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The man, with water still glistening on his broad chest and a towel slung casually over his shoulder, hadn’t seen her yet. He casually walked into the room.
“Ah!” her scream finally tore out of her throat.
The man stopped in his tracks, startled, his head snapping up. His sharp green eyes—strikingly similar to Grandpa Griffin’s—locked onto hers.
“What the fuck?” he barked, voice deep and commanding.
His face, rugged and striking, twisted into shock as his eyes locked with hers. Every inch of him radiated authority—the kind that made it hard to look away.
Anya stood frozen, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest.
“Why are you naked?!” she shrieked, voice cracking with horror before he even reached for the towel. “G-Grandpa! There’s a naked pervert in my room!”
Chapter 2 The New Secretary
In one swift motion, Dante snatched the towel off the bed and wrapped it around his waist, his jaw clenched, eyes flashing with fury and disbelief.
“Are you out of your mind? Who the hell are you?!” he demanded.
“Who are you?” Anya demanded, ignoring his question as she crossed her arms over her chest protectively.
He didn’t answer. His jaw clenched tight, and with a low growl, he grabbed the nightclothes from the bed and stormed back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
Anya, still paralyzed from the shock of seeing afully naked manfor the first time in her life, stood frozen. He looked like he’d been carved out of stone. Her earlier panic had vanished, replaced with a painful thudding in her chest.
She had no idea where to go. This was her room. Where else was she supposed to go?
So she stayed, stiff and seething, waiting for the pervert to come back out so she could scream at him and throw him out.
But when he reappeared, he looked like he wanted to kill her. His eyes had darkened further, thunderstorm-black.
He was fully dressed now in a black T-shirt and sweatpants that hugged his tall, powerful frame. His dark hair was still damp, tousled, and falling over his forehead. Those intense green eyes locked on her, sharp as knives and burning with fury.
She twisted slightly, arms wrapped tightly around herself, her glare defiant even as fear prickled up her spine. “Pervert!” she muttered under her breath.
His glare turned lethal, and she instinctively took a step back.
Just then, Griffin walked in, his eyes shifting between her and the furious man towering near the bed.
“What’s going on in here?” he asked. “Why are you calling him a pervert?”
Anya flushed in embarrassment and turned to him, eyes wide and blinking rapidly to clear the image burned into her brain.
“Grandpa, there’s a naked pervert in my room!” Anya cried, her voice cracking with panic. “Him!” She jabbed a finger at the murder-eyes man.
Then, as if the horror hadn’t sunk in enough, she leaned in a little closer and whispered urgently, “He was naked just now. Like—no-panties naked.”
Griffin suddenly burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking with amusement as his eyes moved between the two of them.
“That’s my grandson, Anya. He’s Dante. Dante Kingsley. My own flesh and blood.”
Anya’s mouth fell open. Her horrified eyes darted to Dante.
‘I just called him a pervert. Repeatedly.’ The realization sunk in. ‘He looks like he’s about to make me homeless again.’ Panic filled her eyes as she met his cold glare.
She immediately looked away and clung to Griffin like a shield.
“I… I didn’t know,” she mumbled, stepping closer to him and away from Dante’s terrifying stare. She inched closer to the old man, whispering, “Grandpa, what is he doing in this room? I don’t want to stay here with him.”