“What are you having?” I ask Denver.
“I’m good.”
“Oh, come on. You don’t have to dehydrate just because you’re working.” I fix him with a look as he stares at me, the gold flecks in his irises burning.
“Fine.” He signals the bartender. “Water, please.”
I turn and lean against the bar, settling next to him as we sip our drinks in silence. It’s a great turnout. Ashton must be thrilled. Zoey says he’s always nervous before a show. But he doesn’t need to be. People fly in from all over the world when they know he’s about to offer new paintings for sale. He’s a celebrity in the art world.
I spot my father and Halliday entering through the main doors, Uncle Mal and Aunt Trudy in tow. I wait, but the door closes behind them. No sign of Sullivan.
“Figures.” I snort. “He’s probably at The Lanceford.”
Denver tips his head in a greeting to my father as I wave at them all.
“Sullivan?” he questions.
“Come on. You know as well as I do what he does there in the suite he has permanently booked.”
Benefits of being a billionaire family; your not-so-secret sex pad in one of the city’s finest hotels can be paid for upfront for months at a time.
Denver remains silent.
I sigh. “At least your lack of comment means my secrets should be safe with you too.”
I twirl the glass in my hand watching the bubbles rise and pop on the surface of the champagne. The voice that flows over me is deep and husky, a breathed whisper. One that makes me wonder if I even heard it at all, or just imagined it.
“Every part of you is safe with me, Sinclair.”
The evening lights of the city flow past the window as Denver drives me home. We stayed much later than I intended to. But once I got chatting with Halliday and Trudy about wedding dress styles and planning the wedding, the evening just flew by. Halliday and my father have decided on Cape Town as the location. I understand their reasons for it. It’s a new start. A chance to make happy memories in a place that is shrouded in dark ones. But going back to the place where we lost my mother and brother is going to be tough. I haven’t been back since the day I saw them die in front of me.
“I know you all think I’m selfish and act out,” I say, my voice breaking the silence in the darkened car.
“I’ve never once thought of you as selfish.”
I shake my head at the easy way Denver says it, like he actually means it and isn’t just being polite to the daughter of his boss.
“I just…” My shoulders slump as I stare out of the window. “Dad and Sullivan have always been so protective. I know they’re only doing it out of love. But sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe. My modeling shoots are the only time I get to travel out of the city. But he…” I swallow the lump in my throat, unable to say my brother’s name. “He loved to travel. He lived for adventure. He’d be so disappointed in me if I didn’t fight to maintain my freedom. To have those possibilities. To chase after my dreams.”
“Sinclair,” Denver breathes. “You’re grieving. I’ve seen you battle with it every day since they passed. You’re strong. And you have more zest for life in your pinky than most people have in their entire body. He could never be disappointed in you. Ever.”
His deep voice and soft words are like a tonic to my soul, bringing a warmth to me in places where there’s only been frost for years. I think it’s the most I’ve ever heard him speak.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
We pull up outside my apartment building and Denver switches the engine off.
“You’re going to insist on walking me up, aren’t you?” I let out a soft sigh.
I know the routine. He walks me to my door and won’t leave until I’m inside my apartment and he’s heard me bolt the door. I tested my theory two nights ago, leaving the bolt undone for the first fifteen minutes that I got home. Denver was still standing in the hallway, guarding my door when I peered through the peephole. He never knocked or called me out on it. He just waited until I slid that bolt into place before he turned and walked away.
“It’s my job to?—”
“Your job, yeah, I get it.”
I turn toward my door as I purposefully reach out as quickly as I can and grab the handle.
The rough growl that’s expelled by my ear as he shoots across me and wraps his hand over mine has me holding back a shiver of excitement.
