Chapter Three
Lilah
“Are you headed back to the city or can you say the night at the cottage with me?” my mother asks, dragging my gaze from the spot where Kane had once been sitting, and back to her, his departure stabbing at me with ridiculous disappointment.
“I need to get back to the city. I’m going to swing by and see Andrew before having drinks with Alexandra before I head back.”
“Good to know you’re visiting your brother. You two are not together enough.”
“Don’t get too excited,” I caution. “Andrew owes me a hundred dollars. I’m going to see him to collect.”
She waves my reasoning off. “As if you need or want the hundred dollars. Whatever bet you two made this time, it’s just part of being siblings.”
“The bet was over his latest girlfriend who is now an ex. I said it would last a month tops. Andrew said she was the one. It lasted three weeks.”
My mother sighs. “Shelly was a sweet girl but not the right girl. “One day maybe you’ll both find someone. In the meantime, it’s all work and no play.” She squeezes my hand. “Play just a little, honey.”
“I like what I do. It doesn’t feel like work.”
“You do seem happy. I honestly thought law school was your path. I thought leaving was a mistake and you’d end up getting sucked into your father and brother’s world, but I should have known, you always own your place. I’m proud of you, Lilah.”
She’s the only person in this world that could say that to me and have it matter. “Thanks, Mom. I’m actually going back to school next month to speak on how law enforcement interactions with legal counsel. I wouldn’t be going but one of my instructors called my boss and I’m stuck.”
“It’ll be good for everyone. I’m glad you’re doing it.”
“We’ll see,” I say. “When do you leave for set?”
“Not for two months. We have plenty of time for more of these mom and daughter meetups.”
“That’s far out, right? Once you’re prepping this hard, it seems you’re usually on set sooner?”
“It was supposed to be sooner, but there was a conflict with a key cast member. And on that note, they probably want our table in rotation. I should let you go harass your brother.” She slides her purse over her shoulder and we both push to our feet.
A moment later, I’m tugged into an embrace, my mother holding onto me with a death grip. “I love you,” she whispers. “Forever and ever.” She pulls back and I swear her eyes gleam with unshed tears. “I love these mom and daughter dates. You need a ride anywhere?”
“No. I’m good. And I love them, too.”
I walk her to the door where we hug again before I swing back to the bathroom for a quick break.
When I exit again, I do a doubletake to find Kane leaning on the wall, waiting on me in the extremely narrow hallway.
He straightens, towering above me to his full height, of well over six feet tall, and he looks just as good in black jeans and a T-shirt that hug his hard body as he did in that suit four years ago.
Some might find the extremely narrow hallway unnerving, especially considering he’s the Mendez son, but big men don’t intimidate me.
Bad men don’t intimidate me. They just have further to fall.
“It’s been a long time,” he greets, his eyes warm, his voice accented just enough to feel dangerously male, and dangerously Mendez.
“Some might say not long enough,” I reply.
“Some might,” he agrees. “But for the record, I do not.”
“Why are you here?”
“I live here,” he informs me and there’s a hint of fire in me at this idea I should not feel. He’s his father’s son. There’s no changing that. And I wear a badge.
“I thought you lived in Houston?”
“As of now, I live here. I moved my company’s executive branch here and the administrative side is in New York City.”
“Your company? Or your father’s?”
He gives a slight shake of his head. “I don’t dirty up my business with his.”
“There are plenty who believe otherwise.”
“If there was something to find, don’t you think I’d be in jail right now?” he challenges.
“Your father isn’t.”
“He should be and I am not my father. I’ve worked hard every day of my life not to be my father’s son,” he assures me.
“That can’t be easy. I mean, what’s a son for if not to run a shell operation?”
“That’s no happening.” His jaw is steel. His tone bitter.
“Then why call in Mendez Enterprises?” I challenge. “Why not separate yourself?”
“I don’t run. I walk right into the fire. The name is a problem until I make it mean something else. And I am.”
I’m not done. I keep pushing. “Then why come here and paint a target on your chest?”
“You mean there isn’t one already?” he counters.
“If you think they’ll grow numb to your presence because you’re in their face, you’re wrong.”
“I have nothing to hide,” he assures me and changes the subject. “Have a drink with me.”
“That would be downright rebellious of me.”
“As it would for me. Let’s do it anyway.”
Yes, I think, but I know better. “That’s not the kind of attention either of us needs.”
“All the more reason to go someplace private.”
He eases closer, and he smells of autumn leaves and amber heat. “That would be trouble.”
“Let’s do it anyway,” he repeats, his voice low, with a hint of rasp.
“What if I say yes with every intention of setting you up and arresting you?”
“I’ll change your mind.”
“I’m not that easy,” I assure him.
“I never said I wanted easy. I just want a chance.”
It’s right then that someone screams from somewhere inside the restaurant and the sound of panicked murmurs erupt. I frown. “That doesn’t sound good. I need to see what’s going on.”
“Of course,” he says. “Duty calls, Lilah Love.” He motions me down the hallway, and I don’t hesitate, not even for Kane Mendez.
I hurry toward the commotion, removing my badge from my purse as I do, all too aware that Kane isn’t following me.
He’s gone, but this isn’t the last of him I’ll see. He’ll be back.