Page 59 of Sinister Games

Walking away, Richard shrugged out of his coat and slung it over one of the largest desks I had ever seen before, sitting on the edge and crossing his arms.

Unlike the last time I saw him, he was back to his usual bespoke suits, his cloak of respectability. The silk royal blue tie really brought out the blue in his eyes but didn’t make them less dark or intense as they zeroed in on me.

It was clear by his crossed arms and lowered brow he didn’t want to answer any of my questions but that was just too damn bad.

“I want an answer, Richard. What the hell were those men doing following me? And who was that woman?” In my agitation, I had begun to pace the vast expanse of the room. It was the largest office I had ever seen. It actually had a chandelier, which made it look like a converted ballroom. If circumstances had been different, I would have loved it. It had such a throwback feel.

He sighed. “I won’t apologize for wanting to keep you safe, Elizabeth.”

“You call me being assaulted by some crazy woman and then being kidnapped right in front of my school safe?” I asked incredulously.

One eyebrow rose as he slowly stood.

Uh oh.

“Do you want to tell me what you were doing right in front of your school?”

No.

“Don’t change the subject. This is about those hooligans you hired to babysit me. And who the hell was that woman?”

His hands closed into fists, then flexed. “I want you to listen very carefully to me, Elizabeth. I don’t need to explain myself to you and I’m sure as fuck not going to apologize for wanting to keep you safe. You’re mine and what’s mine, I protect.”

“I’m not yours anymore!” I sniped back.

I didn’t really mean it. I knew I didn’t mean it. Even the craziness of the last hour hadn’t shaken my conviction that I had fallen in love with this dark, enigmatic man, but I was angry. Angry at what had happened. Angry about that woman and her shouts of “you don’t deserve him” that continued to echo in my head. And angry that he felt he didn’t owe me an explanation for any of it.

With a guttural roar, his hand swiped the contents of his desk onto the floor.

Startled, I scrambled backward to a small lounge area at the other end of his office, with several wooden Chippendale chairs and a round coffee table in the center. They would offer pitiful protection against Richard if he chose to charge after me.

Placing my shaking hands on the back of one of the spindle chairs, I watched as he inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to calm himself down after his sudden explosion of temper.

His gaze was trained on the floor, as if he were afraid what would happen if he looked at me. “This is the absolute last time I am going to say this. You are mine. You always have been mine and you always will be and what’s mine… I keep.”

“Always have been? We just met, Richard. Don’t you think this is all too much for two people who met barely a week ago?” I cried out anxiously.

“What makes you think we only just met?”

“What?”

What the hell could he mean by that? Of course we only just met.

Richard took several steps toward me. As he prowled closer, I kept the chair between us, circling around to the front when he circled around the back. “Why are you saying we’ve only just met?”

My brow furrowed. He wasn’t making any sense. “Of course we only just met… the… the cab… a week ago. It almost ran me over and you saved me.”

He continued to circle me. A lion trapping its prey. I was getting dizzy trying to watch him and make sense of what he was saying.

“And what about the week before?”

“The week before?”

“When you were reading passages from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to me.”

What?

“You had your beautiful chestnut hair in a messy bun on top of your head. We relaxed in St. James’s Park after feeding the swans. Remember?”

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