Chapter 24
Penelope
“You don’t like taking no for an answer,” I told Christian from across the cheap linoleum table. His face was highlighted in a reddish hue from the swinging very fake Tiffany-style lamp hanging overhead.
“I already told you once,” he chimed in while lifting another piece of pizza. “I take what I want, and no one can tell me otherwise. The fact you changed your mind about our date wasn’t acceptable.”
Evidently not since he’d shown up at my door. In truth, I’d been thrilled. In chickening out, I’d thought I’d bought myself some time to figure out what the hell I was going to do. In fact, I’d only given myself more reasons to fall into utter despair.
There was a twinkle in his eyes as he munched down on the slice of pie and the way he licked sauce off his chin was entirely too adorable. He’d brought me to my favorite hole-in-the-wall pizza joint, Giuseppe’s.
“I’m in shock.” And I was. I was also trying to decipher if he was capable of killing someone. How could I possibly tell? Was it by his smirk or the way he held his wineglass? Ridiculous.
“Why?” Christian was certainly in a strangely joyous mood, which was evident in his attire.
“I never thought I’d see you in a pair of well-worn jeans. I also never thought we’d have dinner at a pizza parlor, let alone my favorite pizza parlor.”
He grinned before taking another bite of the supreme pizza, also my favorite. “Pizza parlor. I haven’t heard that in years.”
“What my father used to call it.”
While his bites were huge, I nibbled with eagerness to see how he’d respond. He’d swallowed within seconds. “You really don’t know me very well.”
“I know you’re a very powerful man with a penchant for control. I also know you’re used to the finer things in life. What I find interesting is that you hide so much of yourself, including from prying eyes.”
Another surprise. He’d ordered what would be considered a cheap bottle of Chianti to go with our pizza.
“Meaning?” he asked as he poured refills in our glasses. He did so without taking his eyes off me.
“Meaning there’s very little about you on the internet, including pictures with you and another woman.”
“You’ve been searching the internet to discover who I am.”
“Haven’t you been doing the same about me? You knew I loved pizza and my favorite place.”
“You mentioned it in our conversations.”
I pulled a piece of crust apart, considering how to answer. “A man like you remembered?”
He lifted his glass, swirling the liquid.
“A man like me. Alright. You’re right in that a man in my position would be foolish not to ascertain all the information about someone I care about before allowing myself to do so.
However, remembering you adored pizza was nothing I needed to skulk in the dark to discover.
I enjoy making you smile. If that’s a crime, arrest me. ”
“Very funny, but I suspect you really are a stalker. At least you’re not like the troll I mentioned.” The man’s death had nagged me since learning about what had occurred.
Now I was testing him since asking him directly seemed as ridiculous as my thoughts and concerns. However, Carrington’s words along with Marlee’s kept me questioning my sanity if nothing else.
Christian cocked his head. “Because I’m not harassing you about your choice in reading material? I must admit I’ve never read a romance book.”
“It figures. No, because he’s dead. From what I read, the police found a world of material on how far he’d gone with his obsessions.” I studied his reaction, uncertain if I hoped there would be one or he’d seem passive.
He chose the latter. Not a single flicker in his eyes. “Are you suggesting I had something to do with his death? I admit I didn’t like what you told me.”
“Did you?” I chomped on the crust, a warmth pooling in my stomach. Was it excitement or worry that he’d tell me his hands should be stained with blood? I’d already noticed his bruised knuckles, yet to ask him about what had happened. My curiosity gave me away when I shifted my gaze to his hand.
He held up his arm, flexing his fingers, but not as if registering I’d noticed. Instead, as if telling me he’d enjoyed what he’d done.
“I handle business as necessary, including difficult people.”
“Does that mean your business trip took you to St. Louis?”
A slow and steady smile spread across his face. “I went to Atlanta. I had a disagreement with an employee, but I assure you, I didn’t use my fist on his face.”
“Then what happened with your hand?”
He continued to display amusement. “Let’s just say I had a disagreement with a wall.”
“Ouch.”
“Even I lose my temper from time to time.”
“Well, there’s no need to stalk or otherwise maim all the people in my world you don’t like.”
I shifted my concentration to my wineglass, not expecting him to reach across the table, cupping my face. “Don’t you realize by now I will do anything I can to protect you?”
