“Of course not.”
“Then why did you give me a check?”
She burst into laughter, and her hold eased.
“You thought I was asking you to leave him?Oh, he’s going to lose his mind when he hears this.No, you sweet girl.I’ve been waiting for a daughter-in-law for ages.This is my welcome gift.
“I know what it’s like to walk into the Steele world with nothing and feel unmatched and judged.This way, you have your own money that you can spend however you need to face the people in their circle with your head high.”
“Oh.”
She studied me for a moment, growing serious.
“Would you have really left him for that amount?”
I looked down at the check, thinking about how much that money would have transformed our lives.
“No.I mean, yes, I would have left if you’d asked me to, but I wouldn’t have cashed the check.”
“If you’re willing to leave him, why not cash it?”
“Because my feelings don’t have a price.I would have left to keep myself and my mom safe, that’s all.”
“It looks like we have a lot to talk about,” she said, releasing my hand.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Kayaand I talked for over an hour.About how I’d met Konni.About the drama surrounding my family—only what was publicly known.About working at Steele Corp—only the good parts.When I touched on my love for fashion, I discovered she was an enthusiast like me.She’d even saved the photo of me in my dress from the night before after cropping out Edward.
“What an awful man,” she said.“I’m surprised Konni didn’t end him there.”
“It looked like he wanted to,” I said.
“I imagine so.”Her phone buzzed.She glanced at it and grinned.“Your mate is asking when I’m sending you back.Dragons don’t share well.It took me forever to convince Balak to travel without me.And he still hates leaving me now, but he knows I like my freedom.”
During our talk, I’d learned that Balak, Konni’s father, was a dragon like Konni.Kaya was more like me than I would have ever guessed—a regular human with a humble background.
“I guess that means my lunch hour is up.Thank you for the meal.And the welcome.”I slid the check back to her.“Would you mind holding onto this for me for a little while longer?”
She looked from the check to me.“Are you thinking of leaving him?”
Even though I wasn’t at the moment, I knew that could change if we couldn’t figure out who was targeting Mom and me.
“That’s a complicated question, and not something I can really talk about here.”
Although we had the entire section to ourselves, which I knew wasn’t an accident, there were still people who could be listening.
“All right.Then I’ll hold onto this for now.”
I started to stand.
“Would you like to do some shopping with me tomorrow?”she asked.“Balak won’t be home for a while yet, and I’m getting bored.”
I recalled Lianna’s comment about visiting her and agreed.
It wasn’t until I was in the car that I realized I’d never given her my number.Likely, it wouldn’t matter.She was probably already calling Konni to tell him about the check incident and shopping tomorrow.
He was waiting outside the Steele building when Harlow pulled up.
