He just grins. We reach the walkway leading to the front entrance of my hotel. He stops and a sense of relief washes over me. He isn't going to come in.
"You go on in. I'll be up in about five minutes. Then we can talk."
"I won't let you in."
"You will."
"I won't."
He takes my arm, squeezes it just hard enough to make his point.
"Look, Eve," he says, his voice harsh, "Do I have to use force to remind you what I am?"
I look away.
"You go on up," he says and takes off his hat. "I have to sign in and get a key to my own room."
"How come you're here? I thought you had work to do."
"I rearranged things. I thought it would be good for us to get away by ourselves. Just the two of us. Well, there's Vasily, but he's pretty good at keeping his distance when appropriate."
"We don't need to get away by ourselves," I say. "I live in your warehouse, in case you forgot."
"You are so saucy." He turns me around, standing behind me, and bends down, his lips at my ear. "I love saucy, Eve, so keep it up." He opens the door for me. "Now, be a good girl and go to your room."
Once inside I see Vasily sitting on the plush furniture, reading a local newspaper. He stands when I walk by.
"Eve," he says, frowning. "You should have waited for me. Now we are both in the shit from Julien."
I shrug. "What's new?"
Once upstairs, I pace my room. When the knock on my door comes, I don't answer.
He repeats the knock and I hold my breath.
"Eve, let me in."
No response.
"Eve. I'm getting angry. This is not a good thing. Open the door."
"I won't," I say, barely able to speak.
"Just do it.Now." His voice is deadly quiet. "Eve, if I have to kill a desk clerk to get a duplicate key, I will. Do you want that on your conscience?"
"Just go away," I whisper.
"Just go away? JesusChrist." Silence for a moment. "Eve. I'm not going to just go away. Open the door.Now."
I have to do it – there's no other choice. He's too strong. No matter what I do, it'll be the wrong thing. I reach up and turn the lock, pushing down the handle –
He shoulders his way in, practically knocking me over with the force of the door, and grabs my arm, dragging me into the bedroom. He throws me onto the bed and then goes back to the door, locking it, double bolting it.
When he returns he grabs one of my shoes from the floor and throws it across the room. It hits over the desk, causing a painting to fall off, the glass shattering.
I fall into fight mode but he's right there with me, and the time shift seems to give me no advantage. I try to fight him, but it's useless. He straddles me on the bed and takes me by the chin, his face an inch away from mine.
"Who do you think you're dealing with Eve? I told you your little hunter tricks won't work on me anymore. You do what I say when I say it, do you understand?"