Ruthless King (New Orleans Malones #4)

Chapter 32

32

A ll right . . . she was talking herself into a darn panic attack. She didn’t know what was wrong with her.

This was what she wanted. Everything would be just fine.

There was no point in worrying about something when there wasn’t really a problem.

It was all fine.

She really had to stop saying the word ‘fine’.

As the car came to a stop, Regent undid her belt and then his before his door opened.

“Slide across, baby,” he told her as he got out, then reached back in to grab her.

Jilly could feel herself growing red as he picked her up. She caught a glimpse of Jose and another man she didn’t know. She tried to take in her surroundings as Regent carried her up the stairs.

“I really can walk.”

“You really can’t,” he countered.

Lord, he was hard work.

She was beginning to realize that she needed to pick her battles, or she would wear herself out very quickly.

The door opened and she saw Gerald. He gave them both a brief nod.

“Hi, Gerald,” she said.

“Ms. Crane.”

“Gerald, did you get everything ready?” Regent asked.

“Yes, your bedroom is all set up for Ms. Crane.”

What did he need to set up?

Regent didn’t give her a chance to ask, though, as he carried her upstairs.

She barely had time to take in the gorgeous foyer, marble floors, and dark blue walls.

The staircase was ornate and huge. Big, expensive-looking paintings adorned the walls. Everywhere she looked, the place screamed money.

And she felt more and more intimidated.

Finally, Regent carried her into a huge bedroom. There was a four-poster bed with a deep blue cover. Large pieces of dark wooden furniture filled the room. There were landscape images on the walls. Paintings of forests and mountains. She was sure they were all gorgeous and expensive on their own.

There was a bust of a man on a side table in the corner.

She didn’t realize people actually had things like that in their houses. Lord knew how much that thing cost, but she wasn’t going near it in case she knocked it over.

The bed was already turned down, and on the nightstand she saw a whole lot of medicine.

It seriously looked like someone had raided a pharmacy.

Regent laid her on the bed and she sunk right in.

Oh man.

Why was she so tired? She’d barely done anything.

Regent turned back toward the door. Where was he going? Was he just going to leave her here?

Opening the door, he picked up her suitcase and carried it inside.

“If you’ve forgotten anything, you can tell Gerald and he’ll go get it for you.”

Ahh, yeah. She wouldn’t be doing that.

He opened her suitcase, searching through it until he found her last pair of clean pajamas. These were her sexy ones. Well, probably no one else thought that. They were pale pink and cute with lace around the bottom hems.

She’d only just gotten showered and dressed, though. She wasn’t ready to get back into pajamas and bed.

“Let’s get you into these. Gerald will bring up a hot lemon drink and then you can nap until lunchtime. Have some soup, watch some television, then have another nap until dinnertime. More food and then sleep.”

Wow, he had it all mapped out, huh?

“I really don’t need that much sleep. I slept most of yesterday. And I just got dressed. Why don’t you show me around the house?”

“You’re sick, Jilly,” he said firmly. “What you need to do is rest and to drink fluids.”

She sighed. She guessed he was right. However, she hoped he didn’t think he would win every argument.

“Fine, I’ll stay in bed. But no pajamas.”

“All right. But I was only thinking of your comfort. I understand that bras can be annoying.”

Shoot. He wasn’t wrong.

“Do you intend to win every argument?” she grumbled.

“I wasn’t aware we were arguing, sweet girl. This was just a discussion.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. But something was going on with him, as though he was distracted or thinking about something else.

“While you get into your pajamas, I’m going to go and speak to Gerald about your care. I’ll be back soon.”

Jilly stared after him with a frown.

What was going on?

Getting up, she moved to the bathroom, needing to pee. After using the toilet, she changed her clothes before taking a look around.

The bathroom had white marble tiles on the floor, then subway tiles that came up part way up the wall. It had a huge walk-in shower and a claw foot bath.

God, she’d always been a sucker for a claw foot bath.

Walking back into the empty room, she stood there and looked around.

You don’t belong.

This isn’t your home.

Don’t break anything.

She pushed those thoughts out of her head. This is what she wanted. To be here with Regent.

In his bedroom.

She was going to sleep with Regent Malone.

Oh God.

Why had she only just realized that? Would he want to do . . . things?

Suddenly, she was seeing the bed with whole new eyes. She could see him pinning her down while he fucked her nice and slow.

Easy, girl.

She turned to look at the male bust. “You’d have to close your eyes, Boris. I mean, the things you might see . . .”

Delight filled her at the thought.

Although she figured that Regent wouldn’t do anything while she was still ill. Probably just as well. She hadn’t had the energy to shave her legs when she’d showered this morning.

Or anything else . . .

Turning, she looked at the bust. He had stern features and a thick beard. She moved slowly around him.

“I swear your eyes are watching me wherever I am. That’s really creepy. How the heck am I going to sleep in here with you watching my every move?”

Boris had nothing to say.

Rude. But unsurprising.

Moving to the closet, she walked in, her mouth dropping open in wonder.

This closet was something else.

It was also done in dark wood. It had so much hanging space and even special shelving for shoes. Regent hadn’t even filled up half of it.

“What are you doing?”

She jumped with a squeal, her hand on her heart. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to pry. I mean, I was just looking. Sorry.”

Regent frowned. “You can look in here all you like.”

“Oh. I can?”

“Of course. This is your bedroom and closet now too. If you need more space just let me know.”

More space? Her stuff would barely fill up one-eighth of this closet. And none of it was really nice enough for a closet like this.

It was definitely time for a wardrobe overhaul. Jilly couldn’t going afford anything good enough for this place.

“I asked you what you were doing because you should be in bed. We can do a walk-through of the house when you’re feeling better.”

Right.

She followed him back into the bedroom and let him tuck her into bed. He took her temperature.

“It’s come down. How is your throat?”

“A lot better.”

Liar.

She’d gotten a burst of energy when they’d arrived, but now she was feeling exhausted and her throat felt raw.

“Hmm. I still want you to drink this.” He handed her a warm drink. “It’s a hot lemon drink.”

He drew a chair over and sat, watching her.

Okay.

He was definitely acting weird.

She took a sip to appease him. “Regent?”

“Keep drinking.”

She took another sip to appease him. “What’s wrong?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why would you ask if anything is wrong?”

“I don’t know. You’ve seemed off all day.”

Regent rubbed his chin. “Don’t worry about it. You need to rest.”

“I’ve done nothing but rest these past few days. I’m getting better. Are you already regretting asking me to come stay here?”

“No, baby. Of course not.” He leaned forward and took her hand in his. “I would never regret that.”

“Then what is it?”

There was a pensive look on his face and her stomach dropped. What was he going to tell her?

“What is it?”

“I picked up some of your clothes to clean them last night.”

Okay. She still didn’t understand what was wrong.

“The clothes you wore the night you came home ill.”

Right . . . she’d forgotten about that . . . wait, shit.

She hadn’t gotten changed that night before leaving the club. Which meant that he’d seen what she was wearing under the hoodie.

“You saw the outfit I was wearing,” she said weakly.

“I did.” His face was stern. “And I also found the note in your pocket.”

There was a note in her pocket?

Suddenly, it came to her.

Oh. Shit.

The note in her pocket . . . how had she forgotten about that?

“Right.” She rubbed her head. “I forgot about that.”

“You forgot about a note that threatened to expose you? Nyx.”

Holy. Crap.

Yep. She really was in trouble.