Chapter 5
She wasn't ready for questions. As soon as he left, she felt the quivering weakness of her limbs that forced her to sit back down.
She needed time to process this unprecedented and awful set of circumstances that made it so that she was dealing with the man who had broken her in two.
She wished she could go home, go somewhere she could be on her own, but she did not have that luxury.
From her reaction to seeing him, she had lost it and there were bound to be whispers and questions.
She knew before the knock came and the door opened, the first would be from her assistant.
"Quite an excitement." Helen eased through and closed the door behind her.
She scanned her boss' face and saw the Herculean effort she was making to appear as if she was in control.
It wasn't working. "Phillip was on his way in, when I told him you were on the phone.
" She took her seat on the edge of the chair and folded her plump hands on her lap tidily. "You knew him."
"I don't want to talk about it." Seeing the hurt look on the woman's face, Kady tempered her tone.
"He's part of my past and it's painful." She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes briefly.
"I wasn't prepared to see him just yet or never dreamed he was the one responsible for the purchase of the airline.
" She rubbed her hand at the back of her neck where the tension had lodged.
"Honey, do you want to go home?" Helen's distress turned to concern instantly.
"No." She shook her head with a rueful smile.
"I'm not going to give anyone the satisfaction of running away.
I have work to do." Sucking in a deep breath, she sifted through the files on her desk.
"He's going to want to come back for meetings.
He said something about changes." She looked over at her assistant.
"I want you to get me everything you can on Crenshaw Enterprises. "
"Of course." Helen nodded, making notes on her device. "Those idiots in reception were making fools of themselves. They're always falling for a gorgeous face."
"Yes." Kady had to admit that he was in fact that: gorgeous and built and looked so damn good that she felt the familiar ache starting inside her. "Get me that information as soon as possible, will you? Thanks."
"Want some coffee?"
Kady glanced up from her perusal of the document in front of her and offered a slight smile.
"There's no need to mother me, Helen. I'm fine."
"All right." Helen rose. "If you feel like talking-"
"I will let you know."
Kady waited until she had exited the room before closing her eyes briefly. To her frustration, she wasn't given a respite. Phillip came marching in to demand answers.
"I don't understand why you were so unprofessional. If you'd tanked the sale-"
"What?" she demanded, eyes blazing. She was just angry enough to take it out on him. "You would have what? Run for cover as usual? Look, I have a lot of things to do. By not telling me who the new owners are, you've put me in an untenable situation. I have a lot of catching up to do as it is."
"It was none of your business," he told her frostily, his thin lips getting even thinner. "I did what I had to do, and I do not answer to you."
"And now, I don't answer to you, so get the hell out."
He stood there for a minute as if debating whether or not to offer a comeback. Kady stared him down, her expression icy, and had him turning on his heel and walking out. Slumping back in the chair, she pressed her lips together. The headache had taken on added strength.
***
Kyle stared at her in shocked surprise.
"Come again?"
"You heard me," she muttered, accepting the glass of wine he had brought over to her. She had left the office drained and exhausted to come to his place instead of going to hers. She didn't think she could bear the isolation. It would give her too much time to think.
"Your airline was taken over by your ex."
"Yes," she snapped. Taking a sip of the wine, she swallowed gamely past the lump that had lodged itself in her throat. "That's what I said."
"No need to bite my head off." Taking his own glass, he sat across from her. When she called him earlier, he knew from the sound of her voice that something was very wrong.
"I'm sorry." She put the glass down and linked her fingers together on the counter. "I was taken by surprise."
"That's an understatement."
"Yes. I was floored." She unlinked her fingers and spread them. "I didn't see him at first, when I stepped into the conference room. And I have a feeling it was deliberate."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing much." She closed her eyes briefly as she thought back to the scene. "I blew my cool, Kyle. I went off in front of that idiot Phillip and members of the board. Oh, and his assistant as well."
"And?" Kyle persisted when she paused.
