“Of course, ma’am.” He nods. “Grave’s office is the last one on the left.”
I head down the dark gray hallway and the first door on the left readsCrossin gold letters. As I pass, I see he’s not in there. The next door on the left readsTitan. His office is empty, too. But I didn’t expect him to be in there since Emilee told us they were going to be in New York for the weekend. I reach the end of the hall and stop at the door withGravewritten on it. I know the one on the right is Bones’s.
I knock on Grave’s door.
“Come in,” he calls out.
I step inside and see him sitting at his desk with a phone to his ear. Across from him, Cross lounges in a chair, flipping a Zippo in his right hand. He turns to look at me over his shoulder.
“Hey,” I say lamely.
“I have to go,” Grave says into the phone. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll get it done.” Then he hangs up. “Even when he’s in New York, he’s up my ass,” he growls, rising from his seat and striding over to me.
My heart beat picks up. I’m not sure why I’m so nervous about being here. Maybe because this is his element. This is his domain. I’m used to him being naked in my bed.
He wraps his arms around me, drawing me in for a hug. When he pulls away, he gives me a gentle kiss on my forehead that causes butterflies in my stomach. “How’s your day?”
“Good.” I take a seat next to Cross and push my hair behind my ear. “Yours?”
He sighs and sits down at his desk. “The usual.”
I don’t know what that means because we never talk about Kingdom. What they do here is none of my business, so I don’t push Grave to share information regarding him and the Kings. And after what Derek told me, I’d rather not know. I don’t expect Grave to be a saint. All I expect from him is that he treats me right and respects me. I’m always willing to work on the rest.
A cell phone rings and Grave picks his up from his desk. He lets out a growl and looks at me. “Give me a second.”
“Yes, of course,” I say stupidly, like he asked for permission. I sit up straighter in the comfortable black leather chair. My ass sinks into it. It’s exactly what I would expect for a King.
Grave exits his office and a silence falls over the room. I don’t know Cross very well. I don’t know any of the Kings, actually. I’ve only ever met them once, and I was having a bad day. I saw Cross once before in Roses, but there was minimal interaction between the two of us.
His green eyes meet mine as he flips the Zippo open. The flame burns before he slams it shut. “It’s a reminder.” He says when he catches me staring.
I could lie. Pretend I wasn’t wondering what the fuck he’s doing. But I ask, “Of what?”
He flips it open again, tilts his head to the side, and watches the flame dance at the tip of his tatted fingers. Then his eyes slide to mine, the green darkening to black and sending a chill downmy spine. “That if I wanted to, I could burn the motherfucking world down.” He plucks a cigarette from behind his ear and places it between his lips, then raises the lighter.
“You know smoking will kill you,” I say, causing him to pause. My grandfather died of lung cancer. Smoked his entire life. My mother begged me and Ethan to never smoke. That it wasn’t worth it in the end.
He removes the unlit cigarette from his lips and smirks at me. “So will falling in love with a man who has a death wish.” My eyes widen. “And I don’t see you putting an end to that.” He replaces it between his lips and lights the cigarette, then flips the Zippo shut. “Guess we’ll both die due to our own stupidity.” He blows the smoke out.
The door opens, and Grave re-enters. Cross stands and exits without another word.
“Sorry, I’m ready for lunch now.” He drops into his desk chair.
Cross thinks I love him. Jasmine thinks I love him. Do I? Am I doing something that everyone else sees but me? Am I being too clingy? Too obvious? Do I need to take a step back and look at it from a different angle? What if Grave thinks this, too? Will it push him away?
“April?”
“Hmm?” My eyes snap up to Grave’s. He gives me that smile that makes my heart flutter. “You okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, just been a long week,” I lie, not wanting to make him question anything. I came here to see him and I will not let Cross’s words fuck that up. I stand and walk around his desk. Pushing his chair back, I climb into his lap, straddling him.
He leans back, locking his hands behind his head, showing off his muscular arms with a cocky smile.
“A friend of yours stopped by Roses today.” I do have feelings for Grave, but I need to know where I stand before I allow myself to feel anymore.
The smile drops off his face, and he tilts his head to the side. “Who?”
“He said his name was Jimmy. Think the last name was Trust?”
