I think he’s the councilmember Andrea has been shadowing, but if that’s the case, then he’s the one who had something to do with her attack. If what he is doing now is an attempt to make up for his actions, it won’t work. Alliance or not, I’ll slit his throat and toss him in the river. I don’t care how many ways he helps us.
“What are you thinking about? You just got a particularly savage look on your face, and I’m not sure if I should be scared or worried for someone else.”
I lick my lips and give her a little grin. One that makes her eyes go wide as she takes in my face. I’ve known what I look like since I was a teenager. I used to hate it, but now, I’ve learned to use my looks to my advantage. “Not scared, no. But I think we should call this councilman and agree to a meeting. See if he can offer us anything useful.”
She swallows, loud enough for me to hear. “Useful?”
I shrug and stand, done with my questions for now. “Yes, but this time you can skip the dress. We’ll meet him privately. We want him to know who you are.”
There’s something almost feral in her eyes as she gazes up at me. “And who am I to be for this meeting?”
I head toward the door and call back, “A queen.”
8
SELENA
I don’t know if what we have can be called a truce. What he did for me, the comfort he offered, created a momentary ceasefire, nothing more.
At least that’s what I tell myself as I nibble on a salad while watching him read something on his tablet. I tell myself I’m looking for reasons to hate him, reasons to get away and take care of myself, reasons to treat him like every other man who’s come before.
Yet, I can’t exactly deny I’m also looking for that smile he gave me. The tiniest one turned his whole broodingly beautiful face into something a painter would immortalize. I didn’t even know men could be so…
He shifts in the seat, never taking his eyes off the tablet. “You’re staring awfully hard right now.”
I swallow the bite of salad I’d stopped chewing. “How do you even know? You’re reading.”
“I can feel it.”
I roll my eyes even though he’s not looking at me. “You can’t feel when someone stares at you. That’s not a scientifically proven thing.”
“Actually…” He pauses to sip his coffee. “There is a very specific part of the brain that’s only job is to notice where others are looking. It can be developed, over time, like a sixth sense. Some brain cells only activate when someone is looking at you.”
Quietly, I close my flopped open mouth and stare down at my picked over salad. My face is burning, not from his correction, but that I sat here staring at him for a good five minutes, and he knew the entire time.
Shit. I need to change the subject or risk embarrassing myself further. “Is there anything we need to do today?”
He still doesn’t look over at me. “I’ve got several weapons that need cleaning if you find yourself bored.”
“Not bored enough for that.”
“Well, probably a little too lowbrow for the likes of you anyway. Who has time to clean their own weapons?”
I grit my teeth and stab my fork into my salad. I’ve been doing my best to keep my mouth shut and not push his buttons. He has zero qualms about walking into a room and rolling all over mine. In fact, he seems to delight in riling me until I want to find one of these weapons and shoot him with his own guns.
Barely, I keep myself in line and don’t respond to his pokes. “How about some books?”
He waves his mug toward a shelf near the far wall. Why does he have a bookshelf in a hotel room? Does he live here, or did he bring those in when we arrived, or before? I hadn’t noticed it until now, but then again, I spend most of my time in the room he gave me. Not like he wants me around anyway.
“Why are your books in this hotel room?”
Now he finally looks up, his eyes narrowing as he locks on mine. A tendril of his hair falls over one eye, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Get some rest. Read if you like, but we’ll have a late meeting tonight. The councilman you met has finally agreed to meet us and discuss terms.”
I slosh lettuce around the bowl. “Terms?”
“He seems to think you want to make an alliance with him. We’ll have to set him straight that we only want information tonight. We don’t know enough about him to ensure he won’t betray us at the first opportunity.”