“Zach?” His name echoed through the silence of her home. “Zach, we need to talk.”
“Go away,” a muffled voice called from the bathroom, the only room in her home with walls and a door. Of course that’s where he would go. He was trying to shut her out.
She rapped her knuckles on the door with a gentle tap. “Can I come in?”
“No.”
She sighed, gnawed on her lip and then her thumbnail. What should she do?
“Zach, why are you angry with me?”
Silence.
She leaned against the door and slid to the floor. Dragging her fingers through her hair, she closed her eyes. He would have to come out eventually, so she would wait.
And think.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this guy?” Zach’s question came from the other side of the door.
A wan smile played with her lips. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Didn’t look like nothin’ to me,” came the muffled reply. “Is he your boyfriend?”
“I…not really.” God, how did she explain this to a fifteen-year-old? She chewed on her lip again. How did she explain it to herself? “It’s complicated.”
But it shouldn’t be. She had to get the situation straight before she next saw James. She couldn’t just let the man come into her home and affect her the way he did without some idea of what was going on. There was something more than carnal lust and hunger between her and the media mogul—only a moron would try to refute that. Perhaps something that surprised even James. But that was no excuse to just let her hormones take charge of her brain and allow her to do something she would regret later. Not, at least, without some serious consideration.
A soft laugh left her lips, humorless and dry. Regardless of what this…this thing was between them, she wanted to have sex with him. She had never been as attracted to anyone as she was him, nor as excited. Nor did she have any doubt in her mind she would sleep with him. But if she was going to do something she would later regret—and regret with every fiber and molecule of her body, she feared—it had to be on her terms. James Dyson may be some all-powerful demi-god, but he would discover that she was not so easily controlled.
She was one conquest he’d have to work extremely hard for.
Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Wait. What was she thinking? Had she really just decided to go for it? To throw herself into a sexual relationship with the bastard?
Had she lost her freaking mind?
The door behind her opened and she tumbled back into empty space, shouting in shock as her head smacked against the bare wooden floor.
“Ow.” She squinted up at Zach where he stood looking down at her. “That hurt.”
He frowned, torment on his face. “I hate being kept in the dark like I’m a baby. Mum and Dad never told me anything. I didn’t know Dad had been arrested until Ricco told me on Snapchat. I didn’t even know Mum was dead until I read it on Facebook.”
His statement tore at her heart. Damn it, his life had been as crappy as hers. The poor kid.
“I want to meet him,” he said, stepping over her and walking away. “I’m sick of being treated like a baby.”
Stretched on the floor, head aching with a dull throb, pulse pounding, Sienna pulled a face at the ceiling. “Yup. Of course you do.”
Chapter Five
The sleek black Mercedes carried James away from Sienna’s studio in luxurious comfort, the interior cool and refreshing, the music coming from the car’s state-of-the-art sound system soft and relaxing.
He sat behind the wheel, growling.
What the bloody hell had just happened? He clenched the wheel, knuckles cracking. What the hell was wrong with him?
Cutting through the traffic, he made his way toward the city. At this time of the morning, Sydney’s streets were free of peak-hour madness, making it easier for him to reach his office before too many people arrived for work.
The less people he saw the better. He was in no mood to talk to anyone.
Riding the private elevator to his office’s floor, he replayed the kiss over and over again, refusing to let his body respond to the wicked memory of her lips on his. It was only the soft chime and the doors sliding wide that told him he’d arrived at his destination. His mind hadn’t registered anything else during the ascent. With a grunt, he stormed through the as-yet empty foyer, glad for the fact his assistant hadn’t yet started for the day. Mrs. Downey was far too efficient and astute. The older woman had been in his employ for close to a decade now. She would take one look at him and know he was flustered.