Chapter 30
30
KAISEN
I walked into Dorie’s suite and closed the door behind me, the soft click of the latch echoing in the quiet room. I wasn’t sure why I was there.
No, that wasn’t entirely true.
I had to be there.
She crashed into me in the casino and didn’t bother to stop. I followed her to her room, and she never once looked my way. I could tell she was upset. Like really upset.
I got it because I felt the same way.
I was on my way back to my room to sulk, to drown in my own thoughts when she barreled into me. It seemed like fate. I followed her without even thinking about it. I just had to get to her. To be in her space. In her orbit.
She walked away from me, like she couldn’t stand to be breathing the same air as I was. It was killing me. I didn’t understand what happened. We had been close and then suddenly she couldn’t be near me.
She was standing by the window, her back to me as she stared at the lights. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “I don’t want to talk to you. We have to do this wedding and that’s that.”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I crossed the room and sank into one of the plush chairs. My mind was a mess, a tangled web of emotions I couldn’t unravel. I didn’t know where to start.
“The interview,” I said.
“It’s not about the interview,” she sighed. “I mean, it is, but it’s not.”
“I need to explain,” I said.
“Kaisen, just go,” she whispered.
“My mom,” I blurted out the word. I could practically feel the wound opening. A wound I had cauterized a long time ago. But I had to reopen it and maybe this time I could let it heal properly.
“She was sick for a long time,” I said. “Cancer. It ate away at her, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I watched her waste away, Dorie. I watched her die.” I paused, swallowing hard. “And then, right in the middle of all that, my dad—he had an affair. It came out during the worst time of my life, when I was already drowning in grief. He destroyed my mom, destroyed our family, and for what? A fling? A distraction?”
Dorie’s expression softened. She took a step toward me. “Kaisen, I’m so sorry. That’s?—”
I cut her off, shaking my head. “No, don’t. Don’t say it. Don’t tell me not everyone cheats, that not everyone is like him. Because I am. I’m like him, Dorie. I inherited his business mind, his cunning, his ability to shut off my emotions and hurt people. I don’t want to be that person. I don’t want to cause the kind of pain he caused my mom. That’s why I swore off falling in love. Not just marriage, not just having a family. All of it. I meant it when I said it in that interview. I meant it every time I told myself I’d never let anyone get close enough to hurt me.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but I kept going, the words tumbling out faster now, like a dam had burst. “But then there’s you. You’re different. I can’t shut it off around you, Dorie. I can’t shut you out. I lay awake at night thinking about you, wishing I could sleep for just a minute without dreaming about you. And that was before we slept together. Now? It’s an obsession. I’m completely, utterly at your mercy.”
Her eyes widened, and she took a step back, her hand flying to her chest. “Kaisen, I?—”
I stood, closing the distance between us. “I’ve never done this before,” I said, my voice low, urgent. “I’ve never let myself get to know someone like this. I used to dole out gifts like candy to appease people or to get them to want me. I throw money at the things I want. When they say everything is for sale, it’s true. But you? You’re not something I can buy. And I know that’s the wrong thing to say, but it’s the truth. You’re different. You’re?—”
“Carington and Associates,” she interrupted, her voice sharp and her glare sharper.
I froze, blinking at her. Those were not exactly the words I was looking for. I didn’t want pity, but maybe a little empathy. Or sympathy.
I’d take either.
“What?” I asked.
“Carington and Associates,” she repeated, her tone full of anger. “You are Carington and Associates.”
“What?”
“Do you know them?” she snapped.
I frowned, confused. “Of course I know them. It’s one of the brokerage firms I own. Why are you asking?”
She laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. It was bitter, cruel. “I fucking knew it.”
“Knew what?” I asked.
“Is this all an act, Kaisen? Everything you just said to me—was it all a lie?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Did you get off on it?”
“On what?” I snapped. “I just told you something about my mother that I haven’t told anyone. And now you’re accusing me of something. What? What did I do? You fucking ghosted me and shut me out. Why? I don’t understand.”
“You got close to me just so you can see your work in action, is that it?”
“What work?”
