Kaya scurried to slide past the car door that Tobin opened for her. No one else seemed to pay attention to her presence. After all, they were there to protect CEO Lee, not his personal chef. Although Kaya rode in the same vehicle with Ransom, there was a world of difference between them.
Tobin shut the door once Kaya was inside the car.
Ransom barely spared her a glance. "What were you and Kestrel discussing?"
"You know him?" Judging by the way Ransom used Kestrel Knox's first name only, it certainly seemed that way.
"Enough to know you should stay away from him."
What an interesting comment. Kaya folded her arms as she thought. What could possibly make Ransom say such a thing? It would be better not to ask, but she couldn't help her curiosity.
"Why?"
"He isn't someone you should be involved with."
"Is he a bad person?"
Ransom sighed. "I cannot qualify him as a bad person, but that isn't to say he's a particularly good human being, either."
"I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions."
Kaya couldn't believe she instigated an argument. Again. What was it about Ransom Lee that made her want to fight back?
Ransom nodded. "Fine. Do that. But know it's a terrible decision to hang around him."
"He didn't seem so bad." Kaya shrugged. "A little narcissistic, is all."
The pause before Ransom's next words told Kaya that he thought them through. Thoroughly. "I don't want to see you get hurt like all the other women around him."
Kaya chose not to read too far into the comment, because she feared what else she might deduce if she did. "Jade hangs around him."
"Jade doesn't get hurt anymore."
Kaya went silent. For a man with so much power, must Ransom also have so much mystery? Everything he said made Kaya want to know more. Every move he made drew her in like a fish to a baited line. In the end, she might end up gutted and thrown into the fire, but she couldn't resist.
"Where are we going next?" Kaya asked.
"Another meeting, then lunch."
"But I didn't prepare lunch." What an idiot. She should have known that she needed to bring more than breakfast along. Tobin had specified that it would take all day.
Ransom shook his head. "That's fine. We'll eat out. It won't be the first time."
"Are your days usually this busy?"
"Yes." Ransom finally, finally, turned to look at Kaya. "I've brought you along today in order for you to understand. In the future, you may have to come along to do Tobin's job, depending on what project he's working on for me."
"And if I don't come along?"
"Then you'll answer phones in the office."
"Our original agreement was that I would cook your meals."
"I'll do my best to return to the office for meals." Ransom turned those purple-black eyes away. "You do your job and I'll handle the rest. That was the deal."
The rest. Kaya didn't even remember what the rest was anymore. When did her goal and purpose get so blurred?