Chapter 13
“You don’t haveto come up. I can get to my apartment fine.” Vivian walked past the front desk and waved at the security guard. “Hi, Marvin!” Then she headed toward the elevator door.
I was right beside her. “You don’t look fine. Besides, it’s common courtesy to invite your savior up for a cup of coffee.”
“My savior?” She stepped into the elevator, and I followed her inside.
“From the cold. I was your charger just now.” I slung an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to me. “Didn’t you feel warmer from my touch?”
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t push my arm away until we got to her apartment door.
“Shoes off.” She entered and placed her shoes on the rack.
I did the same. She didn’t know I also took my shoes off at my house. When my mom fell ill, I’d kept the house as clean as possible. Germs weakened her immune system. My dad had complied with the rule when he was sober.
“You want milk and sugar in your coffee?” she asked.
“Black is fine.” I walked to the window and looked outside. “It’s a friendly neighborhood with great potential.”
“I like the quiet here. Make yourself at home.”
“Thanks.” I walked to the living room, sat down, and noticed a Whiz Kidz folder on the coffee table. “You know about Whiz Kidz?”
“My sister Kaylee loves that place. The program funded her trip to Texas.”
A framed picture of Vivian and Kaylee caught my eye. “I didn’t know you have a sister.” I studied their faces. Kaylee was mixed race, whereas Vivian wasn’t.
Vivian handed me the white coffee cup. “I’m her guardian, but we’re much more like sisters. I took her in when her mom died.”
“Have you been to Whiz Kidz?” I asked, wondering if she’d seen me there.
“A few times when I dropped her off or picked her up. Why?”
What should I say? I had to be careful.
“It’s a great place for kids to go after school or on weekends.” I studied more pictures of the two of them. “I wish I had something like Whiz Kidz back then.”
“Kaylee is thrilled there. It’s perfect for her. I’m helping her test out this app that she created.”
Holy fuck.
Tulip.Could Vivian be Tulip? Surprise, excitement, joy, and fear burst in me. I couldn’t believe this.
If I told Vivian that Whiz Kidz was my nonprofit organization, she’d know that I was Bullseye. Kaylee had also asked me to help her test out the app. I’d been flirting with someone who went by the name Tulip, thinking it was just some random woman.
Had Kaylee arranged all of that?
But she couldn’t have known I would connect to her sister, right? The app tugged Vivian based on the data on her profile. Besides, Kaylee didn’t know I liked Vivian. She only knew I was interested in a gorgeous dentist. That was all I told her a while back. Could she have remembered my interest and set us up?
Based on what I knew about the clever girl, she was probably behind this. I’d need a chat with the little brat later. If I had dug deeper, I would have known that Kaylee lived in this building—my property.
I’d been so concentrated on Vivian that I’d missed a few key details. What else had I missed?
Vivian didn’t need to know I’d purchased this apartment building so that I could monitor the cameras within the building and outside of it. It was how I knew she went to get coffee at Sunshine in a Cup and had gone out early to walk alone that morning. I had programmed all the cameras to detect her facial features and alert me when she went out.
Stalker creep.
I wasn’t being creepy. I was being protective of her after seeing her with Calvin at the wine expo. He was in The Triad, and that spelled trouble with a capital T. Besides, I’d bought this building as an investment when I’d first met her. The camera thing was new.
I’d share everything with Vivian after I talked to her sister.
Vivian sat next to me. Color had returned to her face. I didn’t think she’d appreciate any surprises right now. Especially about a stranger who had flirted with her too many times online.
“You okay?” I asked. “Who’s Aimee?”
“A little girl who’s been missing for nine months now. She’s the reason I’m in Providence. I have to find her.”
“Do the authorities know?”
She told me the story and why she believed Aimee was with The Triad.
“So you went to the wine expo to ask Calvin for help?”
She nodded, and the knots inside me unknotted. “Do you think he’ll help you?”
“I don’t know. He seemed sincere, but I have to try. He’s my only connection to The Triad.” She looked at me. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know you well enough.”
“We can catch up now.” I took her hand in mine again. “Time to charge up.”
Vivian stared at me, but I could see a small smile emerging. “Are you always like this?”
“No.” The question brought me to a pause too. She brought out a lighter and happier side of me. I didn’t enjoy holding hands with any other women. I had to think about this further—this change I didn’t even realize was happening to me. “I guess I just like holding your hands.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“You should believe me.” I shifted so I could look her in the eye. “Most times, I’m not like this.”
“I know. You have this intense demeanor, like a powerful magnet that pulls people to you.”
She’d been observing me. “But I failed at attracting you.”
“You didn’t fail,” she admitted, and her cheeks flushed. “I’m just . . . careful.”
I brushed my fingers across her cheeks. “What are you afraid of? I won’t hurt you.”
“It’s hard for me to trust people, Arrow.”
There was so much to her, and I wanted to unravel every secret she was hiding. But I didn’t want to bombard her with questions when she was dealing with so much.
“You can trust me.” I squeezed her hand.
She considered me with her brown eyes, and I loved that I could see she was slowly welcoming me into her world.
“You have a face that makes it hard for me to trust.”
“What does that mean?”
She traced my jawline with her fingers, tantalizing my skin with her seductive movement. My cock hardened in my active pants. She noticed, smirked, but said nothing.
Did she know she had power over me? No woman had made me want the way she did.
“It means you’re a stunning man.” Her eyes gleamed. “In my experience, stunning people get bored and stray.” Her face was so close to mine, and her perfume hypnotized me.
Was she testing me?
“Let me show you that your analysis is wrong.” I crushed my lips to hers, loving the way her soft lips molded to mine.
She whimpered, and my tongue slid in to meet hers. She tasted as perfect as I’d imagined. A mystery flavor that was uniquely hers.
Heat pulsed between us, and she broke the kiss, bracing a hand on my chest.
She looked at me and licked her swollen lips. God, she was fucking beautiful.
“I don’t get bored easily.” I traced her bottom lip with my index finger. “Especially not with something I’ve wanted for a long time. You just gave me a wicked taste of you.” My lips hovered over her ear. “And I want more.”
When she shivered, I smiled.
Then my phone rang, and I cursed. She smiled, hopped off the couch, and busied herself in the kitchen.
I took the call from the PI, who had news about my former employee, James Chin. A recording from the Boston Casino showed someone who looked like him.
I had to go check it out before he escaped again.
Vivian returned from the kitchen with some strawberries and pineapple. “You want to take some to go?”
“I would love that, thank you.”
Before I left, I reached for her hand. “I meant what I said. I want more.”