Chapter 18 No kissing
No kissing
Dina
Once we round the corner, we walk through a hallway with dark charcoal walls and gray-stained marble floors, and emerge into a space with an open kitchen on the right and a dining room on the left. The walls are dark charcoal, but the light marble floors help brighten the space.
Declan commands the lights. They’re tiny and all over the place, but the main light is a giant crystal chandelier cascading down in a spiral fashion from a high ceiling above the family room. The family room has gray hardwood floors and leads out onto an oasis-style backyard with a private pool.
Connor takes the three steps from the kitchen area to the family room.
He walks straight to the massive portrait of Anabela Crossbow that hangs above the fireplace on the wall across from an obsidian couch that seats at least sixteen people.
Not sure why Massio thought this massive couch was needed in the family room when his family never visits, but I can’t even begin to understand that man.
I follow Connor and look up the spiral staircase on the side of the living room. From the front, the mansion appears as a ranch-style home. I’m surprised to see an upper floor. I suppose the ceiling is high enough for a loft to be built in.
It leads to the second floor above the kitchen. That’s where the bedrooms are. I try not to think about the sleeping arrangements, but I hope I can have my own room. If not, the couch is big enough that’s for sure.
Connor reaches above the fireplace and removes his mother’s picture from the wall. He opens the sliding glass door and steps outside. Declan follows. I stay behind and watch Connor throw the portrait into a large firepit surrounded by yet another dark obsidian outdoor couch.
Massio Crossbow made sure there was plenty of space for people to sit.
But since these are family quarters and he lived alone, I wonder if this space made him feel even lonelier.
The way the housekeeper reacted when Declan told her we were staying in here makes me think that Massio didn’t throw parties in this area.
A portrait of his murdered wife watched his every move. That is very creepy. I wonder what the significance was to him of having her portrait so boldly displayed.
Declan walks back in and closes the patio door. He shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks on his heels, eyes on me. His gaze roams my body. I’m painfully aware of how dirty and worn out I look.
“I haven’t showered in days,” I say.
Declan points. “That is our bedroom over there. Connor will be on the other end.”
“I was hoping I could have my own room.”
“You do have your own room. Inside the bedroom, there’s a panic room. You will sleep there. Make yourself at home. Try not to be freaked out by any of my mother’s clothing he might’ve kept in the closet. Connor will come and pick up her stuff.”
I grab my suitcase, but Declan tsks. “I’ll carry that in a minute. I would bring staff, but I don’t trust anyone here, so it’s just going to be us. For now.”
I climb the steps but pause midway. “How long do I have to stay here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you tell me what you’re thinking? You don’t have to be accurate, but just tell me. Something. Anything.”
“I think the police will make a statement that you were released. Otherwise, they’d have to admit we were able to break into the station and take you. They won’t do that. Imagine how many people would try to break someone out if they admitted what happened. They still have the rifle. I need it.”
I nod and go up the steps.
“I can make us dinner,” he offers.
“Oh no.” I slap a hand over my forehead. “My dad goes to the police station every day at six thirty for a visit. He brings me dinner, even though they didn’t let me eat. Then he stands outside with a cardboard sign that says ‘Free Dina’ and protests until they make him leave.”
Declan’s phone rings. He checks the screen but doesn’t answer. “By the time you bathe, I’ll have a new phone for you and a plan.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
He shrugs.
I climb higher, then stop again. “What’s going to happen to me?”
Declan takes the steps three at a time. When he reaches me, he cups my face in his hands, those elegant fingers warmly wrapping around my head.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.
If I wanted you to go down, I would have let them have you.
I would have let them pin the murder on you.
They had the rifle, and they would invent a reason.
My father has wronged far too many people, and it would’ve been easy for detectives to find a reason for you to shoot him. ”
“You’re risking a lot for someone you barely know.”
Declan stares at my lips. Does he want to kiss me again?
I press my lips together, hoping that will derail him.
It’s enough that I feel safe and feminine when he hovers over me and cups my face just so.
I can’t have this man kissing me. I might grow to like it, and then what?
Get tangled up with a Crossbow twin? I can’t get tangled up with any man right now, least of all Declan Crossbow, the heir to the biggest criminal empire on this side of the country.
“You helped me out when I needed it most. I’m paying it forward because I’m in a position to do so.”
“But you’re risking your life.”
“My life is always at risk. It’s how I live.”
“I couldn’t live that way.”
Declan shoves his hands into his pockets again. “I know.”
“I can’t say you’re a good man, Declan, but you have principles and values many good men, men who never committed crimes, have abandoned.
For one, you know how to treat a woman. One day, you’ll make a girl very happy.
” I climb another step so we’re almost at eye level. “It won’t be me. Don’t kiss me again.”
Declan nods. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” He descends the steps.
That was easy. I’m embarrassed now. I thought he would fight for his right to kiss me again, but he didn’t. He doesn’t seem to care. I made a big deal out of a single kiss. He’s right. It’s okay. It happens. This isn’t high school. Crap, he’s more mature than I am.
Pussy up, Dina.
At the bottom of the steps, he turns. “Since you’re being honest with me, I thought I would tell you that I’ve trained for this takeover my entire life. You’re the variable I didn’t count on. By having you in proximity, I can oversee your movements. That gives me an advantage.”
“I see now. I was under the delusion you were protecting me.”
“Aren’t I?” He picks up my suitcase and carries it up the stairs.
I follow him into the bedroom. “Yes, and that’s pretty much controlling me.”
He drops the suitcase by the bedroom door. “You’re part of a situation that’s gotten out of control.”
“Right. I get it. I’m only pointing out that your need for control is kind of steep.”
We stand at the entryway, and when he smirks, I realize how our bodies gravitate toward each other, almost as if there’s a force bringing us together.
Declan smiles. “I’m fully aware of my need for control.
I don’t know how else to be.” He pauses, then says, “Your chaos makes me want to tame you. It’s a good thing you told me not to kiss you.
If you hadn’t, I would have bent you over my knee with your little dress turned up and your bottom red from spanking.
You would drip cum on my fingers and beg me to fuck you. ”
Wide-eyed, I stare up at him. No man has ever painted such a vivid picture in my mind or said such filthy things to me.
“You don’t want any of that, do you?” he asks.
I don’t? Um… “No.” I think that sounded too much like a question.
Declan smirks. Hands in his pockets, he jogs down the steps and throws over his shoulder, “I hope your shower is nice and warm. Dinner is at eight.”