“I get it,” she said. “You probably got bored with all your money-counting. I mean, you probably wanted to see it all up close and personal, right? See what your money is doing? The lives it ruins.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Dorie, I don’t understand. How do you know about Carington? Have you been looking me up?”
“That brokerage firm has been harassing me for months! They’ve been trying to buy my shop, preying on my neighbors to sell so they can build luxury condos. And you’re telling me you didn’t know? You just happened to show up when the assholes were really turning up their pressuring tactics?”
I raised my hands, trying to calm her down. I suddenly got it. “I swear to you, Dorie, I had no idea. I’m the CEO, but I oversee dozens of companies. I don’t get involved in the day-to-day operations of every single one. If I’d known?—”
“Then why?” she demanded, cutting me off. “Why are you doing this? Why are you here, telling me all of this, if it’s not just some ploy to get me to sell?”
“I’m not?—”
“Why are you here, Kaisen? Why now? Or is this just some twisted game to you? Another deal to close, another property to snatch up? Was everything you just said—about your mom, about your dad, about me —was that all just some sick strategy to manipulate me? Because if it was, congratulations. You’ve got me. I believed you. For a second, I actually thought you were being honest with me.”
I got up from the chair, my hands raised in a desperate attempt to defuse the tension. “Dorie, listen to me. I didn’t know. I swear to you, I didn’t know about any of this. I don’t even deal with that firm directly—I don’t micromanage every business I own. If I’d known they were coming after your shop, I would’ve stopped it the second I found out.”
Her laughter was cold, hollow. “Oh, sure. Because that’s what someone like you does, right? Just swoops in and fixes things with a snap of your fingers. Must be nice, being able to throw money at every problem until it goes away. Don’t act like you’re not in the habit of tearing down anything that’s in your way of getting richer.”
“Dorie, I’m not perfect. I know that. I’ve made mistakes—big ones. But this? This isn’t me. I don’t rip people’s lives apart for profit. This isn’t who I am.”
She stared at me, her eyes searching mine for something—truth, maybe, or a crack in the armor she thought I wore. “Then prove it,” she said, her voice quiet but sharp. “Prove you’re not like that. Prove you’re not just another rich guy who sees the world as a game.”
“I’m here, Dorie.”
“Why?” She scoffed. “Why are you here? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
I stared at her, my heart pounding in my chest. “Isn’t it obvious?” I said, shaking my head. “I want you. I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you, Dorie.”
For a moment, she just stared at me. I expected her to argue and call me a liar.
Then something shifted between us, something electric and undeniable. The tension in the room exploded, and before I knew what was happening, we were moving toward each other, closing the distance in a few quick strides.
Our bodies collided. My mouth slammed against hers. My lips smashed against her teeth. Her hands gripped my shoulders, her fingers digging into my skin like she wanted to hold on to me and push me away at the same time. I could feel the storm raging inside her—anger, hurt, doubt—all of it pouring into the kiss. I didn’t care. I kissed her harder, deeper, trying to tell her everything I couldn’t find the words to say. That she was right to doubt me. That I’d never been good at proving myself to anyone. That she was the only thing that had ever made me feel like I wasn’t just a hollow shell of a person.
Her nails scraped down my back. I groaned against her mouth, pulling her closer. She was fire and chaos.
I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her off the floor. She gasped. My tongue pushed inside her mouth. I wanted to claim her in every way possible.
When we finally broke apart, both of us were breathless, our foreheads resting against each other. “Kaisen,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Neither do I,” I admitted, my voice just as unsteady. “But I know I can’t walk away from you. Not now. Not ever.”
“This doesn’t fix anything,” she said. “You can’t just kiss me and act like it makes up for everything.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m not trying to make up for anything. I’m just—I’m trying to be honest. That doesn’t come easy for me.”
“What if you hurt me?” she asked. The vulnerability in her tone tugged at my heart.
I cupped her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing against her cheeks. “I don’t want to hurt you, Dorie. I want to protect you. To be there for you. But I can’t promise I’ll always get it right. All I can promise is that I’ll try.”
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “Okay,” she said softly. “Okay.”
I pulled her into another kiss, this one softer, sweeter.
“Stay,” she whispered. “Please.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “I couldn’t if I wanted to. Don’t you understand the hold you have on me?”