Page 79 of Hunter's Revenge

That makes him more dangerous to me for the simple fact that I’ve never felt that with anyone before. I don’t want to feel anything like that for a man I can’t trust—or specifically,him.

The moment is broken when Jeanne walks in carrying a tray of delicious breakfast food. The aroma softens the tense atmosphere, as does the warm smile on her face.

“All your favorites, Master Volkova,” she says, setting down the tray.

“Thank you.”

With a proud smile, she takes off the little platters containing the assortment of food and arranges them before us. There are scrambled eggs garnished with herbs, fried eggs, strips of bacon, herby sausages, slices of normal toast and French toast, and fried green tomatoes.

There’s also a separate plate of croissants, which she positions nearer to me as she glances at me as if she secretly knows how much I like croissants.

“Thank you,” I tell her. She dips her head respectfully.

I’m about to say something more when another maid walks into the room with a pot of coffee.

This maid is younger, probably the same age as me or slightly older, and very pretty with her red, foxy hair, piercing blue eyes, and a body the runway would love.

She looks at Malik and the smile on her face is enough to tell me she likes him more than just as her boss.

But then maybe that’s why she’s here.

“Good morning,” she greets me.

“Good morning.”

“Do you like your coffee, black or white?” She speaks with the same cultured accent as Jeanne. It crosses my mind that they might only speak English when they need to.

“Black, please.”

Like Jeanne, she gives me a curt nod, then she pours Malik a cup, too.

Malik speaks in Russian to both her and Jeanne. When the new maid replies in Russian and he laughs, I feel something akin to jealousy, and it’s not because they’re talking in a language I don’t understand. It’s because of how he responded to her.

He says something more, and they both leave. New maid glances over her shoulder at him; he’s already looking at her—something else that flares my temper.

This is just great.

I’m not going to be naïve and think he’s not sleeping with her because he probably is. Most men like him do. In fact, they hire staff like her so they can have access to sex whenever they want it.

Instantly, I’ve lost my appetite. It’s bad enough that I’m in this situation, but the thought of him screwing his maid hits too close to home because of Gage.

Malik looks back at me, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out my phone.

“That’s mine.” My eyes dart from the phone to him.

He hands it to me, and I’m so eager to take it the phone almost slips out of my grasp. But I bridle my excitement. He wouldn’t simply be handing me back my phone without some stipulation.

“It’s chipped so I can listen in on your conversations if I need to.”

There it is. “Great. So, why give it back to me?”

“So you can establish proof of life.”

My stomach churns. “Proof of life?”

“When we’re done here, Jeanne will show you around the house and the grounds. Then you’re going to make two phone calls. One to Dru and the other to Gilman.”

Ughh. This just keeps getting better and better. “And what am I going to say?” Sarcasm drips from my tone.

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