welcome them into my house.
So what the fuck had I been thinking bringing him to Santorini? This island held the memories of my life, both good and bad, and it drew me back time and time again. It was my private sanctuary, the one place I felt the most at ease, though I didn’t think I could fully relax anywhere. It just wasn’t in my nature.
The morning after we’d arrived, I’d been working in the living room, in an oversized leather chair that I’d worn in over the years until it was smooth and faded, when Benoit slippedinside. The man didn’t know the meaning of rolling out of bed—his skin was always flawless, hair perfectly done to his liking. Even in a pair of linen pajamas he probably never would’ve worn of his own volition, Benoit was…
Well, he was stunning. And that was the problem.
“I made myself at home in your kitchen and brewed a cappuccino,” he said, holding a steaming mug as he came to stand in front of me. “You don’t mind, do you?”
With the sarcasm that laced his voice, I knew he wasn’t actually asking for my permission. I doubted he’d ever had to do that in his life, not with the way he waltzed through it so easily. He charmed men to get what he needed. Hell, maybe even women. Considering I didn’t know if anything he’d ever told me was the truth, I didn’t really know all that much about him.
Other than the fact he wanted to push my buttons now.
“I’m surprised you know how,” I said, returning my attention to the file in my lap. “Don’t you thrive on having some rich schmuck at your beck and call?”
“Nah, just one of their many staff—oh, wait. You don’t seem to have any of those here. How peculiar. Did they all turn out to have hidden agendas too, or did you get bored one day and use them for shooting practice?”
“I’m not as high maintenance as you seem to be.”
