“Must be nice.”

“Well, Mattias works hard so I don’t have to.” David made a face. “Sorry, I guess that was ill-timed.”

“What I want to know is, who was signing the paperwork for this merger while Mattias and I were on the island?” Maybe that person was the reason why Steve had turned rogue.

“Maybe the COO or the attorneys?” David looked at me with a blank face and then turned to the waiter. “We’ll have the soft-shell crab to start and the eggplant-Parm salad.” David looked at me. “Did you see any other appetizers you wanted to try?”

“No, that’s fine.” I shook my head.

“Okay.” He looked back at the waiter. “And a bottle of Bollinger.”

“Yes, sir.” The waiter grinned at the order of expensive champagne.

“I’m not drinking tonight, David.”

“We must celebrate your safe return.”

It was a safe return, no thanks to you, no matter what you’re trying to convince me of, David. “I don’t want to drink.”

“One sip won’t hurt you.” His eyes danced as the waiter walked away. “I won’t let you get into any trouble tonight.”

“I don’t think I got into any trouble the other night. Not of my own doing.” I’m not going to sleep with you, if that’s what you’re hoping for.

“The important thing is, you’re safe now. There’s no one that’s going to get past me tonight.”

Let it all come out, David. Why don’t you ask me to come stay the night in your bed, so you can protect me as well. “Doesn’t that make me feel safe?” I said sarcastically, studying his features dispassionately. Why had I been so mesmerized before with David? I’d gotten to the point where I’d even questioned my “investigation,” but now I just found him annoying and condescending. And he wasn’t helpful either. He’d never been helpful to me. He was just a lazy bum who lived off the family money. He would never tell me what I needed to know about Mattias or the company, not when that would endanger his own share of the income.

“So what are you going to do now?” He looked at me curiously. “Any plans for revenge?”

“I’m not trying to be funny, but do you think I would tell you that?” Don’t quit the day job to become a detective. Oh, wait, you don’t have a day job.

“Don’t you trust me, Bianca?”

“Oh yeah, I trust you. I trust you like the Israelites trusted Moses.”

“What?” He frowned. “What does that mean? They trusted him, right?”

“If you don’t know, then you’ll just have to read your Bible.” I gave him a small smile to hide my annoyance. Did I trust him? If he thought that, then he was dumber than he looked. However, I knew that I couldn’t play him by being sarcastic and rude. I had to soften up with him.

“Do you ever think about us?” He leaned forward and grabbed my hands. The light of the candle made a shadow of his face on the wall behind him, and it struck me how calculated everything about him was. And also how dark and mysterious he was. What did I know about David? We’d dated for a few months, but everything had been predicated on my wanting to get closer to his brother. I didn’t know David. And suddenly it struck me that that had been poor detective work on my part. In my haste to get to Mattias, I might inadvertently have missed out on access to more clues and information.

“Us?” I resisted the urge to pull my hands away and squeezed his fingers, letting them entwine with mine. This would make David think I still trusted him because he was obviously the cocky kind of sucker who believed his charm and good looks would win out in every situation. And this would also teach Jakob to spy on me. I looked around casually to see if anyone was paying attention. Who in the room was passing information on to Jakob?

“You know, you and me and when we dated.” He grinned boyishly and his eyes darkened as he studied my face and the top of my chest. “I’m so sorry that I cheated on you. It wasn’t because I didn’t like you, but I had needs and, well, I wasn’t strong enough to say no.”

“It’s fine, you did what you had to do.” And sticking your dick in another girl was what you thought you had to do. And I’m cool with that because I’m not sure I could look myself in the mirror knowing I slept with you.

“It’s you I think about, though,” he whispered. “When I’m in bed with another girl, it’s your face I see. It’s you I want to be with. It’s you I’m entering and making come. It’s you calling out my name.”

That’s not creepy at all, David. “I see.” I licked my lips nervously. Did he seriously think that would make me feel better? Hey, Bianca, yeah, I cheated on you, but I was thinking about you every single time. Let’s go back to my place now and make up for lost time.

“I can still remember your taste.” He sucked on his lower lip and stared at me. “So sweet and—”

I’m going to throw up. “We don’t need to talk about this.” My face reddened as I thought about the nights we’d spent together. A part of me felt icky knowing that I’d done physical things with both him and his brother. I didn’t want to analyze it too closely. It wasn’t as if I’d known they were related, and at least I hadn’t had sex with David. That would have upped the creepy factor 10 percent at least.