Chapter Nineteen
Kingston
T he expression on her face kills me.
I burst in here—jealous as fuck when she called out the name Damon in the kind of voice that told me way too much—and got in her face and then I tell her I don’t trust her.
I’m a complete asshole.
What I should be is happy she left. Happy she’s not trying to entwine our lives together. I don’t want that. She doesn’t either, so why I’m so angry I don’t get. But I am.
The fierceness of her tone doesn’t match the naked vulnerability in her eyes, her expression.
Because she’s right, I could put an end to her sweet little career of catering to the rich by evaluating their security.
And the trust thing? Yeah, I don’t know if I do trust her with the tiara, but I trusted her enough to get down and dirty with in so many filthy and delightful ways I still ache. My cock twitches at the memories and the pleasure she can bring.
Like when she went down on me at some hour between time four and six. This isn’t helping me here, so I put the sex to one side. As much as I can because damn, I could take her now.
“Trust me or don’t trust me,” she says, “but I’m not going to lose. We’ll work out something.”
Suddenly, I laugh and shake my head. “In another world, we’d be perfect for each other. We’re way too alike. Neither one likes losing and we’ll both do what it takes. And you know what, in that I do trust you. But…”
There’s something about her. She’s being ballsy, way more than usual and I don’t know if it’s because she has something planned she’s not telling me about, or whether it’s over last night and at this point, as long as my end result works in my favor, I don’t care.
I don’t want to wait. I need this to be over. Because something tells me the longer she’s in my life, the deeper she’ll go and the harder it’ll be to forget her.
And that’s already going to be near impossible.
“But what?” She casts me a look then goes over to shut her computer down, deliberately. In exaggerated moves, to show me she didn’t like me snooping. Well, too fucking bad.
“But we’re never having a relationship.”
Sadie looks up, pausing, a notebook in hand. And she laughs. It’s the kind of laugh that makes heat flare and burn up the back of my neck and to my face. “A…relationship? You think I want a relationship? With you?”
“No.” I keep my expression neutral. “But I’m putting it out there. I don’t usually go around—”
“Fucking criminals?”
“Fucking women without an understanding.”
Sadie dumps the notebook and comes over, and pats my arm. Hard. “Relax there, hot man. Because you’re hot. But hot doesn’t mean I want to subscribe to Picket Fences Monthly. We had great sex, Kingston. I’ve had great sex before. And I didn’t send out cards announcing we’re going steady. I’m not about to do that with you, either.” She pauses. “Especially when it comes to you.”
“Good. Great. We’re on the same page.”
“To the word.”
I’m not happy, though. Sure, I’m relieved she doesn’t think there’s more, but nothing about this makes me happy. Not one single thing. The sooner she’s out of my life, the better. Call that my mantra of the current times.
“We need a plan,” I finally say.
“For what? I told you, I don’t want to be with you. Sure, you’re rich, hot, gorgeous. You tick a lot of boxes for a lucky lady out there. I’m not her. I don’t want to be her.”
She doesn’t quite look at me as she says this and she turns back to her desk, continuing to close books and notebooks and tidy up.
I breathe out. I don’t know why, but I can’t shake the feeling I’ve fucked things up.
“I’m talking about a plan for the tiara. I think we should push, see what happens.”
Sadie turns to face me and gives me a curious look. “We have one. And right now we don’t have a castle to storm.”
I go back to my damn mother. I’m positive Sadie’s been employed by her, thrown my way, or would have been if I hadn’t found her first. But while I’d love to know the truth, again it comes to me it doesn’t matter. Unless, of course, my mother is out to… What? Actually destroy the company?
No, it’s not that.
While I keep going back to that, over and over again, just like I do with her involvement with Sadie, Mother’s not going to hurt me. Nor my brothers. And Sadie…yeah, as much as I like to know everything, that ultimate truth isn’t important, either.
Still.
I lean against the sofa’s back in Sadie’s living room, the gray light outside making the colors in here brighter. “You asked me a question about my mother.”
“We talked about that.”
“I know.” I put my hands to either side of me and clench my fingers into the firm and thick top of the sofa’s back. Like it’s going to stop me from going to Sadie. “I keep coming back to it.”
“You and your mommy issues aren’t mine.”
I grin. There’s the Sadie I like. All sharp-edged sass and snark. It soothes the soul. It riles. “She’s not about to hurt me.”
“She does know you,” Sadie says.
I nod. “In spite of that.”
She gives a short burst of laughter, then pulls her scowl back in place. “I’ll overlook that fault.”
“My mother’s not about to hurt me, but I think I want to find out what Faye’s involvement in all this is.”
Sadie’s scowl melts as excitement takes its place. “Are you thinking if she is involved she might know of the tiara’s whereabouts?”
“It’s worth a try.”
She rubs a hand over her face and comes up to me. “What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. You’re the criminal.”
“Your diabolical, twisted mind gives mine a run for the money.”
I laugh softly. “A test. You’re telling me you think it’ll turn up soon. There’ll be some kind of event if we don’t find it first?”
“Ye-es.” She stares at me hard. “But I’m hoping to find the damn thing first.”
“Why don’t you put word out that you’re on the trail or you have it? I don’t know?”
“How will that work? I think we need more.”
I straighten up now and step a little closer to her and if I breathe in her smoke and jasmine then it’s just there, not because I crave that tiny taste of her. “Like what, Sadie?”
“You want to get word back to your mother—if she’s deeply involved—and see what happens?”
“Exactly.”
She nods. “Then we’ll need more than to get word out and a fake trail full of nothing. We’re currently surrounded by all of that bullshit, and that’s the problem. Adding to it won’t make a difference. If you want to test how deep your mother’s involvement is, then we need a solid plan.”
“I’m listening.”
“You could ask her.”
I snort. “She’s even more diabolical than me. Maybe even more than you.”
“Such sweet words, Kingston.” She bites the corner of her lip a moment, then her gaze flies up to mine. “Photos.”
“You want me to show her photos?”
She spins away and starts pacing, the air thickening with the excitement rolling off her. She’s so fucking hot when she’s like this.
What am I thinking?
Sadie is fucking hot all the time.
“Not a bad idea, but I mean, are there photos of the jewels now? More than the ones I’ve seen?”
“Jenson catalogs everything. Yes.”
“Get them.”
“Why?”
“A fake.”
I stare at her. “A fake tiara? You want…how the hell do we do that? It’s going to have to go to Jenson.”
“If we get that far with it. I have a plan.”
“And I’m all ears,” I say. “What’s the plan?”
“I just told you a fake. I’m going to get you a fake.”
“Who do you know?” I ask.
She smiles.
And if I believed in love, this would be the exact moment I fell in love with Sadie.
If.