Page 6 of His Reckoning

For a second, he just looks at me like he’s trying to figure me out, which somehow feels worse.

Then he picks up his jacket again.

“Well,” he says, starting toward the hallway that leads to his master bedroom that Melissa showed me earlier, “try not to redecorate while I’m gone.”

I watch him walk away.

“I make no promises,” I call after him.

Without turning around, he says, “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

Then he disappears down the hallway.

And I realize something that’s probably going to complicate this living situation significantly.

Sawyer Maccini might not be hero material.

But he’s definitely not a secondary character.

Chapter Two

Sawyer

The elevator ride to the penthouse is quiet.

It always is.

Most people think living at the top of a building like this would feel impressive.

After a while, it mostly just feels quiet.

Tonight though, the silence reminds me of something unexpected—a woman standing in my living room, narrating my apartment like she was writing the opening chapter of her romance novel.

I loosen my tie slightly as the elevator climbs.

Kayla.

Melissa’s friend.

The woman Colton insisted needed a temporary place to stay after Melissa moved out of their apartment.

Also, the same woman who looked me in the eye at a bar and informed me I wasn’t hero material.

I’m still not sure if she realizes how entertaining that was to me.

The elevator doors slide open. When I unlock my front door, the penthouse is dim, except for a soft glow coming from the kitchen which means one of two things.

Either she forgot to turn the lights off or she’s still awake. I step inside and immediately hear something that makes me stop.

Kayla is talking to herself, again. I pause just inside the living room.

Her voice drifts from somewhere near the kitchen. “… and this is where the heroine realizes the billionaire is secretly emotionally unavailable but devastatingly handsome.”

I lean slightly against the wall, listening. Earlier today, she looked startled when I walked in, but she didn’t cower.

Most people get uncomfortable around me. They straighten up. Change their tone. Start choosing their words more carefully.

Kayla did the opposite. She argued and insulted my personality. Then she analyzed my penthouse like it was a setting in one of her books.