Did he call my head pretty?Stay on track, Jade.Do not let him seduce you with his sexiness.
“I think there is a lot to be found, or maybe”—I tap my finger against my lips—“to be lost.”He narrows his eyes on me, and something flashes in them.I thought I saw something outside, but I was sure it was only the darkness playing with me.People's eyes don’t flash that way and become darker than they really are.
“How about you go find my bedroom and then I’ll ask the questions.”
My mouth falls open at his words, and the way he says it makes something inside me get warm and achy.He’s trying to seduce me or throw me off kilter, I just know it.
“Why would I want to be in your bed?You’re, you’re, you’re all…”
“All what?”
I scrunch my nose, irritated with myself now.“I don’t know!Big and hard!”I throw my hands up in frustration, and in a second he closes the space between us.He’s so close I can feel the heat radiating off his body.I swear it’s like he’s too warm.
“You don’t know what all I am, little mouse.”
It suddenly hits me, and my stomach drops.Could Gray Malice be the same as Keaton Lone?I don’t know why I never thought of that before, but if Gray is doing some shady shit, why wouldn’t he pump himself full of whatever it is they’ve made in their fancy labs to create a superhuman?
“I’m not a little mouse.”
“You’re trying to be.You’re sneaking around looking for something delicious.It would be so easy to lure you right into a trap.”
Maybe he already has.That would explain how he knew I was in the trunk.I think he realized it before he started tossing me around on purpose.
“Are you threatening me, Gray Malice?”I raise my chin again, and my glasses slip up my nose.I push my shoulders back, pretending I’m not the least bit scared as his eyes never leave mine.Maybe I am a mouse, but I have a feeling a smart mouse would run.
I’m standing firm, so he can suck it.Though it is kind of pointless because he’s a beast towering over me.One that might be superhuman.I think I’ve only seen the tip of what Keaton can do, so who knows what Gray has up his sleeve?
“It’s a warning.”
“Warning?Ha!Then maybe I should give a warning too.”I try to sound full of bravado, but I think it only comes off sassy.
Why do I keep pushing him?I’m all alone, and I should shut my mouth and ask for that ride back to the city, but what if I can get him to admit something?Even if it’s small, it will have been worth this ordeal, and I might never get another chance.
“There’s nothing to warn me about.I know what I’m doing,” he says, and his shoulders drop.
Does he?What if Gray is in over his head too?
“All right, then how about a chance to not do this?”
“And what is it you think I’m going to do, little mouse?”
I lick my lips, wondering if I should even say this.I shouldn’t because then he’ll know how much information I have, but there’s something deep inside of me that wants to save him.I want to pull him away from this path that he’s somehow gotten himself on.It doesn’t even make sense why he’d experiment on himself.
How rich does someone need to be?What’s the point of selling technology and god knows what else to people who will only do harm with it?They don’t want these things to protect themselves.I think it’s quite the opposite.
“Don’t do it,” I say, trying to be cryptic so I don’t reveal all my cards at once.“You and I both know what I’m talking about.”
He shakes his head, not believing me, but why would he?I’m only a little mouse to him, so what could I possibly know?I wouldn’t take Gray as someone to underestimate someone, but I’m not sure he’s fully himself right now.Even if he was searching for a wire, outside he seemed out of it for a moment.
“And how would you know anything about what I might be doing?”The muscle in his jaw flexes, and I wonder if it’s because he’s angry or because of what he wants to do to me.
“Your new business associates like to run their mouths when they drink,” I inform him.“They're not the brightest.”I say the last part in Russian, and all the emotion drains from his face as it dawns on him how much I might actually know.It also lets me see that there’s truth behind what I heard.“Now do you think I know nothing?”
“Now we have a problem.”He moves closer, and I try to retreat, taking three steps back farther into his house, but he’s pissed now.I don’t know how, but I swear I can feel his emotions.They fill up the space all around us, and it vibrates over my skin.“I don’t think I can let you go anywhere.”He prowls toward me, and with each step I take backward, he closes the distance.
“My roommates will report me missing!”It might take them a few days or possibly a week, but at some point, they’ll realize the snacks are missing.
“And?Will anyone suspect that I kidnapped you?”