Page 50 of Ruthless Touch
“Got it!” my P.I. says with far more enthusiasm than usual. “Some people insist on looking a gift horse in the mouth, don’t they?”
I sit back in my chair and smile. “That they do. I gave him a choice. He just made the wrong one. Now he’s going to feel the pain that comes with it. Let me know when you find the brother.”
“Will do.”
This calls for a celebration. And I’ve got just the place for it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Gideon
Aria looks around my villa like she’s impressed, something that makes me happy. Her eyes wide, she studies every inch of the space as I take her on a tour of the place I’ve just finished having redesigned. From top to bottom, it’s been changed from old and outdated to exactly the kind of home I want. Sleek and modern now, this villa is everything the penthouse is and more, and even better, it’s far more private and lets me escape the hotel for a while whenever I come here.
“This is beautiful, Gideon,” she says as she swivels her head to look around one more time. “Is this place yours?”
“Yes,” I say with pride.
She turns to face me looking so serious. “Then why don’t you live here? It’s not like the commute to work would be that long. It’s not even five minutes away from the hotel.”
“It had to be gutted and redesigned. I can live here now.”
“Are you going to?”
The difference between can and will is vast in this case. I’ve gotten used to being at the hotel in case there are any problems I need to handle, but the truth is Sasha can take care of most things. There’s no reason I shouldn’t move to this villa.
“I don’t know. Do you like it?” I ask, searching her eyes for the answer before she gives it.
Confusion settles into her beautiful face, and she scrunches up her expression. “I don’t understand.”
“I have to consider what you want now, Aria. You live with me. So do you like it, or do you like the penthouse more?”
Aria steps back as her mouth drops open. “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to be the one who takes you away from your hotel. You love it there.”
Sliding my arm around her waist, I pull her to me. “I love being with you. The hotel can do with less of me being there. If you like this place, we’ll stay here. If not, we’ll stay at the penthouse.”
She stares into my eyes and smiles. “Okay, I think I know the only question to ask. Why did you have this villa remodeled?”
I answer her truthfully. “Because it was out of date and needed it. I bought it knowing that and when the opportunity came to have the designer work on it earlier this summer, I took advantage of it.”
With a sigh, she shakes her head. “Not the answer I was expecting. Okay, how about this? Did you intend on fixing it exactly as you like and then selling it or living here?”
Now I see where she’s going with this. She doesn’t want to be the reason I leave my home to live here. What she doesn’t understand is I don’t care where I live if I’m with her. Penthouse or villa, it doesn’t mean a thing to me.
“I planned on living here, although I didn’t have a definite date for when I’d move in. To be honest, I didn’t think about it much at all.”
She loosens my tie and slides it from around my neck as she thinks about all I’ve said. “Well, it is brand new inside and out, right?”
Smiling, I nod. “Yes.”
“And if you don’t live here, it’s just going to sit empty until you sell it, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I guess you should live here.” She suddenly opens her eyes wide and adds, “Who’s going to live in the penthouse if you aren’t there?”
I hadn’t thought about that. With a shrug, I say, “I don’t know. I can rent it out to someone who wants to live at the hotel or use it like another suite, just better.”
Again, she appears to consider this like all the other information she’s gotten in the past few minutes, almost as if it’s an important decision. Finally, she says, “I say you should live here.”