Chapter Fifty-Five
Lysander sauntered down the hallway of the Steinherr mansion, towel around his sweaty neck.
He’d been running on an incline when the text from his sister came in.
No apology for the shambles she’d caused at the party.
Just a note to say she was taking off. Lysander had slowed the machine right down and wondered where she might be escaping to for her ‘reset’.
The Diamandis family island? Too cold in December.
Perhaps the Caribbean. Either way, it was probably for the best, and made him itch to get back to New York.
Meg would never cause such a scene at a society event.
She would never shoot off and leave Blake for weeks on end.
Meg was like apple pie; the golden girl of New York, and Lysander was ready to get back to her.
As he walked up the hall in his gym gear, he saw Kiki standing by the gold console table next to the front door.
She was scribbling a note under the shadow of a huge vase of white hellebores.
Lysander looked to the pile of Louis Vuitton suitcases on the gold luggage trolley with a sense of relief.
‘Catching a train?’ he said, trying to sound neutral, but triumph bubbled out of every bead of perspiration. He dabbed the towel on his face, lest he reveal his glee.
‘Actually, Timo’s taking me to the heliport …’ Kiki replied, with a self-satisfied smile. ‘My luggage will follow in transit.’
Kiki wore a hat, a tuxedo dress and stilettos, as she placed earrings in her lobes and picked up her purse. She was certainly going out in style.
‘Where are you headed?’ Lysander asked.
‘Milan,’ she said tartly. ‘Then maybe Bel Air. Who knows?’
‘The world is your oyster,’ Lysander said, somewhat patronisingly, which irked Kiki.
‘You know I don’t want your inheritance,’ she said, levelling Lysander with a look. He didn’t expect that. She tapped the edge of her envelope clutch into his chest to make her point.
‘You did your little digging – you might have even seen my work …’ Kiki raised an eyebrow.
‘Well two million Instagram followers can’t be wrong Kiki. Or should I say, Eden.’
She edged even nearer; she was as tall as Lysander in her heels, her lips lingered at his jawline.
Making him feel uncomfortable gave her a thrill.
‘Did you watch me?’ she teased in his ear.
Lysander breathed heavily.
She could sense the hard-on her stepson had for her, but she stopped herself from touching it in his gym shorts.
She pulled back.
‘I make plenty of my own money.’
Lysander put his palms up.
‘Hey I wasn’t –’
Kiki cut him off.
‘I did before I met your father, and I make even more now. All your father did was afford me the time to work on my content. I don’t need a single Steinherr cent.’
Lysander looked at her, almost in admiration, because he had no doubt she did make a lot of money. And with that, Eden Roque placed her clutch under her arm and strode out of the Steinherr mansion, as free as a bird.