AllFreeNovel
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The dress I opted for couldn’t be accused of being modest, but it does reach my knees. Also, naturally, Eli demanded another change because half of my back was on display.
A demand that was denied.
“You should’ve let me wear my cute skirt and top from this morning.” I feign a pout after we sit down at a tall platform table in a grand Lebanese restaurant in Belgravia.
Eli looks up from the menu, and the dispassion and obnoxious disregard in his gaze could trigger a few wars. “Cute? Is that what we’re calling them?”
“What else?”
“Audition clothes for a stripper is more fitting.”
“Hmm. I’ll consider it. You know any owners of the good clubs?”
He narrows his eyes to slits. “Is that sarcasm?”
“I’m dead serious. Those girlies have the best stories to tell. I’d build the most interesting girl squad ever.”
“You’re not stepping one foot in a strip club, Ava.”
“Not even as a spectator?”
“No.”
“But girls are hot.”
“More the reason you willnotgo.”
“I could go behind your back.” I wink and play with the straw of my very virgin mojito.
“You’re welcome to try.” He pauses, throws an uninterested glance at the menu, then focuses on my face again. “Do I need to put girls on my shit list as well?”
“And fire everyone in the house this time?”
“It’s doable.”
“Sam would hate you if she had to do all the chores.”
“Not if I triple her salary.”
“Not everything can be bought with money.”
“Yes, it can if it’s paired with both information and power. And you’re not evading my question. What’s with the fascination with girls?”
“What do you meanfascination?”
“During a nonsensical truth-or-dare game at uni, Nikolai Sokolov, aka Bran’s pet, as Lan calls him, said ‘Never have I ever fucked or experimented with someone of the same sex.’ You asked if a kiss counts, and when he agreed, you took a shot. I’m curious about the identity of said girl.”
My lips drop open around the straw.
I’ve always known Eli to be ridiculously good with details, the devil being there and all that, but I didn’t think he’d be able to recite a mundane conversation that happened over three years ago word for word.
“You weren’t there during the game. How come you know so much?”
“I have my methods.”
“Do your methods include quizzing Remi? Or Bran? No, it was definitely Remi. He has no concept of keeping a secret if disclosing it can serve him. What did you threaten him with?”
“Nothing much. Just that I’d decrease Ariella’s access to him.”
