Page 13 of The Devil's Daughter

He leans lower on the railing, stretching his back as he braces his forearms on the metal bar. The breeze toys with his hair as he regards me. He’s still in his dress slacks from work, but has lost the tie he usually wears, and his shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. His blue eyes are striking against his darker hair and tan skin, and the bruising under them doesn’t detract from their intensity. Now they spark with something that makes me wonder what he’s kept hidden all this time behind his cool, professional demeanor. I’m not even talking about his secrets—justhim.

It’s like I’m seeing a different person instead of the uptight man who offered me sanctuary when my safety was threatened. This is someone who would be honest with me, who wouldn’t wall himself off the way I felt he did when we met on the day he hired me. Everything about him screamedinaccessiblefrom that first moment, but now… he’s different. He just held me through an irrational bout of tears and handed me a hanky after.

“Drake, if I ask you something, do you promise to give me an honest answer?”

“I said you could ask me anything, so ask away.”

“You saw the video.”

“I did,” he states, straightening to his full height. Then he wraps his hands around the balustrade and holds tight as if bracing himself for a storm.

“Did you like what you saw?”

6

Elle

I avoid lookingat him and instead grip the balustrade right beside him, hoping his answer doesn’t rip me to pieces.

He takes a breath and I close my eyes, suddenly wishing I could take back my question. But when he finally begins to speak, the low, quavering timbre of his voice threatens to drag me under.

“Have you never looked in a mirror? Because if you could see yourself the way I do, you wouldn’t be as terrified as you look right now. You might be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever set eyes on. I knew that the second we met, but I couldn’t let it affect me because you’re my employee. I didn’t know you were Arturo’s daughter then, only that you were important to him for some reason. And now …”

He lets out a mirthless chuckle. “Now that I know the truth, I know how very fucking dangerous it would be for me to answer your question honestly, and not just because of who you are. The thing is, context is everything.HowI saw you… on that tiny screen…”

He pauses long enough that I open my eyes to try to see what’s holding him back. He looks almost anguished.

“What about the screen?”

“Elle, I think you should know that I don’t date women for a reason, and it isn’t because I’m not attracted to them. It’s because I want to experience them in a way that’s … not healthy. What you did spoke to the very fuckingcoreof that shameful desire.”

“You were triggered? Were you traumatized somehow?”

He winces and shakes his head. “Nothing like that. It’s more of an unhealthy fetish. Seeing you half-naked on video was like my kryptonite. You asked if I liked it—I more than liked it. It made me want things I’ve managed to keep buried for years.”

I’m thrumming with adrenaline at how close he is to sharing his deepest secrets. He gave me a hint earlier when he mentioned his compulsion to watch. Was this what he was talking about?

I need to know everything, but I’m scared to press for more, scared it’ll spook him and make him shut me out. So I shift gears, despite my desire to keep him talking about his secret shame.

“So this is why you’re bi? Do you find it easier to be with men? Do you like Ben and Baz more than me?”

His eyebrows shoot up and he chuckles. “You are infinitely likable. It isn’t a matter of scale—of who I like more. I just find men less of a minefield in terms of complexity, probably because there’s no mystery. And whether I like either of them is moot, as long as they both despise me. Though I’m hopeful that Ben will come around.”

“They don’t despise you. They’re just overprotective, which is kind of their job.”

“They’re just the right amount of protective, but I think it’s less about doing their job than how they feel about you. I don’t think you realize how much you mean to them.”

I shrug. “We’re just friends.”

“Are you sure? Because unless they’re both gay, I find that highly unlikely. They’ve known you for far longer than I have, and it’s only taken a week for you to get under my skin. Hell, one fucking dance for a camera was all it took for me.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I’d know if they wanted more. One of them would have made a move, surely.”

He reaches up and curls his hand around the back of my head, thumb stroking along my pulse point, which only makes my heart pound. He leans close, brushing his lips along my cheekbone as he grips my hip with his other hand and pulls me tight against him. A hard ridge of heat presses against my abdomen, and I gasp at the shock.

“This kind of move?” he murmurs into my ear. “You think they don’t think about it constantly? Because I have wanted to do this since the moment I set eyes on you, but didn’t, because I knew better. The twins aren’t idiots. You have four older brothers who are all scary as hell, and that was before it turned out you were a killer’s biological daughter.”

I clutch at the front of his shirt, dizzy from his proximity, from the revelation that he even wants me to this degree and that the twins might also. “So why aren’t you running for the hills?”

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