Page 33 of Claimed Gem

“Dinner will be served soon. I thought Ries might want a drink before then.”

Stephanie nodded her head and then waved him toward the door, “That’s a great idea. I’ll get it for him. You can go back to your security duties.”

Carlos looked like he wanted to fight her but he tightened his lips and turned around to leave the room. Stephanie watched him go and took her seat. When Chris and Ries looked up moments later, Ries frowned at the door.

“Who was that? Carlos?”

“He was going to fix you a pre-dinner drink. I told him I would. What do you want?” Stephanie told him, including Chris in her invitation.

Chris gave her a tight smile and then whispered something to Ries before leaving the room on silent feet. Ries came toward her, his expression tightening with what she assumed was displeasure.

“You shouldn’t have sent Carlos away.”

“He’s a nuisance.”

“He’s here to keep you safe.”

“And just how many of your women has he protected?” Stephanie challenged him.

Ries arched a brow at her statement. “My women?”

“Your brother seemed to think I must be one of them,” she threw Damon ’s comment out there. “You know, I’ve been wondering since that day, just how many women have you had? A dozen? Thirty? Fifty?”

Ries shook his head incredulously, “Those other women meant nothing to me. I don’t even remember their names.”

Stephanie pursed her lips as she digested his words. Ries was a playboy, of that she’d been aware. She’d seen him in action at the bar, beautiful women throwing themselves at his feet and clinging to his arms. Stephanie couldn’t help but compare herself to them, and she found herself lacking.

Maybe I’m just one of his women he hasn’t figured out how to get rid of yet.

“You don’t believe me?” Ries asked. “I swear to you, not one of them meant anything to me.”

Instead of feeling relieved or satisfied with Ries’ answer, Stephanie found herself wondering whatshemeant to him. How many of those other women had thought they mattered to him? How many had been wrong?

It never once occurred to her that the bevy of women who sought Ries’ company, had only done so in an attempt to gain Damon’s attention and access to the family fortune.

Ries was charmingand good looking, but that would only carry one so far. It was his wealth most women were hoping to tap into. Stephanie realized Ries knew this, and still allowed himself to be used by these women.

“I don’t want to hear about your women,” Stephanie told him when he continued to explain about how none of them meant anything other than a momentary good time. “I don’t want to be one of them.”

“I’ve already told you that I don’t see you that way,” Ries told her, his eyes hardening and his voice going colder.

“Yeah, well, actions speak louder than words,” she flung back at him, hurt over his treatment of her the last several days surfacing.

Ries stared at her and then shook his head, “I don’t even know why I’m trying to justify my actions to someone like you.”

Stephanie’s ire grew. “Someone like me?”

“Oh, come on Stephanie. What does a woman from such a low-income background know about the women who throw themselves at me? They aren’t anything like you. They know what it’s like to have extreme wealth and power, and they simply are trying to ensure they never lack for either.”

His words were hurtful and Stephanie lashed out in response, “I may not know what it’s like to have a bank account that never ends or how it feels to command the kind of power where I snap my fingers and everyone jumps to do my bidding. But I understand the way the world works. I understand how men’s minds work. I’ve handled my share of shallow, spoiled and narcissistic men who only saw me as a conquest. I’ve come out on my feet. I’ve survived.”

I’ve hadmy share of spoiled men. I know how to handle them.

The words rang hollow in Ries’ ears. Was he only one inherlong line of conquests?

Ries stared at her, his feelings about her confused as he tried to combine her words suggesting she knew how to “handle” men – and presumably dispose of them - with the innocent woman he’d come to care for over the last several days.

“I would have never guessed,” he murmured, almost to himself.