“That will–make everything okay?” She hiccuped, speaking between sobs.
“Not even close, but this isn’t about making everything okay.” I wiped a tear from her cheek. “I just want you to know you’re not alone.”
She searched my face, looking forsomething. I didn’t know what, but she must have found it. The next second Kylie crawled into my lap and wrapped herself around me, practically knocking the wind right out of my lungs. She pulled back, but before she could get away, I lifted her and adjusted her sideways across my thighs. I slid my hand up her back and laced one hand into her hair. Her tears soaked my neck and the collar of my shirt. It wasn’t deep, sad sobs of a naughty little, but the quiet and continuous tears of an adult who hadn’t let herself go in a long time.
“That’s okay, little girl,” I whispered in her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I’ve got you.”
We sat there for a while. The sun had fully set, and the lights flashed across the Vegas strip. She had stopped crying, but continued to cling to me. At one point I thought she was asleep, but when I adjusted, she squeezed me tighter.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I murmured in her ear. Having her in my arms felt so right, like she belonged there. “Take all the time you need.”
CHAPTER 21
KYLIE
Icould stay here forever. Patrick made me feel so safe and seen. It was scary. I still might be fired, sent to jail for stealing company secrets or worse, but right now I didn’t care.
Unfortunately, my bladder did. I squirmed on his lap, which was not a good idea. He hardened against my hip.
“Kylie,” he whispered.
“Um.” I couldn’t form words.
“Do you have to use the potty?”
I groaned, but he was right. Mortified wasn’t a big enough word.
“I’m sorry.” I lifted my head. My stomach embarrassed me further by grumbling like a freight train.
“And hungry, too.” I rubbed my stomach. He chuckled, but lifted me and set me on my feet. I wiped my face. The tears had dried up, but the embarrassment lingered in the air.
“Go ahead.” He pointed to the door behind his desk. “I’ll order us some food.”
I couldn’t possibly eat. My stomach was too tied up in knots to digest food. I thought the tears would make me feel better, but they didn’t. Ugh, I hated having such big emotions. He remembered when the Spanish operation ended. In the books it was a huge success, but the two girls whose lives ended was too high a price to pay. They made a sacrifice they didn’t ask to make. It was hard to rationalize that if we had never been there, they might still be alive. They’d be living in a hell on earth I couldn’t fathom, but they’d still be alive. But what was worse?
I flipped the switch on in the bathroom. The white tile was blinding. Did he really just use the word potty?Cringe.
I finished up and approached the mirror to wash my hands. The image staring back at me confused me. Of course, it was me. My hair was coming out of the carefully crafted professional ponytail from this morning. My eyes were red, my cheeks blotchy, my insides were a swirly mess, and I could burst back into tears any minute. I couldn’t believe I had any more tears left to shed. My stomach growled again.
I hadn’t eaten since early this morning. Too nervous for my first real outing with the girls. An outing I'd messed up royally. I guess that won’t be happening again.
To top all this chaos off, the gorgeous, sexy man in the other room confessed he had feelings for me… or has feelings for me? I wasn’t sure it was in the past tense. I wouldn’t blame him if my actions turned him off. Not that we could be together, anyway. I had betrayed his family. The Grants weren’t the mafia, but loyalty was important, and lying was damning.
I pulled the band out of my hair. My blond hair fell around my shoulders. I washed my face and dried it. Besides the waterproof mascara, all my makeup was gone. Color had returned to my cheeks. I still looked young and felt vulnerable and little.
It was time to face my punishment.
I returnedto Patrick’s office. He sat behind his desk.
He pointed to the chairs opposite. “Dinner will be here soon. Have a seat.”
“You sound so serious.” I wrung my fingers and slid into the deep leather chair.
“Before our food gets here, I wanted to give you a chance to ask me questions.”
“Okay.”
“The honesty pledge applies to me as well, so anything you want to know about your time here, I’ll be happy to answer.” He tapped something on his phone and then set it down on the desk, face down.
