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“Yet here I am,” I whispered as I lifted my purse and pulled out the envelope. “I’m bringing this to you, not Grim, just you. Don’t let him fly off the handle until we know what it’s—” I didn’t even want to say the words out loud. “Just,” I felt panicked, “find out who these belong to.”
He waited for me to give it to him, but I hesitated. “All right, Kenna, I can do that.”
“I found this about twenty minutes ago. It was in the bottom drawer of my father’s desk. I don’t know why it was there, but,” I struggled for the right words, “here.” I handed it to him, and he glanced inside and looked puzzled.
“Okay,” he was all business, “thank you for bringing this to me. I’ll look into it.”
“No, Grim,” I eyed him, “not until we know anything. I’m nervous of what he might do.”
Jesse closed his eyes then nodded. “I don’t like the idea of holding anything back from him, but I’ll do it this one time.”
“Thank you. I need to go.” I turned and hurried back down the hall.
“Kenna?” I heard Grim’s voice behind me. “What the fuck is she doing here, Jesse?” He sounded furious, and I kept walking. I assumed Jesse slipped away. “Kenna, stop walking.”
I didn’t, at least not until I reached the elevator and stabbed the button several times. It finally opened, and I flew inside. The thing wouldn’t budge.Damn.
“Really, Gavin?”
I glared at the camera and heard him say, “Sorry, boss’s order.”
“I told you to stop,” Grim boomed. His voice bounced around the inside of the steel box. I crossed my arms ready for a fight. “What the fuck are you doing down here?”
“I needed to see Jesse.”
“What? Why?”
“I had a number he asked for.” I lied, then jabbed the button to close the door. I knew it wouldn’t shut, but it would piss him off that I’d done it.
“How do you know about this place?” He glared. “Did you follow me?”
“Wow,” I laughed, “do you really think I’d bother to follow you? You really have a God complex, don’t you?” I held his gaze, and he broke eye contact. “If you must know, your mother actually helped me, Grim, and she told me where to find Jesse.”
“She would never.” He shook his head.
I pressed my lips together. “She did.”
He squinted in confusion then straightened his back. “I see.”
“I’m glad you see.” I gave him a defiant look. “So, can I go now?”
“Gavin,” he said into his phone, and the buttons immediately lit up. I didn’t waste a second as I hit the button for the tenth floor.
“You need to be very careful,sweetheart.” His voice was cold. “You’ve overstepped where you don’t belong. You might overhear things down here that aren’t meant for you.”
“And if I did?” I challenged. “What are you going to do? Hurt me? Snap my neck? Toss me in the desert?” I was like stone, and that was how I needed to be. Grim and I had obviously lost whatever we had in New Orleans, and as much as that hurt, I couldn’t let him see it. “I’m not afraid of you, Grim.”
He stepped forward and backed me up to the wall then towered over me the way I loved. I swallowed hard.
“It means you don’t belong in my world.” His hand slid up my body, over my breast, and stopped at my throat. His thumb stroked my collarbone. He studied me as if he were in a trance. I hated that I breathed deeply to draw his scent into my head. I missed him, and I hated that I did. “If you heard the wrong thing,” he brushed his lips over my jaw gently, as if savoring the moment himself, “I can’t be responsible for any of my actions anymore.”
“So, you’d hurt me.” The pain that coursed down my throat straight to my heart was far worse than anything I’d ever felt from a man. I needed to be careful. I accepted his warning, not sure exactly why, but I knew I had to accept the writing on the wall. We weren’t meant to be.
His hand quickly retracted as though the heat burned his fingers. The honey gaze he had in his eyes dissolved, and a stone-cold expression replaced it. He pulled back as though to rein himself in. He turned his back as the doors closed.
“Christ.” I leaned my heated body back against the cool wall as I shot upward toward the living. I felt like I just had a moment with the Reaper.
Later that day,I had a request from an old client. He was in town and had a few hours free and wanted me to join him at the poker table. After only an hour, he met some friends, and I was only too happy when they decided to join him. A happy client always made the job easier, and it also meant it gave me more time to prepare for the evening ahead. I wanted to look my best. I knew there’d be some new faces at the rooftop bar, and if I didn’t look my best, Minnie would be all over me, concerned as to why I didn’t. I was so tired of everyone asking me if I was all right. The Gates family should have been everyone’s focus. Not me.
