I slump back in my chair, and my brain hurts trying to figure it all out.Why can’t they just be your common garden variety villains? Why do they have to be criminal masterminds playing so many angles it makes my head spin?
“Abby,” Kai snaps, gripping my forearms. “What is going on?”
“My head is spinning from all this,” I honestly admit. “My dad stole a baby from my mom too, and I’ve just found out my aunt grew us in her womb, and she never fucking told me even when she was sharing other secrets on her deathbed. Excuse me for zoning out for a while.” My tone is cutting on purpose because I need to deflect him, and pushing his buttons usually works.
“C’mere.” He opens his arms, but I glare at him.
“Come. Here.” His eyes challenge me to continue disobeying him, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint him, now would I? I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him.
He hauls me into his lap unceremoniously, growling as his arms clamp down around me. “I know you’re hurting, so I’ll forgive you for that.”
“I’m starting to understand how you feel about being betrayed,” Drew admits.
“You have no clue how that feels because this is the tip of the iceberg compared to how I’ve been treated.” That shuts them all up. “I’m tired, and Charlie will wonder where I am. We need to go.”
Kai tightens his arms around me, and I know he doesn’t want to let me go. Not like this. But we don’t get a choice. Besides, I need to be away from him because guilt is doing a number on me, and I’m terrified he’ll burrow his way into my head and figure out I’m hiding stuff from him.
“Another thing,” Drew says. “They’ve called an emergency meeting at Parkhurst. We’re leaving tomorrow night.”
“What emergency?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know until I get there.”
“But it’s five days until Christmas,” I add.
“We’ll only be away for two days, and we’ll be back by then,” he assures me.
Not that I’m in any rush for it to arrive. Christmas dinner is taking place at our house and the Barrons and Montgomerys will be in attendance.
Naturally, I’m looking forward to it about as much as a hole in the head.
“Okay.”
“I want you to stay with Kai while we’re gone,” Drew says. “He’ll keep you safe.”
“Charlie will never go for that.”
“Which is why he won’t know.” Drew winks conspiratorially at me. “I’m sure you can come up with some plausible explanation that will ensure Mrs. Barron’s silence.”
I smile for the first time in a few hours. “I think I can work something out.”
“I’m remembering why we were such good friends, Manning,” Kai drawls, smirking at my brother.
“Just keep that in mind,” Drew says, jabbing his fingers in Kai’s direction. “And look after my little sis.”
I pay the driver, grabbing my purse and my weekend bag from the floor before climbing out of the backseat of the car. The door to the house swings open and Kai appears in the doorframe. His eyes never leave mine as I walk toward him, drinking him in from head to toe. He’s wearing a tight-fitting black shirt rolled up to his sleeves, showcasing those tatted, muscular arms I love so much. My eyes travel south as I quicken my pace with the sound of tires squealing behind me as the Uber driver peels it out of there. Kai’s dark jeans hug his muscular thighs in all the right places, and I’m imagining being on my knees in front of him, running my hands up and down his toned flesh as I take him between my lips.
He licks his lips, and his eyes flash with heated desire and dark promise having guessed where my mind has gone. Goose bumps sprout all over my sensitive flesh, and my core pulses with need. Dumping my bags on the ground, I race the last few feet and fling myself into his arms.
Our mouths collide in a battle of lips, teeth, and tongue and he lifts me up, hauling me into the house without breaking our kiss. My skin is on fire under my wool dress and tights as I wrap my legs around his waist, grinding against his massive erection.
“Fucking need you, babe,” he murmurs against my lips, sitting me up on the table in the hall and spreading my legs apart. He wastes no time removing my coat, tossing it to the floor along with my ballet flats. His lips continue to devour mine, and I’m moaning and squirming on the table as I fumble with his belt buckle.
“The others?” I pant as his lips leave my mouth to trail a path down my neck.
“Upstairs. They won’t come down,” he rasps, lifting my hips and yanking my tights down as I pop the button on his jeans.
He tears his lips away to tug his jeans down, and I arch a brow as his cock springs forth.
