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empty. A stone wall and beamed ceilings. Neutral colors. There were exactly two shirts hanging in the open closet space next to the bed. No shoes, no open drawers. No sign of life.
    Again, more questions. “You just happened to know about a vacant yet furnished Paris apartment that we can hide out in?”
    “Yes.” Without looking up, Hunter dumped his cell on the table next to the only chair in the place.
    “Not good enough. I want a real answer.”
    Hunter looked at him then. “What do you need to know, Your Highness?”
    The attitude got so old. Will had no idea how Hunter carried around the weight of all that sarcasm. “Can we stop with that bullshit?”
    “I’ve been attacked by four armed men in”—Hunter looked at his watch—“less than two hours since I found you. That sort of thing makes a guy less than friendly. And a little wary about what comes next.”
    “Even you?” Will couldn’t imagine that. After the explosion the house had literally caved in around Hunter, trapping him on an underground floor. He’d somehow gotten out and escaped the law enforcement personnel conveniently waiting outside on the grounds. No easy feat.
    The questions just kept piling up.
    Hunter’s expression had gone blank. There was no way to read his emotions or even guess what he was thinking. “You think I’m immune to pain?”
    The gunfire, the punching. Will viewed Hunter as almost superhuman, as if he couldn’t be killed. Maybe he just needed to think that to stay sane.
    Will looked at Hunter’s navy suit, hoping not to see a splash of red on the white shirt. There was a smear near the collar, but that was it. The jacket hid parts of his chest.
    “Are you hurt?” He had to fight off the urge to run his hands over Hunter to check.
    “I’m fine.”
    The clipped speech had Will’s gaze slipping back to Hunter’s face. “Would you tell me if you weren’t?”
    “Would you give a shit?”
    Too fucking much.
“You know the answer to that.”
    “Do I? See, I can’t figure you out.” Hunter approached then. Walked over and slid his hands up and down Will’s sides. “You’re all cool on the outside, acting like you’re out of the fray. Above it all.”
    The touch burned through the thin material of his shirt. Will tried to act like his nerve endings hadn’t caught fire under Hunter’s fingers. Tried not to show that he’d fantasized about this, about stripping them both. “The way I see it, you’re the one who keeps talking about being in charge.”
    Hunter stepped in closer as his fingertips flexed against Will’s hips. “Just trying to lay the ground rules.”
    With barely a breath of air between them, Will leaned in and whispered against Hunter’s temple, “Which are?”
    That fast, Hunter pulled back. His arms dropped and he visibly swallowed. “Now isn’t the time.”
    That fast the emotional divide widened along with the physical one. Hunter walked to the windows lining the wall. He made a show of testing the locks and lifting the curtain to peek outside.
    The whole scene pissed Will off. “Fucking coward.”
    Hunter turned around nice and slow. Gave Will the once-over, letting his gaze linger over every inch. “What did you just say?”
    This wasn’t the time or the place, but the energy zapping between them only intensified with each encounter. They’d gone from trading glances in the country house’s dining room to innuendos, and now to actual touching. In passing maybe. Light and skimming. That didn’t matter because Will felt it with every cell inside him.
    He’d wanted Hunter from the first time he’d seen him. Hot and dirty, half clothed and panting. That’s how they came together in his fantasies. Which played nonstop in his head.
    The way Hunter would hold himself away from everyone else. The sting of heat that hit him when he felt Hunter looking in his direction. How he never glanced away. He held the stare, as if daring Will to back down. The larger-than-life presence