“Don’t pretend like you know me,” I bit out. “And don’t exhale smoke on me.” I grabbed the cigar from between his fingers, snapped it in two, and dumped it in a nearby trash can.
“You’re crazy,” he said, but his face showed amusement, not anger. He enjoyed riling me up. Got off on my wrath. “Which, by the way, I find oddly delightful.”
“Don’t flirt.”
“Why not?” he asked. Ugh. Good question. The attraction was maddening.
“Claire?” I asked tiredly.
He shook his head. “Firmly in the past as of last week.”
“Sorry to hear,” I said, in monotone.
He grinned. “No, you’re not.”
“You’re right. I’m pretty focused on the shit show called my family life right now.”
“Understandable.” He couldn’t stop staring at me, and vice versa.
“I appreciate the heads-up, Mr. Miller.”
“The trial will be fast. Judge Lopez doesn’t want a spectacle. The evidence is overwhelming. This should be a quick wrap-up.”
“Now would be a good time to stop talking.” I swiveled toward the entrance door, ready to leave.
“Arya?”
Was he deaf?
I turned back to face him, a plastic smile on my face. “Yes, Christian?”
“Don’t go to court next week. There will be things there you don’t want to see. Not to mention it’s career suicide for you.” His voice was soft, his eyes not as cold as they had been days before, at the sauna.
“Some things are worth dying for. He’s my father.”
“Yes. Your father. Not you. As soon as the motion for joinder is granted, the media will be all over this, and no cute picture of your dad in a hospital kissing babies is going to make this go away. Investors will pull their money from his hedge fund. The board will probably make him resign. The charges have changed, and so has the punishment, the very fabric of the case. Conrad Roth is not coming back to Wall Street. If you still want a career, now’s the time to distance yourself from him.”
“Would you turn your back on your parent like that?” I tapered my eyes, searching his.
Christian smiled sadly, looking down. His thumb rolling over his matchbook. “I would run over my parents with a semitrailer for a lukewarm cup of tea. And I’m not even a tea person. So I’m not sure I’m the right person to be asked this question.”
Something about what he said made me feel raw, naked. Guilty.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
He shook his head, finding my gaze. “No. You have your own family to worry about.”
“Yes. And I choose to give my father the benefit of the doubt.”
“There is no doubt. His crimes are objective reality, fully recorded and witnessed. I’m not the murderer of your father’s good reputation. I’m merely the coroner. The body was already cold when I got here. Plus, there’s also another matter to consider.”
“And that is?”
“I can’t ask you out as long as you’re linked to the case.”
My mouth fell open. Was I more angry or shocked? I couldn’t tell, but I knew I would punch him if my family weren’t already swimming in bad press. That was beyond the pale. The arrogance of him was shocking.
“You want to date me?” I spit out.
“I wouldn’t go that far. I’d like to sleep with you and am willing to check all the civilized boxes to get from point A to B.”
“Did you use that line on C—”
“No. I didn’t have to.”
I tipped my shades down, half smiling. “Funny, you didn’t seem so eager to be with me when we were in the sauna together.”
“The sauna was a badly plotted scheme. Not to mention I didn’t want to be within the gray area of infidelity. Now that’s out of the way . . .”
“You don’t even like me.” I threw my arms in the air, exasperated. I began pacing the sidewalk, ignoring the curious gazes of people around us. Christian looked more than comfortable, like he was used to pushing people into corners.
“I don’t have to like you to want to bed you. I’d think you’d be familiar with the concept of hate fuck by your fairly advanced age.”
“And how would you know what my fairly advanced age may be?” I stopped, turning to look at him. I saw it then. Just a flash of an oh-crap expression, of someone who’d said something he shouldn’t have, before his face smoothed back to normal.