Restrained (Sterling Family #3)

9. Hayden

9

HAYDEN

I hate that she doesn’t back down. That she doesn’t fear me whatsoever. I also know I'm showing my cards way too much around her. I tried to slip in the question about Penelope casually, but it didn’t work and came out random and awkward.

Which is so not me.

This woman throws me off my game, and I don’t like it.

“How about we skip the questions and get back to work?”

She smells way too good, not like expensive designer perfume which I expected. No. Instead she smells sweet, like honey with a hint of something flowery.

And I don’t hate it.

“One thing that needs to be made perfectly clear, Ms. Sterling.” I’m an asshole. I’ve never claimed not to be. I should probably back off, but I don’t. My mouth hovers only inches away from hers. “I’m in charge. I’m calling the shots, and if I want to get to know the people that are working for me, then I will.”

Her small hand rests on my chest, which catches me off guard for a moment, unsure of where she’s going with her touch until she pushes me backward, giving her small body space from my much larger one. “Penelope is off-limits.”

“Are you jealous?” My question quickly causes fire to expel from her eyes in my direction, but she doesn’t intimidate me either. “Is that what this is, Lola? Pissed-off I didn’t try to dig deeper into your life?”

“Of course not.”

But I'm not so sure she’s telling the truth. Her haughty attitude and folded arms tell a different story. And I have to admit, she awakens a part of me that hasn’t felt anything in a long time. “You sure?”

“Positive.” Her teeth are clenched, and it’s clear she’s rattled. The fact that I’ve managed to jar her, when she’s normally so composed, is a thrill I can’t explain.

“Do you want me to ask more about you?”

I can’t. I don’t want to get close to Lola. Plus, I know, without a doubt, she’ll tell me to fuck off. “I want to get back to work.”

“Always about work with you.”

Her pretty eyes roll in her head as she drops her arms to her side. “You’re one to talk.”

I want to ask her so many things, but most of them revolve around Penelope. “I’m the one trying to find out information.”

“About Penelope. Who is taken.”

“By your brother.”

She’s irritated as she walks out of the bathroom and into the private bedroom area, but as I follow her, she turns around to face me, her finger pointed up at my face. “Listen, I’m not playing your fucked-up bored, little rich boy games. If you have some sort of agenda involving Penelope, you tell me right now.”

“She works for me.”

Maybe I should have been more subtle, should have asked about Lola too. Shit, I'm fucking this entire thing up.

“Not anymore.”

She exits and starts for the main door before I block her from leaving. “We have a contract.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“That doesn’t void the agreement.”

She folds her arms again as she stares up at me. “Why did you choose us?”

She looks vulnerable, and I have to look away from her beautiful face and focus on the window in the suite. “You’ve built a good reputation.”

“We’re still new.”

I shrug my shoulder, my eyes meeting hers. “Maybe I like new.”

“You don’t do anything that isn’t calculated.”

That’s accurate, but how could she know that? “You don’t know me.”

“And, despite your little background check, you don’t know me.” She takes a deep breath, letting her arms drop again and her back straighten. “Penelope isn’t a mystery. She loves my brother with everything she has, and he loves her unconditionally. And he’ll snap your neck just for asking so many questions about his precious P.”

I nearly growl but hold back. I’d like to see the fucker try. I’ve never backed down from a fight. “I’m not interested in her that way.”

She moves away from the door, giving up on leaving. “What else do you need to know to feel comfortable working with us?”

She’s giving me an opening. “How long have you known each other?”

She smiles. “Penelope was nine when my brothers met her and brought her home for dinner.”

Nine. They’ve known each other for a while. I also know from my private investigator that Colt Sterling died at eighteen in an accident, but I'm not sure if he was one of the brothers she’s referring to or not. Although he was Penelope’s age. “And it was love at first sight?”

“For all of us.”

I take a deep breath, approving of that answer. “And your parents just took her in? A kid off the street?”

That sends a flash of anger my way, but she manages to keep her cool. “She wasn’t just a street kid. She isn’t a piece of dirt beneath you or me because she wasn’t born with money like we were. She’s a phenomenal person, and my mother fell in love right along with us.”

I like the protectiveness inside this woman for Penelope, but I don’t show it. “Your father?”

She looks away and out the window. “My father doesn’t love anyone.”

Daddy issues. Not shocking. Sort of explains why Lola gave up her high paying, father-given job and moved across the country to start her own business. But not really.

“Did he hurt her?”

Her eyes snap to mine. “No. My father doesn’t care about anything or anyone enough to hurt them.”

“You don’t have to care to beat on someone.”

“Indifference is the most painful feeling of them all, Hayden.” She takes a step closer to me, her eyes cold and almost eerie. “But it isn’t physical. It’s emotional, and that’s the only kind of pain my father has ever inflicted.”

Okay. So, this woman is more of a mystery than I let myself believe.

I hate the deep-seated pain I see in her eyes. I want her to be boring. I need her to be an airheaded yuppie, only caring about her next big purchase and not having torment burning in her soul that calls to my own pain.

Soulless bitches, I can handle.

“Who are you, Lola Sterling?”

“I’m boring. Remember?”

I swallow and look into her beautiful eyes.

I’m trying to remember that.