Chapter 17 #2
I have the perfect riddle for him. The key is to make them hard. That way, I can trip him up. “I’m may look weak, but I’m strong enough to break a man. Look at me too long, and I’ll show you everything you hide. What am I?”
“A mirror.”
Ice floods my veins. Shit. He got the answer. And he didn’t even have to think.
It should have at least taken him a few seconds to work through it. The way I had to with the zipper. But there was no pause, no consideration, no hesitation. Not even for a second.
Knox just answered the question as quickly as if I’d asked him the color of the sun.
I stare at him, completely stunned, the confidence I felt after getting the first riddle right evaporating instantly. “You didn’t think about it.”
“Didn’t have to.” He smirks. “My turn again. What belongs to you, but others use it more than you do?”
I think just like before and come up with time. It has to be that. People certainly use my time more than I do. “Time.”
Knox shakes his head, and my heartbeat slows. “It’s not time. Time belongs to no man. The answer is your name.”
My chest caves. Damn. That was such an easy one, but I got it wrong.
“Your turn, love.”
I need something hard so he can get one wrong, too. “What is always coming but never arrives?”
“Tomorrow, baby girl.”
What the hell? He did it again. And baby girl? Love is bad enough. “How are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Getting it right.”
His broad shoulders lift into a nonchalant shrug. “I’m good at figuring things out. Quickly.”
Yeah, like some kind of superhuman.
I think of the few things I know about him. Apart from his wealth and his role in the Vale Empire, I’m aware he went to Harvard for his undergraduate degree and Princeton for his MA. He graduated top of his class for both. And at thirty-two, he’s the senior private equity partner at Vale Global.
The business articles I read were always raving about his high level of intelligence. It never really occurred to me to take note of that. Until now.
I kind of assumed, like most people, that he was given those opportunities because of who he is.
“I can hold you without arms and speak without a tongue. What am I?” He jumps right into his next riddle.
I’m stumped. I’m pretty sure this is one of those easy ones, but I can’t think of the answer.
“A blanket,” I answer, knowing I’m wrong even before he shakes his head.
“Sorry, love. What kind of blanket do you have that speaks to you?”
He’s so damn patronizing. “What’s the answer, Knox?” I grate out.
“Your memory. Your turn. But please bear in mind that if I get this one right, I win.”
“Fine.” I blow out a breath and think. “What kind of coat can only be put on when wet?”
He pretends to think and even places a finger to his temple and taps it.
My heart sinks, and it actually hurts. If he gives me the right answer, that’s it—game over.
“Hmmm.” He breathes out and walks over to me. “Now, now, what could the answer be?”
“You know it, don’t you?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Then just tell me.” I lift my chin, trying to preserve what’s left of my pride.
“But if I’m right, you lose. And I like playing with you too much.”
“You’re playing with me now.”
He steps closer, places a finger on my cheek, and slides it down to my chin. His eyes bore into me, so bright, so blue, so blatant. “I know.”
“Stop it. Stop playing with me and get to the point.”
He taps my chin. “The answer is shit.”
My eyes snap wide, then I narrow them. He’s wrong, but he must know that. I wasn’t even trying with that riddle. “You know that’s not the answer.”
“Maybe I know. Maybe I don’t. But it looks like you have another chance. The last chance, Isla Monroe. Don’t say I never did anything for you.”
Oh God. He’s giving me a chance. I guess I should say thanks, but since I’m now sure this was another trap, I won’t. “Then it’s your turn, malysh.”
Darkness flashes in his eyes at my words. It grows darker and sharper the longer he stares at me. “I’m not alive, but I grow. I need air, but I die if I drink. What am I?”
I have no idea. Literally none. Is it some kind of… I don’t know. “If the thing is not damn well alive, how can it die? Or need air?”
“Does that mean you don’t know, love?”
“Just give me a minute to think.”
“Clock’s ticking.” He points to the clock on the wall and grins.
Think, Isla, think. What the hell could it be?
I move away from him, because he’s far too close. I walk over to the window and gaze out at the beach. Waves roll against the night in liquid shadows, and I wish they could take me. Or give me the answer.
If I get this right, I’d still have one more chance to get my last question right and get the restaurant. But that’s not possible because I don’t know the answer.
Heavy hands rest on my shoulders, then Knox is at my ear. “What’s the answer, Isla?”
I look up at him. “I have no idea.”
“Fire, love. The answer is fire.”
Fire.
Damn it. I knew the answer was easy.
Fire.
The word hangs between us, but it feels heavy with meaning. Not because I just
lost. Something more.
Something more in the way he’s looking at me with those burning blue eyes that tells me he's not just talking about the riddle anymore.
It’s the thing that’s been building between us all night—all these days—burning hotter with every touch, every challenge, every moment we're in the same room or sharing the same air.
Fire.
“Looks like I win, love.” His lips dip into a cutting smile filled with a million unspoken things.
“What do you want from me?”
His smile morphs into something ruthless and triumphant. It's the smile of a conqueror who's about to claim his prize, the kind of expression that belongs on ancient battlefields after decisive victories.
“You, love. I want you,” he murmurs, leaning so close I can feel the heat radiating from his body. “I want to taste you.”
My pulse erupts into a wild rhythm, and every nerve ending in my body comes alive. Like I'm standing too close to a live wire, electricity crackling through my veins. “What?”
The devil tilts his head, and his eyes roam over me, leisurely, as if he’s taking his time to memorize me. “I want to lay you out on my desk. Naked and bare of that hateful look in your eyes while I taste you everywhere and eat out your pussy. That’s what I want.”