Ten Rules to Bind Her Heart - Chapter 64
Anya’s voice was filled with curiosity.
In this lawless territory ruled by profit, no one entered a losing bargain.
Least of all Shen Yu.
Shen Yu drew deeply on his cigar. Blue-white smoke spilled from his lips, veiling his chiseled features and leaving only a pair of bottomless black eyes.
“I have a use for it.”
His voice was level, revealing no emotion.
“What? Mr. Sharma doesn’t agree?”
“It isn’t that.”
Anya hesitated and leaned forward slightly.
“My father simply doesn’t understand. Even if you’re planning a high-end storage operation and want to save money, why choose somewhere that remote and deserted?”
“You may tell Mr. Sharma that he has nothing to worry about.”
Shen Yu gave a quiet laugh. The long fingers holding his cigar traced an odd arc over the tabletop, then tapped an invisible point.
“I’m a businessman. Profit is all I want. Everything else is a burden to me. I guarantee that nothing I do will harm your family’s interests.”
He flicked away the ash, his gaze as deep and cold as a winter pool.
Shen Yu was lying.
Or rather, he had given her only half the truth.
But Anya did not need to know the rest.
“Fine. I’ll pretend I believe you.”
She clearly did not, but she was clever enough not to press him. Lifting her cup in acknowledgment, she said, “I’ll pass the message to my father. So long as that collection arrives on schedule, everything else is negotiable.”
“A pleasure doing business.”
Shen Yu raised his cup and touched it lightly against hers.
With business concluded, the tension in the room eased.
Anya refilled his cup. Then, as something occurred to her, her lips curved into a broad smile.
“Oh, right. Ji Chen called me this afternoon.”
She looked openly delighted by his misfortune.
“He was practically sobbing over the phone. Said you were inhuman—that you bulldozed all the Black Magic roses he went to so much trouble to fly in from Ecuador, just to soothe a woman.”
“He also said that glass conservatory cost three hundred thousand dollars to build, and you flattened it without even blinking.”
Shen Yu’s expression did not change.
“The conservatory was poorly situated,” he said blandly. “It disrupted the feng shui.”
“Feng shui?”
Anya nearly spat out her tea.
“Since when have you believed in that? You couldn’t have invented a more halfhearted excuse. Everyone knows Black Wolf headquarters is so steeped in killing energy that even ghosts keep their distance, and now you’re worried about the feng shui?”
She leaned closer, her expression teasing.
“I remember that Taoist friend of yours had to talk himself hoarse before you agreed to build a garden in the first place.”
“Then Ji Chen wanted a conservatory, and the old Taoist objected. Said it would create some sort of malignant energy and invite bloodshed. You didn’t care then. You let Ji Chen build it anyway.”
“After all this time, you’re suddenly concerned about feng shui?”
“Admit it. Your little rabbit wandered inside, saw Ji Chen dealing with a problem, and got terrified. That’s why, isn’t it?” Anya went straight to the heart of the matter.
Shen Yu said nothing.
He smoked in silence, his expression difficult to read through the curling haze.
Against his will, an image rose in his mind: the little thing in that flame-red slip dress, a bow tied around her throat, trembling as she straddled his lap.
Pure and sensual. Beautiful enough to stun, tempting enough to destroy reason.
A dark gleam passed through the depths of the man’s black eyes.
The corner of his mouth rose without conscious thought.
“It was an eyesore.”
After a long silence, Shen Yu finally offered those four words.
“Fine, fine. An eyesore it was.”
Anya shook her head with a laugh and spared him further exposure.
His lips were sealed tighter than steel.
“It seems you really are quite attached to this little pet.”
“Tomorrow,” Shen Yu said abruptly, cutting off her teasing, “take her out.”
He stubbed out his cigar, took a black card from his inner pocket, and tossed it onto the table.
It was a supplementary Swiss bank black card. The words SWISS BANK were embossed in gold at one corner, and it had no spending limit.
Anya blinked and picked it up.
“Where?”
“Anywhere.” Shen Yu frowned, as though such trivialities already tested his patience. “The town, the city, somewhere else. Buy her good food, things to play with, whatever miscellaneous little trinkets she likes.”
He thought of the foolish delight on her face as she hugged the unloaded gun he had given her.
“I don’t know what women like.”
After a moment’s thought, he added, “No. Start with the town. The shopping street in Sanbianpo, perhaps. The city is too far, and the area has been unsettled lately. Don’t go there yet.”
He would take her to the city himself another time.
Anya smiled. “I understand. Environmental enrichment for your little pet, right?”
“I can afford that much. You don’t need to reimburse me.” She pushed the card back across the table. “Besides, who needs a card like this to shop in town?”
She waved a hand, amusement gleaming in her eyes.
“But are you truly comfortable letting me take her out? Aren’t you afraid I’ll steal your little pet away? You know I have no resistance to soft, delicate beauties whose eyes turn red when they cry.”
Shen Yu slowly raised his gaze and glanced at her.
It was perfectly calm—and perfectly certain.
“You can try.”
He regarded Anya with a smile that was not quite a smile.
Smart people never needed things spelled out.
The smile on Anya’s face froze. A moment later, she raised both hands in helpless surrender.
“Okay, okay! Possessive, aren’t you? A woman can’t even make a joke.”
“I was joking too,” Shen Yu replied coolly. “I would never dare provoke the Sharma family.”
Those were his words, but the icy menace in his tone left Anya with no doubt that he was entirely capable of doing just that.
Shen Yu rose and smoothed a crease from his cuff.
“I’ll have Ken bring a team to accompany you. Have her back before six in the evening.”
“You’re sending Ken himself?” Anya arched a brow. “All right. I know what I’m doing.”
She rose as well and walked him to the door.
Shen Yu’s hand had already settled on the handle when she called after him.
“Shen Yu.”
He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “What else?”
Anya’s smile disappeared. Her gaze rested on his handsome, merciless face. After a moment’s hesitation, she asked the question anyway.
“It seems you truly do like this girl.”
“Since you do, I have to remind you of something—as a doctor and as a friend.”
Anya’s eyes flicked toward his lower body before returning squarely to his face.
“Are you… using protection?”
