Page 34 of Virtue & Vengeance

My eyes jumped to his, and I wrapped my hand around my neck, hoping he wouldn’t see the pounding of my pulse.

“I told you I have no idea who that man was. Whoever said he was looking for me was obviously mistaken.”

I wanted to believe that he took my word for it, but I could see it in his face; he knew I was lying.

“Fine. You can stay with me tonight,” he said, turning away and heading for the front door. “Go get your things; I’ll wait.”

“What?” I stood with my hands on my hips with my feet planted firmly on the kitchen floor.

He turned. “You’ll stay with me tonight. At Empire.”

My cheeks burned just thinking of what everyone would think if I walked into Empire Sevens with Zander. Especially if I went with him up to his top floor area.

“I’m not staying with you in your top floor room or whatever it is, Zander.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not just a room, Eden. It’s the penthouse. It’s my home.”

“Regardless, I’m not sleeping with you.” I folded my arms over my chest.

He moved toward me again. “I think I’ve already told you I don’t sleep with anyone, Eden, but I never said anything about us… fucking.”

My entire body went up in flames for so many reasons. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said tightly.

He shrugged, and his hands moved to his jacket. “Fine.”

Then he tugged on his jacket, pulling it down his arms and off of his body.

I frowned. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m going to stay here then.”

“No, you’re not.”

He ignored me. “Do you have anything to eat? I didn’t get to have dinner, and I’m starving.”

“And you can eat, as soon as you go home.”

He moved past me and into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge. “Do you ever eat here? There’s nothing in this fridge.”

He shut it and then reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell.

“Who are you calling?”

He held up a finger toward me. “Yes, this is Mr. Hale. I want two orders of my usual. Yes. Also, I’m not at Empire. Please have Jared deliver it to Kennedy Vaughn’s condo.” Then he hung up and turned toward me. “Dinner will be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Call them back right now and cancel, Zander. I’m not joking.”

He moved around me, went back into the living room, kicked his shoes off, and then picked up the remote, turning on the TV.

I wanted to be outraged, but more than anything, I felt an odd stirring in the pit of my stomach seeing Zander in such a relaxed state. Since the moment I met him, he’d been like a machine, always barking orders and intimidating everyone around him.

Seeing him barefoot and switching through the channels as he waited for dinner, he was like an entirely different man.

It was a side to him I’d never seen.

“Do you even know how to work a remote?”

His back was to me, but I could hear his frown in his words. “Of course, I do.”

---