“You were hungry and you didn’t say anything. That’s not acceptable, baby. You tell me when you need something.” His eyes had gone diamond hard, pure mercury, glittering with menace. “I’m not bragging, but I know my way around a kitchen.”

There it was. The Elijah she expected. Bossy. Intimidating. Only this time she wasn’t afraid in the least. He was gently cleaning her thighs as well as other, more secret places, his touch tender even when his voice was scary hard. She hid a small smile, thinking it best she keep that knowledge to herself.

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future,” she said. “And I’ll admit I’m really, really hungry, so if you have anywhere near the skills in the kitchen you have in the bedroom, now would be the time to whip them out and show off.”

His glittering gaze drifted over her face slowly, taking in every detail as if ensuring himself she was perfectly fine. He touched her lips, his fingers pressing over them with the same gentleness he used cleaning her, but he dragged his fingers across her lips, tracing them, and then down, the gesture turning her heart over.

“You deserve the world, Siena,” he said softly. “And I’m going to give it to you.”

Everything in her went still. His eyes had gone all silver. Dark silver. Glittering silver, and so intense his gaze pierced her, went right through her, aiming straight at her heart and finding its target. She wanted to believe him. She did believe him. How could she not when he was looking at her with such raw, stark emotion naked on his face for her to see?

She knew no one else had ever seen that look. No one had ever seen him exposed the way he was giving himself to her. That look turned her inside out. He was a strong man, a dangerous one, and closed off from the world. His extremely handsome face was normally expressionless. He didn’t give anything away, certainly not his emotions, but there it was, laid out for her.

“Elijah.” She whispered his name because she could barely speak.

Everything in her life was gone. She was scared and confused, but there was Elijah holding out his hand to her. Bringing her safely to his side. Wrapping her in his strength and protection. Offering the world to her. His world.

Siena’s heart accelerated. She didn’t know what his world entailed. She didn’t want her child to grow up in her grandfather’s world. What and who was Elijah Lospostos? The man sitting on the bed with her, so tender and sweet? Or the man who sat at her grandfather’s table, commanding the room in spite of his age. Others had deferred to him. Even her grandfather had treated him with respect. Now he was working with Drake Donovan on Drake’s security team. What did that mean?