Among his seemingly never-ending questions, Brennus apologised for embarrassing her when he danced with her at 4.0. Immediately she felt ashamed because he seemed to know she had been humiliated to be seen with him and his scarred face. Somehow she found herself apologising back, telling him she couldn’t help it, her fear of being noticed by crowds of people was some psychological bullshit she’d picked up after the death of her parents. But they both knew that was only half the truth. Suddenly, Avery wondered why he wanted anything to do with her. She wasn’t the nicest person.

When he was done unravelling her little mysteries, Brennus finally let her drift off into sleep just as the sun broke the horizon.

Avery awoke hours later, the vast darkness beyond the glass windows telling her she’d slept all day. It had been a wonderful, dreamless sleep. She felt refreshed for the first time in a long time.

A throat clearing above her head shot Avery upwards, and she found herself gazing into the grey eyes of Ames.

“Miss.” He nodded his head congenially at her. “Sir has asked me to show you to your room where you can freshen up, have a bite to eat and get dressed for tonight.”

“Tonight?” she queried slowly, rising to her feet to follow Ames who was already heading out the door. “What’s tonight?”

“Sir has plans for you both.”

That sounded ominous. Shivering in her pj’s now that she was no longer near the fire, Avery hurried to follow Ames through the gorgeous modern house straight out of Interior Design Magazine. He took her up this huge, wide staircase with chunky oak banisters to the second floor. At the end of the hall was a double set of doors. He thrust them open with a flourish and Avery gaped as he led her inside the bedroom suite. It was bigger than her and Caroline’s apartment in Brooklyn. A king-size bed dominated one side of the room, sitting on a massive circular dais. The other side of the room had an ornate fireplace to equal the one downstairs. Avery shivered deliciously. It was lit. There were sofas and chairs, an entertainment unit. Her eyes widened as they passed over the open doors to a walk-in closet bigger than their Brooklyn sitting room. The bedroom must have faced the same way as the sitting room downstairs, for another glass wall dominated, leading out onto a balcony that looked over Brennus’ estate.

“Through that door is the bathroom, miss. Why don’t you freshen up? There are some clothes that should fit quite well in the closet. I’ll have a tray of food sent up.”

Avery was in a complete daze as Ames left, shutting the doors behind him. She numbly followed his directions and wandered into the bathroom.

“Holy moly…” she breathed.

Correction. The bathroom was bigger than her apartment.

Floor to ceiling, the bathroom was decked out in lavish travertine and gold. There was a spa in one corner, a claw footed tub in the middle of the room, and separated by a tiled wall, a wet room at the back. Before she had time to think about it she was stripping out of her clothes and heading with excitement towards to the wet room. Three shower heads came on automatically as she stepped inside and Avery gasped at the shock of the beautifully warm water hitting her skin. She sighed happily and leaned back against the wall. That’s when her eyes fell on the shelving unit built into the wet room. It was like something out of a his and hers catalogue. The top shelf had men’s shampoo and conditioner, aftershave, deodorant, razor, shaving foam, shower gel. All of it used. The bottom shelf had her favourite shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, coconut shower gel, shaving foam and the Gillette Venus razor she preferred. None of it used. Her heart thudded in her chest and she struggled to draw breath.

This was Brennus’ bedroom suite.

And clearly he had been waiting for her to join him in it for a while.

His harsh face flashed before her eyes and she shuddered, confused and disgusted for the way she felt about her would-be kidnapper.

“You’re only nineteen,” she whispered to herself, ripping the shampoo down off the shelf and popping it open. She began lathering it into her hair in jerky, angry motions. “You’re just a girl, being manipulated by a much older man. Well… he is only twenty.” She bit her lip and then shook her head, sending stinging shampoo foam into her eye. She groaned. “Twenty give or take a couple of thousand years. He has a lifetime or thirty on you… he knows how to play the game.”

Avery snorted at herself. She was talking crap. To herself.

Suddenly scared Brennus might decide to show up Avery rushed through the rest of the shower and hurried back out into the suite, wrapped modestly in a huge bath towel. She was still alone. Except now there was a tray of gorgeous smelling food on the table by the sofa. Stomach grumbling she sauntered into the walk-in closet and her towel promptly dropped.

“Holy hell…” Her fingers brushed the rows of folded jeans, t-shirts. The skirts, all colours, all lengths, hanging on the rails. Dresses, coats, jackets. Drawers that opened to reveal underwear, pretty underwear… sexy underwear?!

There were even drawers with jewellery and perfume. Racks of shoes, sneakers, boots, belts, bags, purses, hats, scarves... All in her size, all to her taste.

“I think you should be a little more creeped out than you are, Ave,” she whispered shakily, drawing on a pair of panties, bra, black jeans and a shirt. Her gaze fell on the other side of the closet where the layout matched this side. Except it was filled with what was clearly Brennus’ stuff.

“You get everything you need?”

She squealed like an idiot and whirled around to see him smirking at her. “JeSUS!” She glared at him and brushed past him, ignoring the sparks that shot down her arm where their bodies met.

Thumping down on to the sofa, she grabbed at the food tray and began digging in, glaring at him the whole time as he took the seat opposite her. She swallowed when he refused to look away. “You know this is all just a little too Virginia Andrews for my liking.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

“The clothes, the accessories, the shampoo!” Avery shook her head in disbelief. “It’s creepy, Brennus.”

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. Her eyes widened a little. Was he embarrassed?

“Perhaps I went overboard.” He shrugged sheepishly, no longer meeting her eyes. “I just wanted you to be comfortable.”

For some inexplicable reason Avery felt bad for upsetting him. “I know. The thought was nice… if poorly executed.”