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James nods. “Yes, sir.”
“Sir?” Charlie looks amused and pleased with James' word choice. “Well, it's been a while since I was called sir. You should have seen this boy last night,” he winks at Carl from across the table in a sly manner, “actually tried to stand up to me and all my men-”
My heart sinks with unease but James looks confident in his domain.
“-Though I can't blame him,” Charlie says. “He clearly thought I was mocking this one.” He gestures at me and smiles. It makes him look so handsome and young, which is odd given how sovereign he is.
“Yes,” Maksim drawls, “I used to have a hard time training Blaire because he didn't like my process. He is too fond of her.”
“Aren't we all?” Charlie eyes Carl, who seems entertained with his daring.
Maksim doesn't respond to that. He ushers me forward by clicking his fingers, telling me to get Charlie a drink. “You still like brandy, don't you, Charlie?”
“Yeah,” Charlie says, and I hate that I can feel his steady blue eyes on me; on my body. “Especially if she’s making it.”
On autopilot, I walk over to the bar in the corner of the room, put down my gun, and fix him a drink.
“You opened your new club yet?” Charlie asks. I assume he's addressing Rumo, given his club opened last week.
“Of course,” Rumo says; blathers on about his new adventure—the whores, as he calls them. “They're filthy as fuck, and for you all, my close friends, they're free.”
Men…I roll my eyes. They're so easily distracted with tits and ass.
“I think I'll pass,” Charlie says. “Don't like whores. I prefer my women clean and exclusive with a bad attitude.”
Carl chuckles.
I grab the brandy from the side and take it to Charlie. He's surveying me come to him. My stomach won't stop rolling with anxiety, but I try to save face by being as impassive as I can.
“Hello, Blaire,” he says when I stop in front of him, his Latin infused voice bringing hot chills to my skin. “It's nice to see you again. Did you enjoy an early night last night?” He smiles at me with bold seduction, his blue eyes glancing back and forth between mine.
He's so fucking handsome it makes me sick.
I nod at him by a way of forced respect.
“I’ve gotta say, you're even prettier in the light—isn't she pretty, Carl?”
Carl agrees, sparking a lighter for his cigar. “Even when she was younger, she was a pretty girl.”
Charlie smirks at Maksim with mocking enthusiasm. “You really have to fix the lighting in your office.” He then smirks back at me, hypnotized in his gaze. “What's the point of owning something so lovely when you can't fully appreciate it?”
I gesture impatiently with the glass, urging Charlie to take it. He does, and he runs his thumb over mine, causing me to jerk away from him as that familiar tingly feeling spreads through my body. A black switch goes off in my head—the switch that says,KILL!The switch that flickers on when someone touches me.
I don't attack him. I don't know why.
I manage to keep my cool and step back behind Maksim, training my eyes on the wall behind Charlie.
James gives me a weird side-glance, I see from the corner of my eye.
“How's work coming along?” Charlie asks me. Pressing his feet into the ground, he slides his chair around to face me.
A few uncomfortable looks are thrown around but Charlie doesn't care. He simply sits back and drapes his hands over the arms of the chair, holding the glass in one hand.
“You can answer him, my little pet,” Maksim says, centered on the cards in his hand.
“Things are coming along fine,” I say, squeezing the gun over my lap in both hands, fighting for composure.
“Just fine?” he asks.
