She parts her lips like she wants to pepper me with more questions, but she finally shakes her head and turns to look at the hastily put together set up in the room. It doesn’t look last minute, of course. My people are better than that. A small round table sits in the center of the room with two tall candles and a full array of silverware and plates. If I can’t take her out for the night I had planned, I’ll bring it to her.
Finally, Jasmine looks back at me. “Okay, I’ll put aside my feelings for the night if that’s what you want.”
I don’t want her to put aside her feelings. I want to shift the feelings themselves. I can’t tell her that. She might grab one of the butter knives and try to stab me with it. The thought brings a smile. “Do you often attempt to stab people?”
She moves to the table and I follow to pull out her chair. Jasmine doesn’t answer until she’s seated. “Only when they sneak into my room in the middle of the night.”
I can still feel the prick of the blade against my groin. She’d stood a good chance of hitting an artery and leaving me to bleed out on her bedroom floor. And, sick bastard that I am, all I felt was a sense of pride. “If I’d been Ali, would you have followed through on the threat?”
“Yes.” She takes her napkin and spreads it across her lap. “I assumed that anyone in my room uninvited was up to no good.” She arches an eyebrow at me. “I was correct.”
I chuckle. “Yes, you were.” I lean back as a trio of my men come in, all carrying covered plates. We don’t speak as they set them on the table, remove the covers, and silently leave the room. I watch Jasmine take in the food. “This looks like paella from Rom’s.”
“It is.”
Surprise flares, quickly banked. “You know my favorite place.”
“I think we’ve established that my fascination with you has prodded me to learn all number of things.”
She picks up her fork and considers me. “You say fascination, but if I wasn’t attracted to you, it would border on terrifying.” Another long look at her plate. “I’m not sure it doesn’t border on terrifying.”
“Eat before it gets cold.”
She gives me another of those saucy looks I’ve come to crave and we dig in. She’s correct that this food comes from Rom, who runs a restaurant that I’m reasonably sure has no name, but I’m not about to tell her that I paid the man an exorbitant amount of money to cook for us personally tonight. She’ll accuse me of padding her cage with pleasant experiences, and it’s exactly what I’m doing. I know she’s restless, but I can’t do a damn thing about it until Ali is removed. Even then, I can’t allow her free rein. Not until I can guarantee her safety.
It’s only when she sets her fork aside that I resume our earlier conversation. “Why did you lie to me about college?”
Jasmine sighs. “Do you ever get tired of moving me around the board on your whim? Princess in a palace. Princess in a penthouse. Submissive in The Underworld. Now college co-ed? Why do you insist on pushing me like this?”
I should feed her a line, but I find myself answering honestly. “You’ve been walled up for too long.”
“I’ve been walled up too long,” she repeats, as if she can’t have heard me right. Jasmine picks up her wine glass, seems to reconsider, and sets it down again. “You are such a hypocrite.”
“Guilty.”
My easy admission seems to set her back. She glares. “I lied about college because I know what comes from playing my hand too openly. You already have all the power and I have none. I’m not going to simply gift you with every piece of me.”
“Too bad. That’s exactly what I want.”
She shakes her head. “No.”
We’ll get there. I have plenty of time to play the long game with this. I ease back. “Tell me about college.”
“Fine.” She smooths her dress and meets my gaze. “I want to major in software engineering.”
Now it’s my turn to blink in surprise. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“Why would you? All you see is a pretty face. All anyone sees is a pretty face. No one bothers to ask me what I want, or what my interests are. They certainly don’t stop to think that my brain might be more valuable to the business than my pussy is.”
I’m guilty of that, but I’m not about to apologize. I saw more of her than either her father or Ali did, but apparently I didn’t see deeply enough. “Talk me through it.”
She considers me, probably expecting me to laugh at her expense, but I genuinely want to hear her thoughts on it. I’ve underestimated Jasmine again and again, and I’m determined to course-correct. Finally, she draws herself up. “Many of our day-to-day operations are borderline archaic. Creating counterfeit paper money?” She shakes her head. “It’s time to step into the future. A large percentage of the world’s wealth is digital now. With the right minds involved, we could take a stake in that with half the manpower and significantly less overhead cost.”