Page 16 of Ruthless Touch

“How are you tonight, Marcello? It’s good to see you here. Have you been enjoying the party?”

Marcello smiles a slick grin that reminds me of how a snake would show his happiness and answers, “I have to say you and your guests know how to have a good time.”

“That we do,” Gideon says with an air of confidence that makes the two men in front of him seem unsure of themselves.

I avoid even glancing in Franco’s direction, but he can’t pretend to be a gentleman and snaps, “Being a slut looks good on you, Aria. Nice rock.”

Every muscle in my body tightens in fear that he’s going to reach out and slap me across the face, but Gideon quickly says to Marcello, “Remind your man he’s a guest in my hotel. I would hate to have my men have to throw him out because someone like him doesn’t belong here like Aria does.”

Franco practically seethes, but his boss doesn’t hesitate to send him away. “I apologize for him. I’m afraid he lets his emotions get the best of him. He’s not like us, Mr. Rule. I’ll let you get back to your night. I simply wanted to say hello and let you know I’m looking forward to sitting down and talking sometime soon.”

“As do I, Marcello.”

When he walks away leaving us alone again, Gideon turns to look at me and I swear I see concern in his eyes. Is that for me after what Franco said or is it for whatever situation there is between him and Marcello Angeloni?

Quietly, in a somber voice, Gideon says, “It’s time to go back upstairs, Aria.”

My blood practically boils at the idea that he had that assistant of his bring me down here just to make me face Franco. Is he truly that cruel?

Tears well in my eyes as I struggle to keep them at bay. “Did you want me back down here because you knew Franco was here and he’d say something to me?”

Whatever that expression in his eyes from a minute ago that I wondered about returns in full force, and Gideon shakes his head. “No. I wanted you down here because you belonged at my side.”

“And yet now that he and Marcello Angeloni are gone, I’m forced to go back to my prison?”

He slides his mask over his head so I can see his entire face, and I recognize the look of irritation I’ve seen so many times in the past few weeks. “I didn’t mean just you. Now let’s go.”

Before I can say a word, he takes me by the hand and leads me out of the ballroom and across the lobby toward the elevator, all the while remaining silent. I want to ask why he’s angry now—is it what I did or the meeting with Marcello—but I don’t. He probably wouldn’t answer me anyway.

We stand quietly waiting for the elevator, and then when we step in, I notice he doesn’t release his hold on my hand and instead reaches across his body with his other hand to press P on the panel of buttons. He’ll talk now, I’m sure, not that I really know if I want to hear what he has to say considering he’s still frowning as he stares straightforward toward the gold elevator doors in front of us.

But even though we’re alone, he says nothing. It must be me he’s angry at, although I don’t understand why anything I said would upset him. Then again, can I really say I understand anything about this man?”

The doors open and we walk out into the hallway where Raphael stands guard outside the penthouse like always. With a smile, I nod at him, but he doesn’t respond.

“Does that guy ever move from that spot? I’m beginning to think he’s a statue,” I say with a chuckle as Gideon and I walk into the penthouse.

Yet again, my words are met with silence. It’s becoming deafening, and I have to say something. I can’t live like this.

“What did I do to make you so angry? Please, Gideon. Tell me.”

Finally, he speaks, but it’s only a single word. Turning to look at me, he shakes his head and says, “Nothing.”

That’s it. Nothing. And still, he acts like he’s furious with me.

I open my mouth to ask what the hell the problem is then, but he simply walks away toward the bedroom without saying another thing. Following him, I try to distill what I’m feeling into a simple statement because I sense he’s not going to listen to much more than that.

But he makes a move toward the bathroom, robbing me of my chance to start any conversation, so I blurt out, “Why are you like this? You act as if I didn’t something wrong, but then you tell me I didn’t nothing. So why are you acting like this toward me?”

Gideon stops and levels his gaze on me, and now I’m certain something’s wrong. I just don’t know what. I wait for him to tell me, to give me some clue as to what’s happening between us right now, but he denies me that when he slowly turns away and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

And again, I’m alone.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Aria

For the second day in the row, I open my eyes to see Gideon standing by the bed staring down at me. After last night’s silent treatment, I’m still angry, so I don’t give him the opportunity to say anything and instead throw the sheet off me before swinging my legs over the side of the bed and pushing past him.

---