Chapter 4
Kai
J une’s apartment was nice, but it didn’t seem to suit her.
Most of the walls were painted white, with a select few that were covered in this dark blue wallpaper with a floral pattern in gold foil.
The furniture was all either black, white or beige.
Everything was neutral, and unremarkable.
It did give it a modern feel, like most five-star hotels have, but at the end of the day, none of them were remarkable enough that you would ever want to go back.
“Who’s your interior designer?” I took the opportunity to ask as June joined me in the living room after showing Clare and Dave their room.
June frowned slightly. “Um, something Apex I think.”
That’s exactly what I thought.
Unremarkable.
So unremarkable that even the owner of the apartment couldn’t remember.
This tiny apartment had two bedrooms and a small room she used for exercise.
A bit tight for me and my guys. I wondered what the second bedroom was for.
Was someone else living here with her? I couldn’t wait to snoop around for some men’s items.
“It just doesn’t feel like you.” I thought about not mentioning anything, but I had done enough of that at home. And here, with June, I felt like I could just say anything I had on my mind.
“Emily recommended them. Do you remember her? The Thompson’s girl who’s friends with Chloe.” I nodded.
“The Emily you were going to call to get me a suite.” Of course, I knew who Emily was.
I had attended many charity events organized by Emily before June even heard about her.
The Thompson family was known for their hotel business and had been trying to branch out to other sectors.
Though they had some success in America in the food industry, lately they had been thinking about expanding abroad.
Emily’s brother Trent Thompson, and husband Dylan James, had both reached out to me separately, in hopes to secure a collaboration in China.
Those two, they never saw eye-to-eye when it came to business.
“Yes, I know Emily Thompson.”
“James,” June corrected me as she sank into one of the cream-colored sofas.
She wasn’t wrong but I didn’t feel the need to tell her that Emily still uses her Thompson surname for work.
For private matters, she had chosen to be Mrs. James, but anything to do with work she still used Thompson.
I simply responded with a smile, something I would do when I couldn’t be bothered to comment.
“Why didn’t you decorate the place yourself?”
June had a talent for creative things. I remembered that she used to draw. Not everyone who can draw knows anything about design, I knew that, but I thought June might enjoy decorating her own place.
“I had no time.” She shrugged. “And Mom said my time is better spent doing the important things.”
Sometimes I forget that her mother was a bit of a tiger mom like mine.
“Which is?”
“Looking after the hospitals and the patients.” I noticed that she said hospitals and I wondered if she had been given more responsibility since the last time I saw her.
“What hospitals?”
“Oh, Link didn’t tell you?” She checked for an answer before continuing, “My dad hasn’t been very well, so I’ve been taking over his role for a little bit until, you know, until he gets better.”
“No, we haven’t spoken to each other lately. What happened to Dr. Bennet?”
I hadn’t really been in touch with anyone over the last two years. I had so much to deal with back home, and I literally had no time to do anything else. When I finally remembered to call, it was either midnight for me or for my friends. I hated being in different time zones to them.
“Covid.” June tried to force a smile. “Then cancer.”
“No.” That was exactly what I dreaded. Bad news. If I didn’t know, I could pretend it didn’t happen. That wasn’t how the universe worked though. Just because I temporarily logged out, it didn’t mean that the world stopped spinning.
I knew subconsciously I was avoiding calling anyone – that was my coping mechanism. Ignorance is bliss.
“I’m sorry to hear about that. Is he okay now?”
“He’s doing another round of chemo, then they’ll see.” An electric shock jolted through my stomach as I noticed tears on her face.
“And that’s why you’ve been looking after all these hospitals?” June nodded lightly. Poor princess .
I knew that the Bennet Medical Group owned quite a few hospitals, but I had no idea how many, or how they operated at all.
That explained it. I thought that the incident this morning had exhausted her, giving her that pale and frail appearance. But perhaps she was burnt out lately from working too much.
“Are you getting any help from your brothers?”
I didn’t care that Link was my best friend. He should have helped her. What about her other brother, Liam, whom I didn’t know all that well. Wasn’t he helping? I seemed to remember that he was working in the same hospital as her?
