“No, it can’t. Put me down,” she insisted.
I let out a heavy breath and gently placed her back on her feet.
“While I was out shopping, I bumped into my friend, Callum.”
I knitted my eyebrows. “Callum?”
“Yes, Callum Brown. I haven’t seen him since I was in Leeds.”
“Wait.” I rubbed my chin, taking a step back from her as my pulse quickens. “Brown? As in, the brother of your ex?”
“Yes—”
“What was he doing in London?” I interjected.
“He was looking at a few businesses nearby. I invited him to dinner next Friday.”
I blinked a few times. Had I heard her right? My jaw started to tic, and I narrowed my eyes, glaring at her. Callum fucking Brown.
She’d invited the fucking leader of the Leeds gang to my house?
“You did what?”
“Sebastian.” She closed the gap between us, resting her hand on my chest, and met my eyes. “He means a lot to me. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have survived all those years. Please, for me, can you accept that he’s a part of my life and always will be? I want you to meet him.”
She had no fucking clue what type of guy Callum was. Yeah, she knew what he did, but I bet she didn’t see half of what went down. She had no idea I knew who he was or that I’d told him I’d fucking kill him the next time he was in London. I couldn’t let her catch on to any of it, because I then ran the risk of her finding out about my involvement with the Organisation.
I swallowed, pushing that festering burning feeling in my stomach back down. This was not the time to get angry with her.
“I don’t like this, but I’ll do it for you.”
Her face lit up. “You will? Thank you!” Her lips pressed onto mine.
Someone cleared their throat loudly from behind. Pulling away from Aria, I glanced over to find Jane, my housekeeper, looking at us awkwardly.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, Mr Knight. You’ve got a visitor,” she said.
“Who is it?”
“I think you should come see for yourself.”
She looked serious. She had never looked at me in that way the whole time she’d worked for me, and she’d been here since I bought the place three years ago.
“Stay here,” I told Aria.
I walked towards Jane, who turned to lead the way.
My body tensed the minute I saw the back of the figure standing at the door.
Fire ignited in the pit of my stomach, but there was more—that same feeling I’d always felt as a child, a feeling of never being good enough. I didn’t need to see his face to know who it was. That expensive tailored suit and silver hair told me everything.
They turned to face me. “There’s my prodigal son.” Dad looked at me with the same expression he had always done. Disappointment. “I hope you don’t keep business associates waiting like this.”
I’m surprised he even remembered he had a son.
I slammed the door in his face.
As I turned, I found Aria stood there, her eyebrows knitting together.
