Chapter 5 5

"That's not the kind of money I've got, sweetheart." Leandro gave me a smug smirk. "I'll see you in the kitchen in ten minutes. Don't make me wait."

Don't make him wait. Who did this guy think he was? I may have been just drunk enough to fall for his charm last night, but today. Today, all I could see was arrogance, and I couldn't get out of here fast enough.

As promised, a pair of perfectly fitting jeans and a sweater were waiting for me on the bed. I didn't want to even think about how he knew my sizes so well. I tried to change quickly but was distracted by various cuts and bruises on my body that hadn't been there yesterday.

I shook my curls out from last night and ran my fingers through my knotty hair. I wasn't sure if I needed a shower or a cup of coffee more. It seemed to be a toss-up. Rummaging through the drawers, I found a toothbrush still in the package by some stroke of luck and quickly brushed my teeth.

On my way out of the room, the remnants of my dress from the night before were wadded up in the pile on the floor. The dress that I had fallen in love with, that I had watched for weeks in the window until it finally went on sale, that I still paid an embarrassing amount for. It was now in pieces on the floor. He'd be getting a piece of my mind about that.

As I made my way out of the room, it was clear this wasn't a hotel, but the house was so big it might as well have been. It took me a while to find my way to the staircase, and from there I could follow the powerful smell of coffee and the sound of Leandro's harrowing voice to the kitchen.

"Well, how much did you fucking give her?" He spat into his phone. "No, nothing. She doesn't even know how she got the..." He stopped when he saw me walk into the room.

"I've got to go." He said, abruptly hanging up the phone before anyone had time to answer.

"You look better." He said, handing a cup of coffee to me as I sat down at the breakfast island. He slid a small saucer full of cream and sugar over to me as well, his eyes burning into me the entire time.

"So about last night..." I started, uncomfortable under his stare.

"Yes, about it. You remember being at the gallery, right?" He was directly across the counter from me now, and I didn't have much choice but to look at him. Not that that was an issue. If he was lacking in the personality department, at least he had his looks going from him. The man looked like he walked right out a GQ magazine with his piercing eyes and sparkling smile. I'd never seen such a perfectly fitting suit, and with the way it hugged his muscles, it was like it had been sewn just for him. Of course, with money like this, it very well may have been. The dark stubble that he had worn so well last night was shaved off this morning, leaving his strong jawline on full display. And the smoothness of his voice did things to me I didn't want to admit. If I hadn't been completely irritated with the man, I might be attracted to him.

"Yes. And well... I just remembered something maybe. Were we robbed?"

He looked back at me with that same amused expression.

"What?" I shrugged my shoulders, slightly offended. He seemed to have way too much fun at my expense, and I was way too hungover for the games he was playing.

"I met you at the gallery, yes. I bought one of your paintings. Your work is incredible."

"Thank you." I stared into the abyss of my coffee cup. I knew all of that already. Nothing he said so far was shedding any light on where things had gone so horribly wrong.

"I left my jacket there and sent my men back to get it awhile later."

"Your men?"

"My... Employees." He fidgeted, my question catching him off guard.

"Okay. And then what happened?"

"When they got there, you were being attacked. There was a man on top of you, one of my... employees..." He hesitated, "Shot him. You were distraught after, and they were afraid you were going to hurt yourself, so they gave you something to calm you down and brought you back here in case you were still in danger. The men who were after you were very dangerous men. Do you know of any reason they would want to hurt you?"

"You drugged me?!" I glared, and every muscle in my body stiffened.

"Well, I didn't, my men did. And they just gave you something to calm you down. It's hardly the same thing." He defended. "Honestly though, out of that whole story, you're concerned about that?"

There was a lot about that story that concerned me, but that just seemed like the easiest place to start.

His phone rang again, and he glanced at the number, and a concerned look spread across his face.

"Look, they brought you here to protect you. The man who was attacking you came very close to raping you. Those bruises and cuts all over your body? Those are from him. He pistol-whipped you so badly, we had to stitch you up..."

"You stitched me up?!" No wonder I felt like complete shit. I had been drugged and then stitched up by a bunch of men playing doctor. I needed to see a real Doctor today. Who knew what germs and diseases were in my bloodstream now?

"Not the point." He brushed me off. "What I'm saying is you're safe here. I would like it if you stayed until we can figure out what is going on."

His phone rang again.

"You want me to stay here? Are you crazy?" I stood up. "I don't even know you! I wake up in your house and you tell me some crazy story about how your men or whatever the hell they are, drugged me and brought me here. And then I find my dress in pieces on your floor and..." I continued my rant, pacing back and forth until he stopped me with his firm grip on my shoulders.

"Enough." He ordered, and I shrank back into silence. "You know who I am. I am a client of yours and like it or not, you and I have a relationship now. A professional relationship. And what happened last night was not just a one-off. Those men wanted you, and we may have stopped them for now, but they'll be back. My men risked their lives for you last night and brought you back here to nurse you back to health. You, at the very least, owe me some answers. I would think you'd be grateful."

What answers did he possibly think I could have that would make any sense of all this? He was wrong. This was random, and whoever he thought those men were, they weren't. It was absurd to think anyone would go to that kind of trouble to kidnap me, and then be so bold as to try to come back.

"I need to take care of something really quick, but we can continue this conversation when I get done. It won't take much time, I promise. You can take a shower, you can wander around the grounds, can relax, and watch a movie. Whatever you want. This," he said, motioning to the door where a man stood. I hadn't even realized we had company until now. "This is my friend Pedro. He will get you anything you need until I'm back."

I looked from him to Pedro and then back to him. The mystery of Leandro that had once been attractive was now unnerving me. He was terrifying and dangerous, and what would happen when I couldn't give him the answers he wanted? This was all just a big mistake, and while I was grateful that they had been there last night, I wanted to run far, far away from here. But what if he was right? What if there was an off chance that whoever these men were, they'd come back? What if they were waiting for me at home right now? I didn't want to believe that, but honestly, I didn't want to believe any of this. And if I walked out of here now, I might never know exactly what had happened last night.

"Please. I want to know everything will be okay when you leave here." He asked. There was a sincerity in his voice like I hadn't heard before.

"Why do you care? You don't even know me."

"Oh, I know exactly who you are Tiara. I'll be back in an hour or so." He said and then turned to Pedro. "Watch her."

Pedro nodded in response.

What in the world had I gotten myself into?