The look in his eyes was more intense than before he’d left, but he was also questioning me. “I don’t need protection.”
“Are you certain of that?” He rubbed his thumb across my jaw to my bottom lip, the sweet move so unlike the persona he conveyed to everyone else. He was huge in stature and his presence allowed everyone to know he wasn’t interested in dealing with those who weren’t deemed important.
He was much more handsome in his jeans and a tee shirt, his jacket and watch the only things giving away his wealth. But I knew how rich and powerful he was.
Even if I knew very little about him.
At that moment, I was certain he’d killed the man.
My laugh was full of jitters. “Evidently not any longer.”
“His name was Thomas Atwood, Penelope. Yes, I did investigate who he was and he wasn’t a good man by anyone’s standards.” When I said nothing, he continued. “He’d been arrested for stalking before. And for other egregious actions. As I said, he wasn’t a good man.”
There was something very defining about his choice of words, yet the shiver coursing down my spine wasn’t one of horror but excitement.
“Are you?”
He squeezed my chin and pulled his hand away. “If you’re asking if I’ve done some heinous things in my life, the answer is yes. I’ve done what was necessary to keep the peace.”
“Who are you? I mean really, who are you?”
“Ask anything you want, Penelope. I have nothing to hide from you.”
“Have you ever been married?”
“I have. And no, there is no scandal there. We simply were never in love. She is remarried and much happier than I ever made her.”
“What about your family. Were you close? I know you lost your mother.”
He shoved his pizza aside. “My father was a tough parent. After my mother died, he was inconsolable and took out his grief on his children. What about your dad? I take it you were very close.”
“He died of cancer when I was seventeen and no, I don’t have any other family, not any I’m close with anyway. I’m all alone.”
“And you’ve never been married.”
“Oh, please. Before you, I was under the impression all men were liars, cheaters, and backstabbers. That’s why trusting anyone is difficult for me and I ask questions, which some might call too pushy.”
He absorbed the information, his eyes flickering. What was he thinking?
“Asking questions or demanding what you want isn’t pushy, Penelope. While I know you want to make your business into something special, you have a true talent for the hospitality industry. I’d love to have you on my staff.”
“Absolutely not. If you’ve investigated me, you know I’m considered a bad seed.
” He knew. This was all one big test. “Wow. You think I’m using you for some crazy reason.
That’s right. The hotel in Paris. That’s what you really think.
All this to try and find what I know, spilling all the dirt on Covington Enterprises.
Well, here’s my answer. No, I will not. Not for you. Not for anyone.”
He slowly lifted his gaze. “I don’t need to learn all their dirty secrets. That’s not how I work. It was brought to my attention that you were intimate with Carrington Jacobs. And before you ask, yes, I can be a jealous man.”
Now he was searching my eyes to gauge my reaction. Maybe that’s the real reason I was suddenly set off, my emotions flying off the handle. Maybe I was just furious I’d ever fallen prey to Carrington’s bullshit. Or worried that everything I’d worked so hard to achieve once again would be destroyed.
While I tried to keep my voice down, I could only do so by leaning over the table.
But I was close to frothing at the mouth.
“How much did you learn about my relationship with Carrington? The part where he acted as if cared about me, all while playing me like a possession, which you should know something about? Did you also learn that he cheated on me with any number of women? He uses people to get ahead in life, but I learned that too late. The weird thing is that I don’t care about the women.
I really don’t. What I do care about is that we were friends first, or so I thought.
He betrayed that friendship in favor of his love of power.
I don’t think our boss has any clue Carrington is gunning for his job.
And I don’t think you have any understanding how far he’ll go to get what he wants, which is control of the company. ”
Christian’s nostrils flared as if angry, but with whom?
“Did you also learn that I told him I was planning on telling our boss what I suspected and Carrington decided to use some very private information to threaten me? I backed down then, because he’d managed to plant some evidence that I was the one trying to sabotage George Covington, which I’d never do since he was like a second father to me. ”
I had to stop just to catch my breath.
Christian was listening intently, his hands steepled as if determining whether or not to believe me.
This was nuts. He’d used his power to discover aspects of my life.
Did that mean he knew about the work I’d done to try to save my father, the mistakes made because I’d been such a gullible, vulnerable, and desperate girl?