Kitchens, bathrooms, more bedrooms than I could count, several sitting rooms, two tea rooms, a sauna, a pool, and that was only in the east wing.
“How big is this place?”
“The manor sits on fifty acres.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.”
“The house is extremely large and very old.”
“It looks like it’s been expanded constantly for the last hundred years.”
She pursed her lips. “That’s more or less accurate.” She led me down another hall and to a staircase that may or may not have been the one we first descended when an open door caught my eye. I stepped toward it before she could stop me and peered inside.
Darren sat at a massive mahogany desk in front of several computer monitors. I saw him in profile—that perfect nose and sharp chin. A fire crackled behind him, though the house was strangely warm already.
I shoved the door open and strode inside.
Darren looked over.
And so did all the men on his computer screens.
Several pairs of eyes stared at me.
He was on a video call.
“Can I help you?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
Chika stood in the doorway looking like she wanted to rip my skull from my shoulders and punt my head into the ocean.
Whatever. Chika could sit and screw. So could Darren.
I sucked in a breath and held up my wrist. “We have to talk.”
“Later. I’m in a meeting.” His eyes darted to Chika.
But she didn’t move.
I realized these men were important. They looked like a bunch of half-dead old white guys to me, but that didn’t always mean anything. I suppressed a smile and waved the bracelet in the air.
“Should I start explaining why it’s so wrong for you to put this thing on me? Because I’m sure your friends would find it interesting.”
Darren sighed and looked back at his computer. “Excuse me, gentlemen.” He jammed a key, and the screen went dark.
When the men were gone, Chika strode over and grabbed my wrist. She bent it back, jamming it up and nearly ripping my arm from its socket. I gasped in shock and pain, grimacing as I bent over. She forced me down to my knees, her fingers digging into a pressure point on my wrist.
Holy shit, it was the worst pain I’d ever felt in my life.
“I thought you weren’t his,” I said through my teeth.
Chika said nothing, only held me there with an impassive look on her face.
Darren sighed. “Thank you, Chika. I’m sure my mother will be proud. You can let her go.”
Chika released me. I gasped and slumped forward. “I apologize for the intrusion,” she said. “We were on a tour of the premises. Will there be anything else?”
“No, thank you. Go report to my mother, as always.”
Chika didn’t deny it. She turned and left.
I took deep, gasping breaths. My wrist felt like it was broken, and my shoulder throbbed. If Chika could do that to me without much effort, I definitely didn’t want to piss her off.
Darren stood and looked down at me. “Get up.”
I tilted my chin in the air. “Or what? You going to hurt me too?”
“I might if you don’t listen. Get up.”
I climbed to my feet. I throbbed, but I was otherwise unhurt. Nothing broken, nothing permanent or long-lasting.
“The bracelet,” I said, glaring death at him. “What the fuck is with the bracelet?”
“Mother’s idea. Sometimes she’s clever.”
“I’m not some dog you get to chip and keep on a GPS leash.”
“You’re not chipped. Think of it more like house arrest.”
“Think of it more like I’m going to break it off and shove it up your ass.”
He smiled and seemed genuinely amused. “Shall I call Chika back in here? I got the sense she relished that little interaction.”
“Good, get the help to fight your battles.”
He strode toward me in two long steps. I staggered backward, surprised at the sudden advance, and ran into a bookshelf. A statue clattered and fell over, toppling to the floor.
I glanced down. It was a sparrow in jade with a broken wing.
Darren’s hands pinned my arms to my sides. His face came close, lips parted, eyes steady. The smile was gone.
The heat from his palms radiated down my skin.
I hated him. He smelled incredible.
“Understand something. I want to make this easy. I like you, love. But Chika will not be kind, and my patience has limits.”
“You keep using Chika to threaten me. I still don’t see you fighting your own battles.”
His fingers dug into my flesh. I grunted in pain but tried not to let it show.
“You want me to hurt you?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. “Do you like it when it hurts?”
“I’m sure you know since you did so much research about me.”
“I know about your old boyfriends. I know you’ve never been in a relationship for longer than six months. You have quite the string of broken hearts behind you.”