The Dare Collection January 2020. Lauren Hawkeye

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       CHAPTER TEN

      Damian

      THEA SAT AT the breakfast bar in the kitchen of my apartment, dressed once more in my black shirt, the Red Queen glittering around her neck.

      It was possibly a mistake to let her keep wearing the necklace, but I liked the red glitter of the rubies on her skin. She could of course disappear on me, taking the necklace with her, but I was taking the chance that she wouldn’t.

      Not after the way she’d come apart against the glass in my office so spectacularly. And probably not after she’d answered all my questions with what I thought was the truth.

      The real issue right now though was that the answers should have satisfied my curiosity. Should certainly have helped me make a decision about where to go from here. But they hadn’t. If anything, they’d only made me more curious, which I really didn’t want to be. Not to mention more possessive, which was another thing I didn’t want to be.

      It was more comfortable not to be interested, and way more comfortable not to give a shit, and yet here I was, standing in my kitchen with her dressed in my shirt, wearing my jewels, and all ready to eat the breakfast my housekeeper had prepared. Again, potentially concerning.

      Or at least it would have been if it was possible for a pretty little thief to be a threat to my emotional wellbeing. And, as it wasn’t possible, I shouldn’t be concerned.

      So I wasn’t. But curious? Oh, yeah, still fucking curious.

      How had she got into the ‘reacquisition business’ or whatever the hell she’d called it? And why? It sounded shady as shit to me, yet I didn’t sense anything shady about her.

      No, the only thing I’d got from her was hunger. For me.

      When I’d turned her around against the glass in my office, she’d looked at me as if she was starving and only I could feed her. And I had the sense that her hunger went beyond physical need. That it was something deeper, though I wasn’t sure what.

       Dangerous fucking territory, bro.

      No, it wasn’t, not if I didn’t want it to be, and I sure as hell didn’t. If she was hungry for something more than sex then she was shit out of luck, because sex was all I had to give anyone. A bit of pleasure, fun and a bit of luxury; that was it.

      Anyway, even if I’d had something more to give, I wouldn’t. Not when I’d only just met her and knew exactly zero about her.

      The breakfast my housekeeper had left me on the counter consisted of bowls of fruit and yoghurt, bacon and my favourite, scrambled eggs and toast.

      I put some food on a plate for Thea, spooning out some scrambled eggs, and she watched me with those beautiful dark eyes as I did so, not saying a word. For some reason, I didn’t feel the need to say anything either.

      A silence fell and it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was...restful, which I hadn’t expected. Every day I was surrounded by people and noise, bright colours and sparkle, the frenetic pace that was doing business at Black and White, and normally I preferred it that way.

      I’d always liked the sense of moving forward, away from the memories of my happy, pretty mother slowly wasting away from her battle with cancer, taking all the joy and sparkle from my life with her.

      So many clear, vivid memories. Memories that would never fade.

      Of her laughter disappearing. Her smiles vanishing. Of Morgan, who’d been such a happy little thing, getting more and more anxious. More and more frightened. And Mum telling me it was up to me now to look after her, to be the light in her life. Up to me to make things less terrible, less awful.

      Because I was the serious one. The dependable one.

      So I’d helped her; I’d saved her from pain. And I’d done my best to look after Morgan. Tried not to be so serious, to make her laugh, to make her believe that there were good things left in the world.

      Never again, though. I was never going to be responsible for another person’s happiness, another person’s entire life, ever again.

      So I avoided silence, because silence only made me think, and I didn’t fucking want to think. Parties, music, talking and laughing. And sex. Yeah, bring that shit on.

      Yet right now, in my kitchen, there was no noise, only silence and calm, and it seemed to radiate from her. And, weirdly, it didn’t make me think about the past. It only made me focus on her instead.

      I pushed the plate in her direction. ‘Eat, Sugar. You probably need it.’

      She stared at me a second then picked up a fork and pulled the plate close, taking a bite of the eggs. Something tightened in my chest—the protectiveness that I tried to keep locked away.

       Don’t let it get to you, dickhead.

      I wouldn’t. I might have those feelings, but they didn’t have to mean anything if I didn’t want them to. And I didn’t want them to.

      Picking up a bowl of fruit, I leaned against the counter and stuck a fork into a piece of mango.

      The silence deepened and I let it rest for a while, trying to ignore my nagging curiosity. But I was too impatient to let it go on for long.

      ‘You said the Red Queen was stolen?’ I asked eventually.

      ‘Yes, but, like I told you, I operate through an intermediary and we don’t get any of the details or reasons, or even the name of the person who requests it. We just get the request for acquisition.’

      So, I wasn’t going to be able to follow up on that. How annoying.

      I shifted against the counter. ‘So, this reacquisition business...how does it actually work?’

      Thea chewed slowly on her mouthful then swallowed. ‘It was my mentor’s business. The police aren’t so much concerned with retrieving stolen items as they are with putting those responsible in prison, which means the owners of the items often don’t get them back. Also, there are some people who don’t want the police involved at all, they simply want their items returned.’ She speared more eggs with her fork. ‘We don’t have anything to do with the client and they don’t have anything to do with us. That way, everyone remains safe.’

      ‘Sounds like a useful kind of business. At least until you get caught.’

      Thea swallowed her eggs. ‘I’ve never been caught.’

      I lifted a brow, surprised. ‘Never?’