Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) by Nicole Edwards (bill gates book recommendations txt) 📕

SEVEN

Braelyn

At some point I would probably wonder why I allowed a man I did not know to usher me out of the house where the New Year’s party continued to rage on as though the world hadn’t started tipping on its axis.

Granted, it was merely my world that was off-kilter, but still. As overwhelming as this was, shouldn’t everyone be feeling what I was feeling?

I hurried along, attempting to keep up with Talon’s long strides, but my sore feet, likely sporting some fairly good gashes thanks to my ten-mile dash through the ice and snow, had me taking hesitant steps. I didn’t even want to know what they looked like, and I feared if I stopped walking on them for too long, I’d be useless.

I ground my teeth together, not wanting to make a sound. I refused to be some damsel in distress, and I sure wasn’t going to let this man see what a wimp I was. Not after he’d already witnessed my crying jag.

“Where are we going?” I asked through clenched teeth when Talon led me out of the warm house and into the brutally cold night.

Because there’d been so much adrenaline flooding my system, I hadn’t registered the cold earlier. Now that I was calmer, its icy fingers seemed to slap at my overly sensitive skin, causing goose bumps to form on my flesh as I shivered.

In a gentlemanly move that I’d only ever seen in movies, Talon stopped, shed his tuxedo jacket, and draped it over my shoulders before pulling me closer to his side, his big hand gliding up and down my arm.

“Almost there,” he said softly, motioning with a hand.

I followed the gesture to see a black town car waiting for us, a handsome dark-haired man dressed in a pair of jeans and a brown sheepskin-lined bomber jacket standing beside the opened door.

“I need your watch,” Talon stated before I climbed into the car.

“What?” I frowned. “Why?”

“It’s a smart watch, is it not?”

I glanced down at it. “Yeah.”

When I looked back up, he had cocked one black eyebrow.

Oh. Right.

Talon was taking my watch so I couldn’t be tracked. I’d endured this sort of behavior from Ransom long enough to understand why I needed to part with it, but I still didn’t like the idea. He would’ve done the same with my phone if it wasn’t sitting on my kitchen counter right now. Along with my laptop.

But I liked this watch. My brother had bought it for me.

Talon continued to stare, patiently waiting.

Another shiver raced through me as I reluctantly unhooked it, handed it to Talon.

As I was getting in, the man standing near the door removed his coat, passed it over without being prompted.

A moment later, Talon was joining me, the jacket being gently draped across my lap. I shouldn’t have been surprised by how smooth the leather was or how soft the interior lining was. Considering the suit Talon was wearing, it was obvious the man had money. Evidently those who worked for him did, as well.

Because Talon’s tuxedo jacket still draped over my shoulders, I simply dragged it over me like a blanket, relishing the warmth and inhaling the spicy, rich scent of the man who’d been wearing it. I had no idea what cologne that was, but it was intoxicating.

The man whose jacket I now had did not get into the driver’s seat but rather into the front passenger seat. A moment later, the luxury car was pulling out of the circular drive.

Before I could rattle off the questions pinging around in my head, Talon was on his phone.

“I want an update, Tiegan.”

I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I watched Talon’s expression, which did absolutely nothing to clue me in to what the update was. That did not stop me from staring.

He was … I wasn’t sure what to think of Talon, whose last name I did not know, aside from the fact he was by far the most attractive, best-dressed man I’d ever met. I’d thought the same thing after our initial encounter a year or so ago at a party very similar to the one we’d just left.

Although I’d heard Ransom mention Talon’s name on numerous occasions, I’d never really gotten a good understanding of him. Not like I’d learned about the others. Not even from the stories I’d managed to pry out of my brother, which, unfortunately, had been few and far between.

He was impeccably dressed, in what was probably a ten-thousand-dollar tux. Okay, maybe not that much. I had no idea what the going rate for a tuxedo was, but I could tell you, this one was not rented.

Rich. Talon looked rich.

And he was definitely sexy. Rugged … not really, but he also wasn’t beautiful the way some men were. The inky-black hair and slate-gray eyes were a nice combination on his chiseled face, lending him an inscrutable air.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but looking at him was the equivalent of feasting on the richest, most decadent chocolate and knowing you wouldn’t gain an ounce of weight. Unbelievable and addicting.

Okay, and now I was waxing poetic about the man’s face.

Could someone say adrenaline overload?

Forcing my gaze away from him, I watched the night slip past us outside the car, one streetlamp flashing by at a time. I didn’t bother mentioning my apartment wasn’t in the direction we were going. Clearly if that had been where Talon was taking me, he would’ve said so.

“Thanks,” Talon’s deep baritone rumbled through the car. “I’ll see you shortly, Tiegan.”

I fought the urge to look at him when he disconnected the call. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the sort of patience that required, because I found myself gazing over, waiting for him to tell me what was going on.

He did not.

“Well?”

Those keen eyes shifted my way.

“Did Tiegan find my brother?”

“Yes.” He did not elaborate.

“Is he all right?” Surely he realized I wasn’t going to stop asking questions until I was