I turn to my father and smile. “Daddy, I know you’re worried about me, but really? I cannot be expected to try to sleep and relax like that? I must have my privacy.” I use the title he prefers me to. I tried to call him Dad once, and he said to stick with Daddy. Mummy is insistent on her being Mummy not Mum, too. It’s a class thing, I think. Posh people in England tend to use the terms, and we are most definitely posh.

“I’ll be asleep in the next room, not spying on you. You’ll have privacy.” Samuel’s deep voice resonates in the room.

“Why can’t I have a panel in my room? If someone were to enter my bedroom, you’d still be alerted by the alarm, but it means I can turn it off if I want to get a glass of water.” The whole thing is annoying me because he’s so damn implacable, but what he’s saying is crazy. Daddy cannot be taking this seriously.

I also realize that they are talking as if this is already a done deal. How does Samuel know about my house and where I sleep? Damn it, has Daddy already hired him?

Samuel leans even farther forward, his biceps bunching through the suit jacket impressively. “If you go downstairs for a drink and turn the alarm off, someone could grab you down there, and I might not hear. I could sleep right through the whole event.”

“No one is going to grab me. The house is very safe, and I have a dog.” I point to Brutus sleeping by my feet in his basket.

“That’s not a dog,” Samuel says.

I bristle. “It most certainly is a dog.” God, he’s one very annoying, abrasive man.

“Okay. Well, you have three now.”

“What?”

“Dogs,” he says, and now he does grin. “You have three dogs.”

Oh, help. That smile. What is that? This man, this annoying, dark, scary-ass man cannot have a smile like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

Then it hits me once more. The painting. Dark and light. The smile is nothing but a violent dash of light against this man’s dark canvas, and I can’t be lured in by it.

“Since when do I have three dogs?”

“Since I purchased two trained Belgian Malinois, for you at Samuel’s recommendation.” Daddy smiles at me. He’s giving me his patented please don’t make a fuss smile.

I grind my teeth but say nothing. I love dogs, so having two more won’t be a hardship. Still, it would have been nice to be consulted.

Samuel sits back and spreads his legs a little as he relaxes in the seat. The movement pulls the material of his pants around his thick thighs. My God, is he massive everywhere?