“Wanted to understand the demented mind better. Maybe to help it, or at least profile them so the police can find the criminals out there and get them off the street.”
A darkness clouded his eyes as he said the last few words. His jaw tightened, and he glanced to the side. Oh yeah, he had personal experience with criminals.
“That’s cool,” I said.
“What’s your degree?” he asked.
“Business. I’m going to help my dad run his company…hopefully.”
“What’s he do?”
“You don’t know?” Lizzie asked.
“Know what?”
“Nothing,” I said. “He has a few companies, and I’ll help him with them.” No need to let it out so early that I was the daughter of his landlord or heir to all of Dad’s hotels around the world. That made things awkward when people found out I was a billionaire’s daughter. Never could tell if they were my friends because of that or if they really wanted to be around me.
“I pegged you for a brainiac.”
“Hardly. I—”
“Don’t believe her, Hunter. She’s wicked-smart,” Lizzie said.
“I can read a person pretty good.” Hunter winked.
“I bet. Do you see a lot of fake IDs?” I asked.
“Quite a few, but I meant I can read a person pretty well to know if they’re lying.”
“Even on camera like we are?” Lizzie said.
“Even on camera.” His eyes pierced through my defenses with one look. “And you, Lina, are a brainiac. I can tell.”
Lina. I was used to Angel or Angie…Lina was so much better! I switched my focus from his devastating eyes to the TV screen in time to see a building blow up. I heard Lizzie yelling in the background, but it didn’t register much more than white noise. No, the overwhelming presence that was Hunter sucked all the oxygen from the room. Sure, he wasn’t literally here, but even through the video link, if felt like he was here. He was less than one hundred feet from me, lying on his bed, but I swore I could feel his warmth radiating through my body like a salve for my aching soul.
So long ago, it’d been ripped to shreds. Sure, the docs sewed my body up, but some things they couldn’t fix, and Hunter…even though I didn’t know anything more than some superficial information about him, he soothed the ache.
God, I wanted to feel better. To be brave. To be…free. Somewhere deep down I knew he was a piece of that puzzle to put me back together.
Chapter Five
Hunter
“Ready for a study break, yet?” I asked Lina.
She looked up and into the camera, so I got a good view of her face. Despite the mild distortion of the video feed, she was breathtaking. Those dark brown eyes reminded me of a pool of chocolate. And those heart shaped lips and her strong nose…This close to the camera, I got a clear picture of her pale skin.
A cool breeze trickled in from the open window in my bedroom. I glanced outside, and the bright sun shone down, but it was chilly out.
“Study break, huh?” Lina smiled.
She could seriously part the thickest fog with that bright smile. What I wouldn’t do to see it in person and feel the full effect of her presence.
“I’m thinking a trip to the patio might be in order,” I said, standing up. We’d been studying for over two hours, and it was strange having a study date with her via video chat.
Turned out that she did everything via video chat. The movie the other night with her and Lizzie was weird at first, but then I fell into the swing of her video schedule quickly.
It was like being with her…only not. I wanted to run my fingers through that champagne hair streaming over her shoulders. I wanted to touch that smooth skin that was so pale it was obvious it rarely saw a ray of sun—if ever. It was quite possible she didn’t even go out onto the patio.