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Shit.
“Seraphina talks about you all the time. It’s nice to finally put the man with the stories.” He stepped into the apartment, reaching to shake my hand. “How is it being back from France?” he asked with a casual attitude. Maybe this was what happened when a man graduated from Kennedy Martin’s mafia queen school. He became as fearless as she was.
I watched at how quickly they were drawn back together after I shook his hand. She fit against his arm. He wrapped it around her protectively. She seemed happy as if she was warm for the first time in a long time.
“I hear you want to go to France and take over the vineyards.” I waited for Crew’s response. There was no reason to be subtle or pretend that my pregnant sister wasn’t standing between us.
He nodded. “Anywhere we have your blessing. I’ll take any assignment.”
I looked at Seraphina. “Why don’t you see if the horses are getting the training they need? I think I heard other voices. One of the trainers is probably around.”
“Knight,” she began to argue, but I quickly warned her with a glance. “All right. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she relented. Her fingers fell away from Crew’s hand.
Once she was gone, I knew I didn’t have much time with him. It was barely noon, but it felt like a good time for a drink. I searched the apartment for bourbon. There wasn’t anything in the bar cart other than vodka and gin. Both bottles were unopened. I cracked the vodka.
“Want one?” I offered Crew.
“Sure. I have some time.”
I poured the drinks and handed one to him. “Looks like we have a problem to solve.”
“That’s what I do every day.”
“For Kennedy you mean?” I eyed him.
“Mostly, yes. Whatever she wants to throw at me.”
I slung back the vodka. “My sister seems to think your boss doesn’t know anything about your relationship.”
“She doesn’t.” He gripped the glass. “My personal life is private. I don’t think she needs to know about my relationship with Seraphina. I don’t let it interfere with work. It’s part of Kennedy’s philosophy. Makes it easy to keep things separate.”
My father was an asshole, but he was good at judging people. He could sniff out a liar within five minutes of talking to them. A con or a thief even faster. I tried to tap into that Corban intuition. I tried to size up Crew. What I saw was a confident man. It would take more than five minutes to decide if he was sincere about my sister.
“Kennedy’s philosophy?”
“Yes. She believes that work should strictly be about business. She doesn’t make exceptions to any of the rules she has in place.”
“I see.” I walked around the small apartment. I started to think about the opportunity I had been given. How badly did Crew want to make a deal? How much was he willing to sacrifice for a life in France with my sister and their baby?
I pulled up a chair. “Why don’t you sit?” I motioned across from me.
Crew took a seat.
It was a long shot. But this man knew her. He knew how she thought. What strategies she used. He knew her in a way I hadn’t begun to examine yet. I realized I might have a plan to get Kennedy back. Just maybe I was willing to start a war to make it happen.
5
Kennedy
I was impressed with Victoria Banks. Renee had been right about her. She might be the best lobbyist I’d ever hired. Three days passed since our meeting, and I believed her when she said there were other ways to get the votes we needed.
I was going to get the bill passed to allow gambling rights at the Crescent Towers. In the process, I would make sure Knight Corban never had a chance in New Orleans to regain a shred of power. What he had done to me wouldn’t be forgiven or forgotten.
It had also been three days since I woke up in bed with Knight. The morning I discovered how far he was willing to go to destroy me. It was the first time I had let me guard down. I knew what a mistake it was to let him in. It would never happen again.
The water rippled in the pool. I watched one of the floats bob underneath the waterfall. I tugged the kimono wrap around my shoulders. The wind was picking up. The palms rustled and the flower petals began to detach and whip around the courtyard. I glanced at the file I was reading again. I couldn’t remember where I had left off. I skimmed the numbers, trying to find the spot. Was it revenue? Was it the quarterly profit and loss?
I looked overhead a flash of lightning crackling across the sky. I gathered the folders and shoved them in my pool bag. One warning was all I needed.
