“A lair?” he prompted. Persisted. That was so like him.
“I don’t have a lair. Or a leopard. There’s just me. I like big cats and they seem to like me. I don’t know why, it’s always been that way, since I was a small child. Right now, I’m going to take a shower and try to feel like a human being again. I won’t be long.” She didn’t want any more questions. And she wanted to remember how she’d ended up in his bed. She was still tired, but last night she’d been beyond tired.
“Run, Lotus Blossom. I always catch anything that tries to run from me. I love the hunt.”
She gave him an eye roll, mostly because she was positive he couldn’t see. She firmly closed the door to the master bath loud enough for him to hear.
“Where’s my phone?” he called.
Meiling sighed. It seemed she wasn’t to have peace even in the bathroom. “On the right-hand nightstand where the charging station is set up.”
“Thanks.”
At least he did have some manners. Would she consider his offer of work if it was a genuine offer and not made because his fever was high and he was feeling vulnerable or grateful to her? She had always moved from city to city. Sometimes she’d find a little place in the country and stay there for a few weeks, but she never settled anywhere. It was a lonely life and she’d grown tired of it. Her only real human contact had been Libby. Now she was gone.
Meiling sat on the little bench made of stone tile and let herself cry for Libby. For all those lost women. For the entire previous day and all the lives lost so pointlessly. She drew her knees up and put her head down, making herself into a small ball of total misery. She was always strict with herself. She could be emotional, but emotions were a bad thing to have. She knew that. It was one of the many rules she’d been taught young, and one didn’t break rules. She broke all the rules often, making her a complete and utter failure. She carried the shame of those reminders on her body.
“Lotus.” The voice was a whisper of velvet over her skin. “Baby, you have to tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”
She raised her head, and that was a huge mistake. Gedeon was crouched in front of her without a stitch on. He might have his eyes bandaged, but she didn’t. He had roped muscles everywhere. His body seemed as if it was made of nothing but muscles. Well, there were his incredible male parts, which matched the rest of him. Just as intimidating. Just as enticing. It was no wonder Gedeon Volkov was lethal. He didn’t need the added advantage of his leopard. He was too rugged and tough looking to be called gorgeous, but he was definitely captivating.
Blinking back the flood of tears, she pushed at the wet strands of black hair hanging around her face. “Gedeon, what are you doing in here? I’m taking a shower.”
“Technically you’re crying, and you have to stop.” He reached up with one long arm and got the handheld spray. “Turn around and let me get your hair for you.” With his free hand, he found the bench and easily transferred his weight to it. “Sit here.” He pointed between his thighs.
If he could be casual about his nudity, so could she. Meiling tried not to think about what that meant. He certainly didn’t view her as a potential partner. More like a pet he had to groom. In a way, she supposed that was a good thing. She didn’t want him interested in her as a potential bed partner. That would definitely mess up any chance of working together. On the other hand, it was a blow to her ego. She was always that girl. The unwanted one. The third wheel. Libby had told her more than once that she needed to be more modern. To loosen up a little and have some fun.
Meiling faced away from him, grateful she didn’t have to stare at his rather intimidating male anatomy. He began to massage shampoo into her hair.
“I know it was a shit day yesterday, Lotus Blossom. I didn’t help much with all the snarling I did. I’m not used to relying on anyone.”
“You did more yesterday for me than anyone’s done in my life. My cousin was thrown in a mass grave near that camp in Venezuela like a piece of garbage by those men,” she said in a low voice. “I found her too late. I’d been tracking her for two months. I knew she was in Colombia. She’d texted me that she was visiting some friends of ours there. She wanted me to join her.”