Page 2 of Rio (Knight Empire #3)
“Same thing, Knight.” I sip my water, the bubbles fizz as they go down my throat. He watches me so intensely, I feel goosebumps skittering across my skin.
“We’re two adults in a hotel room, alone. Very innocent, princesa.”
“I said no flirting.”
He holds up a hand. “No flirting. Just sitting. Watching you pace around barefoot like some kind of goddess who hates me.”
I snort. “Goddess?”
He nods. My eyes avoid his, but it’s the heat I feel, from everything being so overpowering—his gaze, his presence, his cockiness.
“You hot?” he asks.
I stifle the sigh threatening to cut loose from my throat. This man can read me like a book, and this is something I’m not used to. This is why he intrigues me. Why he’s constantly in my head. I feel sweaty all over, with a dampness under my arms, between my legs, down my back.
He sits forward. “You left your best friend’s reception early. Why?”
I shrug. “Too many people. Too much noise. And I hate small talk.”
“Hmm.” He studies me, like he doesn’t believe me. “That wasn’t all of it.”
Damn him. I have work to do. Pierce is going to call soon and demand an update. But Pierce and work are the last thing I want to think about right now. “Dani’s happy. She has someone who sees her. Fights for her. It made me realize … how lucky she is.”
He frowns, and I feel like I’ve said too much. “You could be lucky.” He winks. “All you have to do is not push me away.”
“I know what kind of man you are.”
“You know what kind of man my father is. Please don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that I’m another version of him. I’m not.”
He stands up and places his now empty mini bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the table next to him. My heart thunders inside my chest, but I manage to hold my ground until he closes the distance between us.
“You think I’m dangerous, arrogant, and spoiled,” he challenges, his husky voice reverberating through me.
“I don’t think you’re spoiled. I know it, Knight. You brothers with your billion-dollar trust funds.”
“We’re not trust fund brats, but you have been thinking about me.
” He reaches out and brushes a strand of hair behind my ear.
Gone is the cocky grin, replaced by a more serious, intense look.
He’s looking at me like I’m the only woman in the world.
Like we’re already intimate and he knows everything about me.
I look up into his eyes—so dark they look black, just like his hair, slicked back today.
He looks sharp and dangerous, like he could sling me over his shoulder, and walk out of here, and no one would dare stop him.
That charm of his sometimes borders on predatory, and my insides heat up in a way they shouldn’t.
My eyes go to the soft dimple in his chin, and I’m tempted to touch it; to run my fingers over the dip. But I don’t. I scarcely breathe. His tone is softer now, almost a whisper.
“You still let me into your hotel room, and I have a feeling you’re not about to tell me to leave anytime soon.”
My breath hitches, but I don’t move away.
He’s right.
“What are you doing?” I manage to say, feeling a trail of heat where he touches me.
His hand lingers around my jaw. “You can keep hating me tomorrow, but right now, tell me you don’t want this.”
I swallow, and my voice is barely a whisper. “I don’t.”
“What’s changed, princesa?” He walks back a few steps like the shock of my words physically punched him. “When we first met in Manhattan, you were all smiles and flirtation.”
“I didn’t know who you were back then.”
“But you shut me down fast enough.”
I don’t flinch. I don’t smile either. “Because once I found out, everything changed.” It’s not that I hate the rich.
I don’t. There are many rich people who do good, but the Knights are not those people.
I was raised by a single mother in a favela on the outskirts of S?o Paulo.
I’ve seen poverty up close. I’ve experienced the struggle and the injustice.
“Because of my last name?”
“Because your last name destroys rainforests and bribes politicians,” I snap. “Because Knight Enterprises is the kind of monster I’ve built my whole career fighting.”
The words seem to land harder than I expect.
“Then tell me, what am I doing in your hotel room?”
I narrow my eyes. “I know how to keep my distance.”
“By letting me in?”
“By being nice to you because you saw me back to my room safely.”
“You think you’re safe from my charm here?” he murmurs. “I think you still want me.”
He’s infuriating, and not wrong. But I’d rather die than admit that. I tilt my chin up in defiance. “You think very highly of yourself. All of you Knights do.”
“I think very highly of what I see, and what I want.” He does it again, his gaze taking its sweet time trailing over me, slow and deliberate, every cell in my body vibrates. Heat flares at the base of my belly. I want to lift my dress up and have him be on his knees, pleasuring me.
Damn this man.
Damn my thoughts.
I force a light laugh, but it’s laced with challenge. “You’re wasting your time here. I don’t do men like you.”
“ Do? That’s an interesting choice of word, princesa.” His eyes glisten with mischief. “What exactly do you mean by men like me?”
“The type of men who think the world revolves around their name, their money, and their ability to get whatever they want.”
His smile is lazy, full of undisguised interest.
“What type of men do you do , then, Raquel?”
My name on his mouth sounds like temptation and sin. I love the way he says it. Slightly dirty, and in his voice thick, and raspy. Stupidly, I step forward and place a finger on his chest. “I do men who can keep up.”
I start to walk away, but he grabs my wrist, gently, but firm.
“I can keep up, princesa. What are you offering?”