“They do. But they have their own things going on.” Okay, fine. Maybe they did help, but I had stopped caring. They should take on more, a lot more, so she didn’t look like she was running out of battery. “Have you heard? Chloe is pregnant. Link is really excited about their baby.”
Great news for Lincoln.
Again. I didn’t give a fuck. It wasn’t like Link had to physically carry the baby, go through the morning sickness, all the hormonal changes in his body. He had time and energy to help his little sister.
Baby sisters were meant to be spoiled.
Spoiled rotten.
Her brothers should be ashamed.
“You should get some rest.” I jumped up to help June up from the sofa.
“I’m not tired.” A yawn betrayed her as she said it. “Okay, I lied. But I need to finish some paperwork for tomorrow.”
“Listen. You have had quite a day. You should go get a nap.”
I think I needed one too. I was exhausted from sitting in the other car while she had a gun to her face, worried sick over her.
“Maybe you’re right,” June agreed, “but I’m too tired to move. Can you pass me a blanket from over there.”
June pointed at the throw hanging on the other sofa just behind me. Instead of getting her what she wanted, I leaned down in front of her. Our faces were only inches away from each other and I could smell her mango flavored lip balm. “What are you doing?”
“Looking after you.” She answered softly, her eyes wide as I leaned in just a little bit closer.
I reached out both of my arms and lifted her up from the seat.
“Put me down.” June insisted, but I didn’t. Instead, I held on to her tighter.
“You said you’re too tired to move. So don’t move.” June struggled for another two seconds before giving in entirely.
June wasn’t skinny like those women my mother made me date. She wasn’t overweight either. I was no good at judging how heavy she was, but the curves of her body made it easy to have her in my arms.
I shook my head at how cliche my thoughts were, but she really fit perfectly to my body. Was it her body shape? Or were we just perfect for each other? Pfft, I refused to believe in such a thing. If that were true, divorce rates wouldn’t be so high.
I reminded myself that she was nothing but my best friend’s baby sister.
And I was just performing a big brother’s duty on behalf of my friend. To make up for my absence and lack of communication these last few years.
I carried June to her room without much problem.
Her room was the first one down the corridor.
Inside, the decor matched the rest of the apartment, apart from the bed, which was surprisingly pink.
Maybe pink was her favorite color. I had never seen her using or wearing anything pink.
Having said that, wasn’t her bed at her parents’ house pink as well?
I only ever saw her in her bedroom briefly so I couldn’t be sure.
I put her down on her soft and fluffy bed and she climbed beneath the duvet.
“Should I read you a story?” I teased her as I picked up the book on her bedside table, Haunting Adeline. But June snatched it from me like I was going to steal a precious family heirloom. “Sleep tight.”
I made a mental note to find out what the hell Haunting Adeline was about.
This wasn’t the peaceful, relaxing trip that I had originally planned.
Over the last two years, my mother had been on a mission to find me a suitable wife.
I tried to brush it off by saying none of them were suitable.
However, my mother made me go through a series of things to do with them before I could declare a hard pass on a candidate.
According to Mom, if I could do everything on the list she provided with the woman she had chosen for me, and still feel nothing, then we really weren’t meant to be.
Don’t ask me where she got this list from. Probably from a magazine somewhere about dating. I could imagine an article titled, Ten Dates To Engagement.
To be fair, the women selected for me weren’t bad looking.
They were of a high standard , of a certain class – my mother’s words, not mine.
First of all, they all had to have studied overseas at a good reputable university, be from a wealthy family with a good background, be well mannered, and beautiful.
Yes, beauty was part of it because she wanted to make sure that she had beautiful grandbabies.
The thing was, I found them all the same, and boring, and they all tended to look and behave in a certain way.
Like my mother expected them to. Despite my busy schedule, I had to fit dating into my calendar, or my mother would never quit nagging at me.
In fact, Mom had often made Andy, my personal assistant, schedule my dates without even asking me.
People are often curious why a man in his thirties would let his mother walk all over him like that.