Chapter 11

I feel a little sobered and pipe down, reminded that yes, he is still the same man who stood in the shadows of that room that night and made me almost shit myself. Handsome and fuckable doesn’t erase cold-hearted killer with no soul. I need to remember the reputation that precedes this man—he didn’t get it from being a pussycat.

Wake up Camilla! This isn’t some toy you can manipulate for shits and giggles; this is someone who could fuck up your entire life.

This is a whole new level of male and behind the charm and seemingly calm demeanour is the man who earned a name for being a complete psychopath among his peers. ‘’While we wait on him building up some courage to come back and face me, how about we talk about our little arrangement?’’ Alexi drops all the papers with a look of disinterest, so they scatter on the walnut desk and sits down in an almost unusually casual way. Propping his feet on arseholes desk and landing his very expensive Italian shoes on top of all the clutter. He unbuttons his jacket and smooths down his tie before coming to settle on my face.

Some men really cannot pull off a suit but this one does it with so much ease I cannot imagine him wearing anything else. It’s weirdly James Bond, only much sexier.

‘’About time.’’ I smile sassily, impulsively confident, even if my nerves are rattled and throw my leg over the other one, shifting them over to catch his eye in a very precise and sexy way. I catch the little flicker of grey watch my long, shapely legs get comfortable in their new pose, slight and subtle, but he checked them out, and I add it to my little list that he is also a leg man.

He’s interested for sure, but he likes to chase, not be chased. I guess all the hours I work out, wax, and self-tan, are worthwhile when faced with an Adonis.

‘‘Well … as I told you, I brought you here for a specific purpose in this place, but my priorities took me away from really setting you any sort of task. Luciano has issues with sharing authority, and I can see he has hindered you instead of following my orders.’’ He looks way too calm for a guy who's telling me one of his minions disobeyed him. I figured someone like him would not tolerate such disrespectful behaviour and will probably hack his skull off with a blunt object before hanging it in his gallery of decapitated heads.

Too many gangster movies Camilla! Get serious.

‘’Let’s just say he obviously missed the memo on rolling out the welcome mats for my arrival at Club Carrero.’’ I raise a haughty eyebrow and this time I do get a smirk, an amused subtle smile at my pet name for his venue. The current name on the door is Bravos’ Bar and I guess it came with the sale.

I hope to God he intends a change in the near future.

Alexi just regards me coolly from his casual pose.

‘’Lucie is family ... unfortunately, by marriage not by blood, and that means I give him some allowances that maybe I shouldn’t. He was a temporary fix in a new purchase and now he’s sort of part of the furniture.’’

He shifts to cross his ankles and slides down in his seat a little more, looking more impressive as muscle bulges a little prominently and I have a hard time keeping my own eyes from scanning him. He could be a poster child for a good gym membership and a personal trainer. He certainly works me into restless impulsive urges to start working out … on him.

‘‘Meaning I am stuck with him.’’ I sigh heavily and bring my brain back to the present, dragging my eyes off that very flat and probably rock-solid abdomen. I wonder what he bench presses and get a visual of him pressing on me.

Phew! I maybe need to start fanning myself as heat creeps up from my breasts.

‘‘Maybe you should have used some of those feminine wiles on him in my absence, who knows, might have worked to put a smile on his face.’’ That eyebrow lift and hint of sarcasm make me grit my teeth. Icing my heating libido, a little.

So now he’s mocking me?

‘’Think I’ll pass. Lucie doesn’t invoke any passion in me. I would rather fuck a corpse.’’ I rebuff cattily with an equally raised brow. Annoyed that he just implied I should have made life easier by blowing his fat tubby little reject. Talk about insulting me.

He looks at me silently for what feels like a long excruciating moment before tapping his thumb on the desk in a really distracting manner. I can’t tell if he’s taking me seriously or just bored with the topic.

Bored with me; another strike to my pride.

‘‘You’ve been here two months learning the ropes in how to run a bar nonetheless, now what I want is input on what you would do to this place to turn a profit.’’

So, instead of continuing to annoy me, we’re onto business and his expression is back to blank. I guess topic changes are his forte when he is bored with a subject and a female.