Emily stood frozen in her place, having not expected the sudden confession. She didn’t know what to tell him, and he took the choice out of her hands when he simply strode in, and headed straight to his office.
She followed him like a lost puppy, her heart thudding, her mind in complete disarray.
“What did you just tell me?” She implored him sweetly, her tone so at odds with her earlier angry accusations.
“I don’t believe you have a hearing problem, dorogaya,” he told her, as always not one to repeat his words often.
“You said you loved me,” she accused, tears in her eyes.
“Is that an offense nowadays?” He asked, an eyebrow raised. “Why the tears?”
“Because you said you loved me,” she said in between sniffles.
“Wait outside,” he ordered the bodyguards as he closed the door behind Emily.
“Are you trying to convince me to stay in your own way?” She then asked him.
“That wasn’t my intention. I just stated a fact,” he deadpanned, his hands dropping into the pockets of his slacks.
“I just stated a fact,” she mocked him, her earlier awe replaced by anger.
“You’re pushing it, dorogaya,” he said tersely.
“So what if I am? I deserve an explanation.”
“You do, but you’re not ready for it just yet,” he released a sigh.
She looked at him and saw that the worry in his eyes was still there. “Come on. I’m a big girl. I can…”
“Take it? You can’t.” He finished for her.
“Theodore, you’re an asshole!” She gave him the stink eye.
“Insults will get you nowhere.”
“You know what? You’ve never needed to coax or convince a woman to do your bidding, right?” She asked, chin jutted in defiance and eyes probably spitting fire. He just nodded his response. “You have one month – one ! – to woo and bed me or I’m walking away from your life, never to return again.”
What was she saying? She didn’t want to leave his side, but she was too stubborn and too proud. If he didn’t see her as an equal, as a partner, she didn’t see the point of them dating.
“Is that a challenge, dorogaya?” He asked, an eyebrow raised, amusement dancing in the depths of his steely gray eyes.
She shrugged at him. “Game on, Mr. King.”
And with that, she left the office, and made a beeline to the kitchen. She wanted to eat something – call it stress eating – and something sweet too.
She found that the cook had prepared Theodore’s breakfast already.
She saw that the day’s menu was made up of coffee – yikes! – and pancakes – yay! Jackpot!
She sat at the kitchen table, put syrup on the pancakes and dug in.
The cook smiled, despite the confusion in his eyes and the protests that were probably ready to fall off his lips.
“He’s already had breakfast,” she told him in between two bites. “I did too, actually, but I was craving something sweet.”
He nodded at her and then offered kindly, “I’ve made more than I should have. Do you want a refill?”
“Yeah, sure.” She smiled at him.
She needed the sugar in her system if she wanted to fight Theodore regarding this captivity issue.
Some time later, she was heading to the second floor, still in her casual clothes, when she saw Mrs Steams. The housekeeper frowned slightly, looking bemused at the men trailing behind Emily, but wisely chose to keep her mouth shut.
Emily almost wished she’d have said something to upset her. That would give her the perfect occasion to blow some steam – pun intended.
She reached the second floor, greeted the diligently working Cecilia, and then grabbed her hand and dragged her to the master bedroom.
“What’s going on? Did I do something wrong? And why are you in your normal clothes? Who are those men?” She asked in succession.
“I’ll explain it all in a moment,” Emily tried to reassure her friend when she herself needed reassurance.
She didn’t know much of what was going on, but she was going to tell her what she did know.
“You three wait here,” she instructed her bodyguards as she was about to enter the room. They nodded in unison.
She and Cecilia got inside, and she sat on Theodore’s bed while her coworker’s eyes darted every each way in awe.
“Such a beautiful room,” she murmured as she tried to take in everything.
“Yeah, indeed,” Emily couldn’t help but agree.
And then, she started telling her best friend all that had occurred from Theodore breaking her front door to his assigning bodyguards to follow her around.
She didn’t mention the confession, still too confused by it, and much too insecure and incredulous to believe it.
“It’s obvious that he cares greatly about you,” Cecilia stated in a pensive tone. “And maybe he does have enemies that have learned of your involvement with him, and are now out for your head – to get to him, you know.”
“I’m not saying he lied about that,” Emily agreed with her on a nod. “But do you think it is mandatory to keep me imprisoned here?”
“There are much worse things in life though, don’t you think?” Her friend retorted.
“True, I guess,” Emily conceded as she tried to see light at the end of the dark tunnel.
She then rose to her feet and was about to walk out when the devil himself opened the door to his room.
Cecilia, who had remained standing all along, was quick to apologize, “Sorry for the intrusion, Mr. King…”
“It’s not your fault, I believe,” his eyes danced with mirth as they settled on Emily.
The latter scoffed and said, “Am I not allowed in your room now?”
“Of course you are,” he deadpanned. “Feel free to use it as you please, dorogaya.” The endearment she had grown used to still made pleasurable shivers run down her spine. “I’m just going to take a shower.”
“I’ll be heading out,” Cecilia announced.
Traitor. Emily hoped that her eyes said it all to her leaving friend.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
He had gone and done it. He had confessed to her at the most inappropriate time.
What was wrong with him? Did he no longer have the ability to think coherently when in her presence? Was he really that enamored with her already?
Why did he go out of his way to make such a mess? Confessing to her so soon, and in the current circumstances, was bound to backfire on him in an ugly way.
The words just slipped out of his mouth. Rookie mistake!
And then, she had to go and challenge him to either claim her as his or give her up. Since the latter wasn’t an option, and he wasn’t the kind of man who backed down from a worthy challenge, he shall give it his all to woo her.
He didn’t need any challenge to up his game since his staying at the estate for more than usual was bound to raise questions. But he did need to keep her protected at all times.
And most importantly, he needed to find out who was behind these threats.
“I will get to the bottom of this,” he vowed, addressing no one, and eyes turning red in ire and malicious promise.
When he got his beast under control, he headed to his room to get a much-needed shower that would hopefully soothe his aching muscles. He smelled his mate’s heavenly scent even before noticing the bodyguards by the door.
Was she going to pick a fight with him or something?
Oh, how he looked forward to seeing her feisty side.
He opened the door after a short mental debate over whether he should knock or not, and found her and Cecilia there.
And it wasn’t long before Cecilia escaped the room, leaving his mate alone with him.
He could faintly smell desire coming from her. Should he play it fair and square, or go easy on her and only dote on her so she’d fall for him?
He guessed he could do both.