“Please—”
“No.”
I glower openly. “We’re back to ‘no’?”
“We never left it.”
“You’re being stubborn.”
“Yes. I am.”
I set down the razor I haven’t even used and scoot off the counter. “You need to shave yourself.”
“Because of Giada?”
“Because if I stay this is going to become our second fight,” I say, inching away from him.
“Second?”
I pause at the doorway. “The bar last night was number one. If I stay right now, we’ll be two for two, so I’m not staying right now. I’m going to shower. Alone.” I accent that statement by leaving, making a beeline for the door and exiting into the hallway, where cold stone meets my bare feet. I pass the stairwell and realize that Marabella could be here, and I start running. I enter my room and shut the door. I wait, half expecting Kayden to follow, but half not, his desire to avoid a Giada conversation powerfully evident.
Inhaling, I’m trying to figure out what sore spot she hits in him, and failing. After flipping on the fireplace switch I cross to the bathroom, undress, and turn on the shower, taking my new products with me when I enter. I step under the warm stream of water and quickly wash my hair and drench it in conditioner, returning to my prior dilemma. What is it with Kayden and Giada? And why do I feel so weird with Adriel? Actually, I felt kind of weird with Giada when we were here yesterday, so maybe being stalked by cops and gangsters has me feeling paranoid.
I’m deep in thought when the shower door opens and I turn to find a very naked, very sexy, clean-shaven Kayden stepping inside. “I said alone.”
He ignores my reprimand, advancing on me and wrapping me in his arms. “I’m not the influence I want her to have.”
“You are the exact influence she needs.”
“No. I’m not, and I have often regretted bringing her here.”
“You brought her here to protect her.”
“And that brought her into the fold of The Underground. I say it’s time for her to start a new life somewhere far away, like the States. But Adriel won’t send her away. He feels he can’t protect her from a distance.”
“Like you do me.”
“Yes. It’s a damned-if-we-do, damned-if-we-don’t situation you’re in, Ella. It’s not easy to get out.”
“I don’t want out.”
“Neither does Giada, and yet she now hates me, Adriel, and everyone in her life. There’s no win to that.”
“She hates The Underground.”
“She’s just plain angry.”
“If she could deal with her pain, maybe she wouldn’t be angry. Don’t make yourself someone for her to hate. Make yourself someone she can relate to.”
“What’s right for me is not right for her.”
“Let her decide what’s right for her, but give her the emotional tools to do it.”
“I’m pretty sure her emotional tools are exhausted.”
“I’m not giving up on her and I’m not letting you, either.”
His hands slide down my conditioner-slicked hair and he tilts my head back. “You don’t take no for an answer, do you?”