Drake leaned back against his chair, causing his black business jacket to fall to the sides and revealing his striped white shirt underneath. I could feel women around us staring because he honestly looked very yummy, posed like this on the chair.
The grimness on his face unnerved me a little. "What is it?"
"It finally happened," he said finally. "You're with him now, aren't you?"
It shouldn't have mattered what my answer was. There had been nothing between us. In fact, there was even less than what I thought was there since he hadn't been at the right time and place because he liked being my knight in shining armor. He had always been there because he had been paid to do so.
Even so, all those words simply felt like excuses in my mind. I nodded, unable to make myself speak. I only looked up when he sighed.
"If I were petty, I'd be calling your mother right now---" He smiled wryly when he saw my horrified expression. "I was just kidding."
"Good. Because that would be really bad." I fed myself three consecutive pieces of raw salmon, using its fresh and delicious taste to calm myself. "You know her, you've talked to her. She's crazy paranoid about me." I made a face. "You see how I didn't even have trouble believing she hired you."
"Touché," Drake said, his lips breaking into a wry smile. "Her offer came at the right moment, you know. After my last mission in Iraq---"
My jaw dropped. "No way." I shook my head. "You look more like a pacifist to me. Like, a peace-loving vegan."
Drake's smile turned angelic, and his voice was matter of fact when he said, "It's why I make a good sniper. Nobody sees me coming."
I gulped, deciding then and there I totally didn't want to be on this man's bad side.
"I was having trouble adjusting to having a normal life back and your mom's assignment gave me a place to start. Plus, it came with a job here at Kastein. I always wanted to see how it was like to work for someone else who didn't carry a gun, but I also wanted to make sure the company I was working for was clean as a whistle."
His last words made me frown. "Clean, like, you want something with, umm, an environmentally friendly program?"
He shook his head. "Clean like they don't do any shady deals. And Kastein Inc. was one of the few that made it to my list."
"Oh." I looked at him admiringly. "That's, like, wow. You're such a nice guy."
"Not at all. I just didn't want to be put in a position that I'd have to kill my boss."
"I see." But I didn't really and I had a feeling I wasn't the right person to know him that well. All I knew was that there was more to Drake Morrison than what met the eye.
"Are you scared of me now?"
Drake's face was expressionless, but I had a feeling it took a lot for him to ask that. On impulse, I reached out to pat his arm – just twice, though, because doing so felt incredibly awkward. "No. I know you're a good man, Drake, so … thanks. Thank you for looking after me."
"It was the best job I had---have."
His eyes gleamed in a way that had me say warningly, "Drake."
He laughed. "All right, I won't put you in an awkward position with him – for now. But I need to be honest, I'll probably – deliberately – yank his chain once in a while."
I groaned. "Drake."
He sobered. "It's a way to make sure he doesn't take you for granted."
Okay, this time I had to sigh his name out since I was honestly touched. "Drake."
"Am I interrupting something?"
Shit.
This was the one instance I sort of hoped I wasn't hearing that Dutch-accented voice. Swallowing, I looked up, almost shivering at how Constantijin's eyes had turned into silvery ice.
Drake answered easily, "No, sir. In fact, I was just leaving." He stood up. "It was nice talking to you, Yanna."
"Uh, same." My eyes darted between the two of them. I totally didn't know who I should be looking at. Should it be Drake because it was the polite thing to do or at Constantijin because he was my boyfriend and he might think I was flirting behind his back?
Drake winked at me before drawling out, "I just have to say you look very sexy today, Yanna. 33As, right?"
God, I hated that man now – it was official. It didn't matter if he was the army's best sniper. I was so sniping him the moment I survived my confrontation with Constantijin – who was glaring down at me, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
"Office. Now."
Glenda's gaze was curious as Constantijin dragged me past her table without a word. "Hi," I whispered just before Constantijin pulled me inside his office and slammed the door shut.
He exploded immediately, "Why the fuck does he know the size of your breasts?"
If I wasn't too worried about what he was thinking, I would have felt insulted at how he didn't even have second thoughts believing my breasts were that small. "It's not what you think---"
"Why do you spend so much fucking time with that boy, Yanna?"
"It didn't start out that way---"
"I swear to God, Yanna, do you want to kill me with jealousy every time?"
I blinked, unable to believe he was being so open with his feelings.
He raked a hand through his hair. "I know he's a fucking angel if you compare him to me! I know he probably has a fucking nice-boy background compared to mine. He's not a bastard, with an unknown scumbag for a father and a mother who didn't have a choice but to sell---"
Eyes tearing, I threw myself in his arms, taking him by surprise. I hugged Constantijin as tightly as I could. "You don't and will never have a reason to be jealous of me, no matter what situation you find me in. You're the best man for me."
Yet he remained stiff in his arms, his unwillingness to believe in me palpable.
I tiptoed to kiss his lips. Looking into his eyes, I whispered, "Constantijin, I mean it. You're the only one I want. I don't care about your past – I think it's wonderful, beautiful, how your mother did everything to keep you alive."
He said slowly, "Most people won't see it the way you do, Yanna. They think my mother is trash because of what she used to do for a living." His voice became fierce. "But she grew up poor, she never had a chance to go to school, and my father – whoever he is – raped her."
When he stopped speaking, his breathing was harsh, and I could only cry and kiss him again, wishing there was something else I could do to take away his pain.
"She did the only thing she thought she could do and I don't blame her for it. But she never … she never did it with married men. She never---"
I placed a trembling finger on his lips. "Constantijin, you never have to defend her to me." Giving him a shaky teasing smile, I said, "If anything, you have to stop me from punching everyone who tries to insult her in front of me." My voice became woeful. "I never did get to properly say sorry for that. It wasn't the good impression---"
Constantijin took my chin almost roughly, angling my face so he could kiss me deeply. The passion in his kiss made my toes curl and all I could do was lean towards him and kiss him back.
"It was the best impression, sweetheart. I never thought I'd find a woman who would do that for my mother."
I reddened at the rare look of humbled gratitude on Constantijin's face. "It was nothing," I mumbled.
"It was everything. My mother's past is an open secret in the world I live in, Yanna – something everyone could only talk behind our backs but not one of them had the courage to bring it out in the open. But even so, we all knew."
And it had probably been Marge responsible for controlling the angry reactions of her family. In a way, I understood why. There was really nothing you could do to keep people from talking about you if they wanted to.
Constantijin suddenly frowned. "Don't think you're off the hook about the boy, though."
But his words lacked heat, and I knew he wasn't as furious as he had been earlier. "Drake was---is---a bodyguard my mother hired to look after me."
"What the hell?"
Nodding, I continued, "My mom's the, umm, super protective sort. She pulled some strings, I think, to make sure Drake got one of the rare vacancies in your company."
"I checked his background," he said broodingly. "He was a perfect fit."
"He's ex-Army, too."
"That fucking boy?"
Giggling again, I wagged a finger in warning. "Careful. That fucking boy can easily outshoot you if he knows what you call him."
Constantijin's voice chilled. "He might outshoot me, but not the entire army I can hire to shoot him if he dares make another move at you."