She laughed softly.
“No pun intended, right?”
I smirked, finding a spot.
“You should’ve tapped out sooner.”
“I almost had you.”
“Sure, Kiyah.”
“So, what now? Are you cutting Sentinel loose?”
I nodded and said, “I am.”
“That’s an $80,000.00 loss,” she reminded me.
“Somehow, I think I’ll survive.”
We fell silent. I spent the silence admiring her profile, and she spent it wrapped up in her head.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked, smoothing a finger down her jaw.
She cracked a smile. “Gambling at the races.”
I snorted.
Granddad loved the races, and the family thought it was a great idea to take him to the Kentucky Derby for his 70th birthday. We were all dressed in our pastel derby couture—the men in hats and gleaming watches, and the women in fascinators and pearls.
“I still can’t believe that man put down half a million on a horse with 30:1 odds and won,” I commented in a nostalgic daze.
“I think it was the most romantic thing he’s ever done,” Kiyah whispered.
The horse he’d wagered on was named Funky Felicity—a horse that was notorious for placing nearly dead last every race.
“He walked away with $15 million and said, ‘Felicity has never steered me wrong.’ I can’t afford to gamble on the wrong horse, Ki, because I would be losing something greater than money—something that money could never buy.”
She wrapped her fingers around the back of my neck and tugged, leaning across the console to kiss me. I surrendered likeit was second nature and had to refrain from pulling her into my lap. We’d never make it upstairs and would land on Kieran’s hit list.
“We should get going,” I said, finding the strength to pull away.
“We will. In a moment. Did you already call Mr. Stone and tell him we were withdrawing from his services?”
“I called and left a message. I’m waiting to hear back from him. I also called Mr. Preston and left him a few messages.”
She nodded. “I guess that’s all that can be done for now. Thank you for listening to me, G. I can’t explain why I feel this way—”
“You don’t have to explain it, darling. Let’s go.”
I stepped out of the car and rounded the hood to retrieve her. She smirked up at me and accepted my hand.
“I didn’t get the chance earlier to tell you how breathtaking you are,” I complimented as my gaze raked over her off-the-shoulder black evening dress. She was pure elegance, her ears and neck dripping with diamonds, and her makeup muted, showing off her natural beauty. I loved every version of Kiyah, but I adored this one the most—soft, regal, and graceful—sure to turn heads whenever she walked into a room.
“Get it together, Grant. You’re drooling,” she teased.
“Can you blame me?”
I chuckled and grabbed our gift from the backseat before leading her to the elevator.
