Page 46 of Master of Secrets

But that bit was actually secondary. Mostly I was angry at him for shutting me out during the sex this morning. While still somehow managing to make me come, whenever and however he wanted, as if he had all the keys to the kingdom. He had power over me. He had demanded my complete, shuddering, sobbing sexual surrender…and yet, he held himself apart. He had been cold and distant and dismissive. He had left me feeling abandoned, alone…and fucking furious.

And then, he’d locked me up.

Decisions were being made for me. I was being kept, but for what? For his sexual convenience? Well, crap. I was in a girlish tizzy because of a guy’s morning-after bad behavior, and now I was being shoved around. Aw, poor me.

So? Tough shit, Banner. It was up to me to find a solution, like it always was. My hair was wet, and the morning wind was cold on my neck. In the back of my distant memories, I heard my mom’s voice, scolding me about catching a draft when I had wet hair. How I would catch my death from a “colpo d’aria.”

It had been a while since I heard her voice in my mind.

I went back to the dining room, and was struck by the amazing breakfast buffet. I grabbed a muffin, crunchy on the golden outside, and fluffy and warm and full of gooey hot blueberries on the inside. My stomach yawned open with a tiger-like roar.

I might as well find the solutions to life’s problems with a belly full of good food, so I grabbed a plate, one of the big ones, and loaded up. Mmm, eggs Benedict, one of my long-time faves, and there was even a jug with extra Hollandaise sauce. I slopped a few more lashings of it over my two eggs, got myself a pile of fruit, another muffin, some coffee. Then I sat down and tucked in, with appetite.

Damn, that was good. Particularly compared to my usual morning meal, which was peanut butter on toast, or else corn flakes. I wasn’t much of a cook.

I was well and truly stuffed, and all coffeed up and jittery when Angela bustled in to monitor the situation. She beamed when she saw that I’d done justice to her breakfast. “Oh, good! I’m so glad you found something you liked!”

I took another bite of muffin, and washed it down with coffee. “You know I’m being kept here against my will, right?” I demanded.

Angela’s lips tightened. “Well, that depends on how you’re looking at it.”

“How else can I look at it? He won’t let me freaking leave!”

“Mick did tell me that you were, ah, upset. About Ethan insisting you stay here, where you’re safe.”

“That’s a delicate way to put it,” I said sourly.

“Mick also told me what happened yesterday morning, in the elevator of the Fletchley Building. What you did for Ethan there.”

“Um, okay? And?”

“Well, obviously, I am so grateful you were there to help him,” Angela said. “Mick says, you saved Ethan’s life. That it was two against eight. Dear God.”

“Yeah, I guess?” I said, dubious. “But I don’t think it counts, if he saved my life, too. We’re even. So no worries.”

“You most certainly are not even,” she said sternly. “He is forever in your debt. We all are. It was a miracle. So thank you.”

I gazed at her, utterly perplexed. “Ah…you’re welcome, but why? Would you be out of a job, if something happened to him?”

She harrumphed. “I doubt very much I would be out of a job, but I would certainly be out of a friend, and one I care for dearly and think of as family. It would break my heart to lose him. For that reason, I’m inclined to think well of you, Miss Banner. You’re brave, and tough, and you don’t flinch from trouble. I respect that.”

“Thanks,” I said, bemused. “Call me Kat.”

“Very well, Kat. I always speak my mind freely to Ethan and Shane and Freya, too, so by now, I’m in the habit. And I’ll offer you the same courtesy.”

“Thanks. Should I brace myself?”

“If you like,” she said briskly. “Mick said you’ve come to the attention of Ethan’s enemies. That they’ll assume you’re on Ethan’s team.”

“That may be the case,” I said. “But it’s my problem. No one else’s.”

“Ethan is a natural leader,” Angela went on. “He can’t stop himself from taking responsibility for your safety, particularly since he was the one who put you in harm’s way. You wouldn’t be in danger at all, if it weren’t for him, am I right?”

I shrugged. That wasn’t strictly true, but it was better not to open that particular can of worms, for her or anyone. “Even so, I have things to do. Promises to keep.”

“They can wait,” Angela said sternly. “The way they’d wait if you were ill, or if you had hurt yourself. And Ethan wants to make sure your life goes on.”

“Angela—”