“Kian didn’t tell me. I already knew when you came and interviewed with me.”
What?
Jordyn shrugs. “I saw your accident in an online news report. It caught my eye because of your family ties. I figured you had a good reason to use a different last name, and that wasn’t my business.” She grins and waggles her eyebrows. “But if you ever wanna have a trauma-dumping girls’ night, I’m totally up for listening.”
Butterflies flutter wildly in my stomach, and my eyes burn with tears.
“You’re not upset with me?” I ask. “I totally understand if you fire me. I lied on my resumé.”
After hopping off Cash’s lap, she comes over and throws her arms around me. “Yes, but you dance like an angel. And the team adores you, and so do I. Besides, I get not wanting to be known everywhere you go. The last thing I ever wanted to be known by was my father’s last name. So if anything, we understand more than most why you lied.”
I hug her back, letting out a deep breath. “Thank you.”
She squeezes tight before she lets go and starts hopping up and down, clapping her hands. “Oh, we should go dancing this weekend!”
Kian steps forward and embraces me. “Great. You two can plan it over the next couple of days. I’m taking Ace home.”
“Call me in the morning,” Cash calls out as Kian leads me out of Jordyn’s huge office overlooking The Strip.
Keeping a tight hold of my hand, he weaves us through the crowds of people, walking slowly enough for me to be able to keep up in my flip-flops.
When we get out to the valet, Kian requests a car. A moment later, we’re in the backseat, leaving the center of the city.
Without waiting for me to do it, he reaches over me and pulls the seatbelt, clicking it into place, keeping his face close to mine. Slowly, and as gently as I can, I slide my fingers into his beard, my heart cracking as I study his face.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper again. “I was asleep when he left. I didn’t know he was going to confront you.”
Leaning forward, he presses a gentle kiss to my lips, his hand sliding up my neck to cup my chin. “Don’t apologize for that asshole, angel. This is just how men handle business. You don’t need to worry about what happens between him and me.”
That makes me pause and blink several times. “Luciano wouldn’t have gone after you if it weren’t for me.”
Kian squeezes the sides of my neck, applying enough pressure to spike my heart rate without cutting off anyair. “Luciano is coming after me to protect you, angel. Let Daddy deal with him, and you focus on being my good girl. Understand?”
He stares at me, waiting for an answer, so finally I nod. “Yes, Daddy,” I whisper so the driver can’t hear, even though Kian wasn’t being quiet when he called himself that.
“Good. Do you need anything from your place tonight?” he asks when we pull through the wrought-iron gates.
“Can I sleep in one of your shirts?”
“You can always sleep in my shirts, angel. Honestly, I’d prefer you did all the time.”
Heat spreads between my legs, my pussy tingling with a need to be touched by him. To bedevoured.
“I don’t need anything, then,” I answer before we pass my house, where Luciano’s SUV is no longer parked.
A teeny tiny part of me feels bad for throwing things at my cousin, but he’s so damn maddening. It’s no wonder he’s single. Every woman he meets probably finds out how controlling he is and runs for the hills.
Ugh.
But I know he means well. And he made a promise to my father when we watched him being buried that he’d always look out for me. My mother never made it easy for Luciano to stay in touch with me when I was growing up. It wasn’t until I was in high school that he started showing up after school to check on me.
Fudge. Maybe I need to apologize to him.
Tomorrow.
Tonight, he gets to think I’m really mad at him. Because I kind of am. The big jerk.
Kian grabs my hand, and I startle, looking around to find we’re parked, and he’s already out of the car. “You okay, angel?”
