I had no idea whether he was joking or not. “What?”
When a mischievous gleam glittered in his eyes, I was tempted to tell the driver to turn back. Or better yet, I could get out since we were sitting still.
I was seriously considering it when Kieran reached for my hand, linking our fingers. The warmth was soothing.
“He’s in a meeting, so we’ve got an hour to get there.”
Based on the traffic, I figured it would take at least that long, although the Monolith wasn’t that far away.
It didn’t take quite that long, but we did move at a snail’s pace. By the time we reached the grand tower, I was itching to get out of the car.
Once outside, I peered straight up at what from a distance looked like solid sheets of black glass but were really many sheets seamlessly connected. It looked exactly as one would expect a modern Manhattan monolith to look.
As for the interior … that was where the uniformity ended. The black glass theme continued, only it was broken up by white stone and brushed nickel accents throughout. The achromatic design helped to lend an industrial feel to the space.
Kieran guided me along with his hand on the small of my back, ushering me past the bank of elevators with multiple people waiting for a ride. We continued toward the back of the tower, past a security desk, a secured door, and then into a lavish seating area with a single elevator door.
“Private elevator?” I inquired when Kieran pressed the button to call the car.
“There are two,” he noted, gesturing for me to enter when it arrived.
We were whisked directly up to the seventy-fifth floor, then passed through another reception area that I got the feeling was more of a security room to ensure someone didn’t get off the elevator and have direct access to Knox.
Kieran keyed in another code on the door, and we were allowed entry into an enormous corner office.
“This is Knox’s home away from home,” Kieran said, walking into the space as though he’d done so a million times before.
I paused to take it all in, admiring the modern matte black desk, which held a computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, as well as a laptop sitting to the right. A matching credenza was behind it, which blocked a large section of windows and held several leatherbound books and a few decorative objects. In front of the desk, there were two leather guest chairs, and on the opposite side of the room, a single black leather sofa with two matching armchairs angled as a conversation area.
Three walls of the large office were solid windows overlooking a few more buildings, only a few of which were as tall. The wall that held the exit door was made of opaque black glass with a trio of paintings—white backgrounds with black abstract designs—that looked to be done on metal sheeting.
It was a very professional yet sleek setting, and I could picture Knox working in here.
I joined Kieran in the conversation area, easing into one of the armchairs.
“Do you work in this building, too?”
“Most of the time. I do have offices across the world, and I travel quite a bit.”
I remembered Stewart mentioning that Kieran had a net worth in the billions, and I had to wonder what type of work ethic was required to manage something so vast.
Not to mention how it came to be that two of the world’s richest men happened to be … friends.
~~~~
Knox
“Sir, you’ve got company,” Betty Moss, myexecutive assistant, said as I headed for my office.
Since she didn’t elaborate, I knew it was Kieran. The man refused to come up using the conventional method of checking in with the reception desk. Instead, he used my personal elevator, which notified Betty that someone had entered.
“Hold my calls,” I instructed before opening the door.
My gaze went to Emily first, drinking her in. I couldn’t explain how I’d missed her in the short time since I’d seen her yesterday, but it was true. Enough that I’d been frustrated when she hadn’t arrived at eight this morning as I’d expected her to.
Unable to resist, I walked over to her, leaned down. When Emily peered up at me, a question in her eyes, I pressed a kiss to her lips, then stood tall again.
“I told Kieran I haven’t made my decision yet,” she said as I took a seat on the sofa across from her.
