The dress pants hugged her bottom and made her legs look longer than they were. I wanted those legs wrapped around me. I wanted to pull the pins from her hair and make it tumble around her face. I wanted to tear open the front of her shirt with my teeth and see what she hid underneath. I wanted to whip those sexy glasses off her face and make her eyes roll to the back of her head.
My body poised to pounce. The rational side of my brain told me to hold back. I’d convinced myself that our separation would be for the best, and now I wanted to paw at her like a wild animal. The two halves of me battled, their needs equal in strength. I wanted to keep her safe. I also wanted to take her in my arms and make her scream with pleasure.
Seemingly oblivious to where my thoughts had gone, Brooke walked toward the table, her focus on the food. But when she met my gaze, her eyes were filled with heat. Maybe not so oblivious.
“Thanks for ordering breakfast,” she said, sitting down in the chair opposite mine to pour herself a coffee. “I’m starving.”
I knew I should sit, act like everything was normal, but I couldn’t stop staring at her.
After a while, her cheeks colored. “I wanted to look professional to meet your cousin.” She took a sip of coffee.
Right. Landon.The anger, the rage, I’d been trying to smother over the past day boiled up inside me once again. With jerky movements, I set my chair back to rights and picked up my coffee mug from the carpet. As soon as I sat, I poured myself a second cup, knowing I glowered, but couldn’t help it.
A part of me couldn’t believe that Landon had betrayed me, either by selling my collar design to another company or bastardizing so much of it on his own. But my cousin had always been about business, about making money and climbing to the top. Landon had moved away from Goldenlach Ridge without looking back. I’d known he wouldn’t return while his sights were focused on penthouse suites and beyond.
But during everything I’d gone through, Landon had my back. Why would he betray me now? For the money? Over the past five years, had Landon turned into everything we despised, enough to send minions after young women? None of it made sense.
“We’ll get answers,” Brooke said from across me, calling my attention. Her eyes were concerned and she’d taken my hand. I hadn’t noticed. When she squeezed my fingers, I did the same to hers.
Yes, we’d get answers. And we’d find her sister. And then…
Uncertainty hung over the table for the rest of the meal. When we were done, Brooke went to her new phone. While I watched, she tried her sister’s number.
“It still says she’s out of the service area.” Her brow wrinkled with worry, she punched in another number. “I’m going to leave the number for this burner phone direct to her voice mail.” After a few long seconds, she spoke. “Sabrina. Call me.” Then she recited her new number, complete with a Vancouver area code.
When she hung up, her breath hitched. “Please be okay,” she said to the phone, gripping it tight.
Unable to stop myself, I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. I wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay, but I wasn’t sure that was true. A lot could happen in two weeks.
After my shower, I dressed in my best shirt and jeans. Brooke took one look at me, scowled, and told me to take my shirt off. It wasn’t for a quickie. She found an ironing board and iron in the closet and set about taking out all the wrinkles.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen a woman iron something before. The domesticity of it made me grin, but my amusement didn’t last long.
It was time to see my cousin.
32
KANE
The closer wetraveled to Urick Enterprises, the more the edges of my vision hazed red. I fisted my hands, willing the sensation to fade away. I needed to keep it together for Brooke. We needed to find her sister.
The taxi dropped us off in front of a towering building, one of many glass and steel skyscrapers that reached for the clouds in downtown Vancouver. Forcing a measure of calm, I held the tall door open for Brooke and took a breath, trying to keep my composure. After a light touch on my arm, she strode ahead of me toward the main receptionist’s desk like she’d been born with a briefcase in her hand. Even with my ironed shirt, I still looked like the hired help compared to my mate.
Brooke’s heels clicked against limestone tile. She held a card out before we’d stopped in front of the woman on her high stool overlooking the tall black and gold desk.
“Kane Baird to see Mr. Urick,” Brooke said, her tone short and clipped.
The woman took the card with a raised eyebrow. All it had on it was my name, nothing else. Where had Brooke gotten it from?
“Do you have an appointment?” the receptionist asked, barely giving the card a glance.
“Mr. Baird doesn’t need an appointment.” Brooke said it in the voice reserved for unintelligent children.
Looking like she was trying not to roll her eyes, the receptionist picked up the phone and dialed. A moment later, she said my name, then waited. When someone spoke to her on the other end, she straightened like a buzzer went off under her butt. Her eyes shot to us. “Yes, he’s standing right here with his assistant.” A second of silence, then, “Yes, sir.”
Hanging up the phone, she said, “Mr. Urick is up on the thirty-third floor and will see you now.” She gestured to the elevators behind her.
“Thank you,” Brooke murmured, her expression unchanging from its serene state, like she’d expected that response.
