Page 125 of Darling Obsession

“But there must be someone you trust like that. A confidante of sorts?”

“Manus.”

“He’s your bodyguard, though.”

“Which means I trust him with my life. And he signed an NDA.”

She seems to be considering what this says about me.

“Harlan. Do you not have friends?”

I hesitate before answering. “If I didn’t, would you think less of me?”

“Honestly, I don’t know what to think. It never really occurred to me before that someone like you wouldn’t have friends.”

“Someone like me?”

“Successful. Smart. So handsome.”

I study her, and she avoids my eyes.

“I find friendships complicated, and messy,” I say. “That’s why I don’t have them. As you know, I like things clean.”

“Of course.” She bites her lip a little, glancing at me. “It has nothing to do with the fact that you hate everyone…”

“How could I possibly hate everyone,” I counter, “when you’re so cute and likable?”

Her cheeks turn pink. But she doesn’t look happy. “I’m cute?”

“Adorable. Why else would I tolerate your friends? I’m fairly certain not one of them is house-trained.”

She laughs out loud. “I would pay money to see you tell Dani that she’s not house-trained.”

“I promise, I won’t.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

I wait for her to eat something, but she’s barely touching her food.

“Is there something wrong?”

I can tell there is. I’ve never seen her this uneasy, just talking to me. Even when I was blackmailing her.

“I wasn’t going to mention this,” she says hesitantly. “Because it’s not really my business. But I looked up Geneviève. You know, Darla? There was nothing online about you and her. But there were pictures of her with your brother Jameson.”

Great. She just had to go looking.

This is another reason I don’t like people digging into my business. They never find anything that makes them happy.

“I guess that’s another reason you didn’t want to tell them about her, huh?”

“Guess so,” I say.

There’s an uncomfortable silence when she doesn’t respond.

“Are you upset?”

“I have no right to be upset,” she says. “It has nothing to do with me.”

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