"He ordered everyone from the room, and when they left, he apologized."
"For what?"
"For . . . you know." She spread her hands vaguely. "The past."
"Did he explain why?" her brother demanded.
"No. I don't care. I just-" Lifting a hand, she brushed back tendrils of hair that had become loose from the bun she had put it in when she was leaving work.
When she considered how she had dressed for the meeting, she wanted to hurl something at someone.
That bastard! "I should look for another job. "
"Why? I thought you were over him."
"I am. I am," she insisted as he continued to stare at her.
"You admitted that you still care for him, just last week."
"Well, this week, I hate him."
"Hate, as we know, is a close cousin to love," he pointed out reasonably. "And your emotional state says otherwise. Is your job safe?"
She nodded. "Yes. He wants to make changes. The airline has been losing money steadily over the years. If Crenshaw Enterprises hadn't stepped in, they would have gone bankrupt. Damn that moron, Phillip!"
Putting his glass aside, he reached for her hands, disturbed to find them trembling.
One of the things he had always admired about his sister was her self-control.
Nothing fazed her, at least not since that awful time when that bastard had broken her heart.
Now he was back and causing havoc. Kyle had a mind to charge into that lofty building of his and beat the crap out of him.
He was doing it again; he was hurting her.
"What will you do?"
"Throw something when I get home, go for a run, scream and get it out of my system. One thing I won't do is run. I'm not a quitter."
"That's my girl," he said approvingly, squeezing her hands. "I ordered pizza."
"Extra cheese and mushrooms?"
Grimacing, he nodded. "You're lucky I love you so much. The things I put up with."
"Kyle?"
"I'm not asking them to add ham; that's where I draw the line."
She laughed and shook her head. "I love you too."
He grunted, but the sound of her laughter had him smiling. "Grab some plates."
***
He was decidedly weary. After putting on a front when he returned to the office, giving reports on the meetings, he went through the rest of the day keeping himself busy, working on the plans for the airline that had to be approved by his father and the board.
Then he had quietly taken his leave and driven around for an hour.
He had answered his sister's call, assuring her that he was quite all right and had some work to do.
Now he was home. Shrugging out of his jacket, he strode into the bedroom and stripped.
Standing beneath the jet sprays, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax.
The tension in his shoulders was like knives slicing through his flesh.
Setting the temperature as hot as he could stand it, he stood there for several minutes and emptied his mind.
Touching the knobs, he turned off the sprays and rubbed over his skin. Feeling halfway decent, he went out on the balcony with a glass of scotch. He contemplated drinking the entire bottle to get rid of the memories. But nothing, no amount of liquor was going to erase her image from his mind.
She was beautiful, he thought achingly. Kady-Ann Simone Klein had always been a looker, but the years had added to her beauty. Reluctantly, he allowed the memories to come. As soon as he opened the floodgates, they came washing over him.
He and his sister had been sent to a private boarding school since they were six years old. It was a place for the very wealthy and privileged and they had both hated it. The rules were rigid and the tutors were pretentious and frightening. It was like they were at boot camp.
When he turned sixteen, they were transferred to a semi-private school that was much different. He was a gangly and awkward teenager with an unhappy home life, and coming from a boarding school background, he was often shy and tongue-tied around females.
From the very first day of his arrival, the teacher had paired him with Kady-Ann.
And just being near her had scared the hell out of him.
She was popular and sociable. Everyone liked her.
She was also an overachiever. Besides which, she was head cheerleader, head of the debating team and an A student.
She was also dating the captain of the football team, a cocky boy with a rude disposition.
The instant Landry's eyes met hers, he fell hard and fast. They were paired up in chemistry and were lab partners. Her vivacious manner and the habit she had of making people feel at ease made him feel comfortable around her.
Two months after he started, she dumped the jock and they started dating. Walking over to the rail, he used his free hand to grip the iron, ignoring the cold, his expression bleak as he stared sightlessly at the encroaching darkness.