Page 27 of Revenge

“Yes, it was out of order and I’m sorry. Would you like some more water?”

I almost ranted,why, so you can drug me againbut thought against it. He’d apologised and he sounded genuine. I needed all the olive branches I could reach.

“No, I’m fine.”

A silence stretched and I felt my heart race at the thought of the unexpected. Kai Kinlan may have been playing the civilised host but we both knew he was anythingbutthat.

Kai relaxed back in his chair and watched me with a thoughtful look.

“You’ve grown into a beautiful woman, Ava,” he complimented, his voice deep and thick, a tone you felt all over your skin.

Unadulterated pleasure swept through my entire body at the compliment but I told myself to get a grip.

“A minute ago, I was skeletal,” I replied with an arched brow.

“Even so.”

“I suppose I should say thank you,” I sniffed.

The atmosphere was now much more tense than it had been with my mother and the hitman in the room and I swallowed and then took a deep breath. I needed to remain calm.

My attempts to put off the inevitable ended as I took the initiative.

“Can we please just talk about the elephant in the room before I throw up?”

Kai smiled, “I thought you’d never ask. Would you like to talk in my study or here?” he asked with a head tilt. I found his question unnerving. He was giving me a choice of where to face my doom. Fucking great.

My focus drifted to his hands and perfect fingernails but his next words forced my chin up. “I am asking where you’d feel more comfortable, Ava. I don’t want to fight with you but we have unfinished business. You know that.”

“Shouldn’t I be in the basement with a bag over my head?” I knew I was playing with fire but he needed to know how cross I was.

“You have such a vivid imagination.”

“Surely you have a basement in a house this size?”

Kai cast a hand around the area, declaring, “Alas, I only have a wine cellar here. This house is not where I conduct my business. This is my home.”

Thank Christ for small mercies.

“So where does themagichappen?”

I amused him with my flippant comment but he hid it well. “Various places, but not here.”

A shiver slid down my spine at the thought of the things that went off in those—various places.

Kai must have noticed, “There’s an open fire in my office. If you’re cold?”

“I’d prefer to stay here I think,” I replied, who knew what the psycho kept in his office, thumbscrews and handcuffs no doubt.

“As you wish.”

“So, get on with it then. What do you want to know? Now that you’ve decidednotto kill me.”

“As I told you in Milan, I was never going to kill you, Ava. Why on earth would you think that?” My comment had rattled him.

“I shot you,” I pointed out, fidgeting with the crystal stem of my empty wine glass. Maybe I should have accepted his offer of a drink. Calm my nerves?

“You were young and scared, you reacted on instinct. I would have done the same in your situation as a boy. An eye for an eye doesn’t apply to you, Ava. I don’t intend to shoot you or remove any fingers, so you can stop fretting.”

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