Page 5 of Ruthless Touch

That makes my ears perk up. “Really? Planning on actually paying attention to me today?”

He stops beside the bed and looks down at me. “Something like that. I need you to get up and get ready. You’ll be accompanying me to an event here at the hotel tonight, and you need something to wear.”

My mouth drops open in shock as I process his words. Accompanying him? “You’re letting me leave the penthouse here? This must be some special event. Is it bring your prisoners to work night?” I say with a chuckle.

Gideon smirks at my attempt at a joke. “Something like that. Now get up and get ready. Sasha will be here in a few minutes to take you shopping.”

Sasha. His gorgeous blond assistant who always seems to be far too close to him whenever they’re together. I don’t know what nationality she is—maybe Russian or Swedish—but she’s as beautiful as she is. Every time she comes up to the penthouse, I can’t help but wonder if she looks at me like I don’t belong here and she does. I’m sure she and Gideon have been together. Maybe they’re still together. That would explain why he never does anything with me even though I’m right next to him in this bed every night.

Disappointed to hear he’s handing me off to my babysitter again, I sigh. “Sasha. You know, I don’t think she likes me. Maybe you shouldn’t make your girlfriend deal with the woman you keep captive up here. It seems like a rotten way to be to such a gorgeous woman.”

His dark eyes focus on mine as he shakes his head. “Sasha isn’t my girlfriend. Now get up and get ready. She’ll be here in less than five minutes.”

I throw off the sheet and stand up to face him, toe-to-toe with the man who seems to not care one bit that he has a naked woman in his bed he does nothing with. Staring up into his face, I have to fight the urge to smile at how appealing he is.

“She’s going to have to wait then because I can’t be ready in that time. I haven’t even showered today.”

He sighs heavily, like everything about me and having to deal with me is an enormous burden. “Fine. Get ready.”

Nearly his height, I only have to tilt my chin up ever so slightly to show my insolence. “I like long showers. You’d know that if you ever took the time to get to know me, Gideon.”

Once again, his eyes narrow, and I know he’s angry with me. But his voice doesn’t indicate it when he quietly says, “I have no problem telling Sasha to get into that shower with you and drag you out by your hair if you keep her waiting. Don’t test me, Aria.”

“Or what?” I ask as I stare up into his eyes in defiance.

We stand there like two warring factions for what seems like forever, neither of us willing to give any ground. He has no idea how long I can do this. Unlike him, I have nowhere to go. No work to get to. Nothing to make me want to give in.

Finally, he takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly before saying, “Enjoy your time shopping. Feel free to get anything you want in addition to a dress for tonight.”

And with that, he turns on his heel and leaves me alone and naked once more in his bedroom.

I’m victorious in our standoff, but it’s a hollow win. At least I’ll get to go out today, even if it is with his icy assistant.

As we exit the elevator on the first floor, Sasha turns to look at me and smiles in a way that can only be described as predatory. Her grin doesn’t look happy or cruel. Just dangerous, like this woman would eat me alive if she could.

“It’s important you look like you belong on Gideon’s arm tonight, so I’ll be helping you pick out a dress at the boutique. I’ve had them assemble a selection for you out of the ones I thought would look good with your body and your coloring.”

Even though I feel uncomfortable talking to her, I can’t stop myself from asking, “What does that mean? My coloring?”

Again, she smiles as her right hand gently touches my back just below my bra. “It means your dark hair and green eyes, which by the way, are nothing short of enchanting. I’d kill for eyes like yours.”

Hmmm. So the ice princess doesn’t hate me. At least not my eyes.

“Oh. I thought you were insulting me because I don’t have blond hair and blue eyes like you,” I say as we walk across the black marble lobby floor toward the boutique near the terrace where hotel guests sit eating lunch.

“Not at all,” Sasha coos as her gaze travels down my body. “I like the way you look. I told Gideon that.”

“And what did he say when you said that?” I ask, eager to know what my captor thinks of me since he can’t seem to be bothered to let me know himself.

His assistant answers with a shrug. “I don’t think he said anything. Gideon isn’t a man who spends time thinking about things like that.”

“Things like what?”

“The color of a woman’s eyes or her hair. If anything, he’s more of a holistic type of person.”

We walk into the boutique as I translate that into the truth. He doesn’t have any interest in me or what I look like. That his behavior begs the question of why he’s keeping me in his home doesn’t seem to bother anyone else, even if it does me.

The painfully thin woman with jet black hair and tan skin scurries out from behind the counter when she sees us, her expression one of pure joy, as if she’s been looking forward to this task all her life. I can’t imagine Gideon told her to act this way, so I have to assume she’s always like this with customers.

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