Page 44 of Blind Devotion
“He’s not,” I lied. At least it felt like a lie. I could still feel his lips kissing my forehead.
“You know, I had planned on taking you to your appointment. He stepped in.” Her footsteps crossed in front of me. “Do you know what this means? Adrien De Villier willingly stepping foot into a clinic?”
I wasn’t even going to ask what she meant. She wanted that too much. “Anyone ever tell you you’re manipulative?”
“Ma belle, you have no idea.” Her soft hands patted mine, her manicured fingernails grazing my skin. “Oh, and look at what my clever brother left behind. Well.Youcan’t.”
Hi-larious. I’d roll my eyes at her little dig if I could.
Something scraped against the nightstand to my right, and a weight landed in my lap. An odd wooden board with raised dots, letters, and numbers. She also shoved a device with six large circles in two columns of three rows into my hands.
With the flip of a switch, the device spat out letters and numbers depending on the combination of keys touched, those matching the pattern of the raised dots for that same letter. Braille, he’d given me something to learn braille with. My eyes pricked and burned from the thoughtfulness. Despite second impressions, he really wasn’t all that bad.
“These items prove my little brother is preoccupied with your well-being. He might be an asshole. I doubt that will ever change.”
I had to agree.
“He’s quiet. Domineering. Demanding. But most of all, he’s a dangerous man, Tessa, but not to you. Never to you.”
Despite Adrien’s threats, I knew she was right. Not sure how or why, but I knew that with a bone-deep certainty. Maybe that was exactly why I’d never really been frightened of him.
Chapter 16
Myschedulewasfitto burst. First, a meeting with a representative of the German federal financial supervisory authority for an expansion of DV Banks into Germany. Next, a call with the CEO and CFO of FinTech, a German tech company I meant to acquire. Lastly, there was an Armenian shipment of contraband Russian weapons docking in port tonight. Still, I made time to watch Tessa that afternoon through the cameras the technicians installed along with the television.
Her smile lit up the screen as she twirled in new dresses and faked a catwalk to Marie’s tutoring in different styles. There was a brightness to her that only seemed to grow each day.
With her walking around in nothing but lacy underthings, I was riveted. I even ended a video call mid-meeting to take my cock in hand at the sight of her. I was only human. There was only so much tension a man could take.
Once my sister entered the picture and ruined the mood, I was finally able to get some work done.
At least until I realized Tessa discovered the braille board. She was a sight to behold as she applied singular focus to learningbraille. When she got a grouping of letters correct, she threw her fists out above her head and gave a little excited squeal. I suppressed the urge to grin like a mad fool each time, ready to slap some sense into myself. My reactions to her were getting out of control.
Sweet, sassy, captivating little Tessa. A breath of fresh air. And that mouth on her. I didn’t know whether I’d prefer to kiss her, strangle her, or fill that mouth up with my cock. My captive. My little survivor. She was addicting.
Maybe after tonight, I would leave her door unlocked. Let her roam the house and gardens. See what she would get up to.
“You’re smiling,” Erel commented with a frown as he entered my office.
“Mouths do that on occasion.”
“Not yours.”
“You’re paying too much attention to my face.” I closed out the security video. “Everything ready for tonight?”
We finalized the night’s plan and backup for the consignment of the weapons shipment, the position of my men, and the best routes in case of police interference. This was France, one of the strictest countries in Europe on gun control and acquisition. Like everything, there were always ways around it.
I was in her room again in that same chair, which I carried right next to her bed. A semi-automatic handgun lay on the nightstand, one of my newest acquisitions and my weapon of choice for the night. Beneath the lamp light, its shadow stretched tauntingly toward the armrest, a silent plea for me to pick it up. One bullet. No more conflictions. No more procrastination. No more defiance from her. No more flares of relief from my agony. No more light to my dark.
A storm rattled the windows. Rain battered against them as thunder pounded.
Tessa shook her head from side to side in her sleep. She muttered words. Her fists clenched the blanket draped above her. Her voice quivered and pitched with muffled words. She gasped, tossing and turning with more agitation. If she kept this up, she’d hurt herself.
“Tessa.”
My hand hovered over her face. There was a line drawn before us. A single touch right now would cross it. I was her warden until death, and she was my prey. Neither allowed for comfort and sympathy.
Her body trembled. In this moment, she was as frail and breakable as that day she climbed onto my boat, the quintessential victim. Instead of taking that gun and ending her misery, I had this profound need to bundle her up in my arms and carry her away. My little survivor. My odd little thing. Mine to kill. Mine to protect. Mine to make sense of because I was quickly realizing I couldn’t do this.
