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I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about the PAC. I want to apologize for how you found about it. We could talk about that part.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Apologize? How are you going to do that?”
“I just did. I’m sorry. I need those senators for one of my projects. It wasn’t supposed to be personal. I see how you took it that way.”
She laughed. It caught me off-guard. “If I took every backroom business deal personally, I wouldn’t have the position I do.”
“Hmm.” I stared at her. “So none of this is personal? Refusing my calls? Rejecting the flowers I sent? The champagne gift? The necklace?” I licked my lips. “The fucking necklace, Kennedy? It doesn’t get more personal than that.”
“I didn’t want it anymore.” She turned from me.
“That message was received.” I walked toward her, looking through the window at the storm. The lights flickered with another burst of lightning and thunder. She jumped. “Do you have a generator if you lose power?” I asked.
“It was overloaded in the hurricane last month. The replacement hasn’t been installed.” I heard her voice, but it was as if she was somewhere else. Her thoughts were on the rain or the streaks of lightning.
“I’m going to light some candles. Okay?”
She stood still while I struck matches and lit the tapers lined along the fireplace mantle. I made sure to light the ones on the coffee table and next to the bed as well.
The roof shook and the power surge lasted longer. I knew there was no way the power would last. Not in this kind of storm. Had she known that all along?
“There. I think we’re good,” I announced.
“No, Knight. We’re not good.” She faced me. I saw the fury in her green eyes. It was layered with hurt and distrust.
“I was talking about if the lights go out.”
“I know. But that’s not why you’re here. I don’t need you to light candles, check my flashlight batteries, or make sure I’m safe in a storm. I pay people to do that.”
“I don’t need to be here.” It was obvious this was some kind of game. An angle. I’d said I was sorry. It wasn’t going to be enough. Tonight, wasn’t the night to reach her. It was going to take more time, and it wasn’t going to happen when she looked like she could eat me alive. “I hope you make it through the storm, okay. I’ll let myself out.”
“No,” she snapped. “Not yet.”
My hand had barely touched the doorknob when a peel of thunder rocked the entire house and the lights faded. The flames I had lit danced around the room. There were enough to make the entire room glow.
I inhaled. “What’s this about?”
“Trust,” she whispered.
I slowly turned around. “Trust? All right. I get it. You don’t trust me. You found out about the PAC the wrong way. It was a betrayal. I understand. I betrayed you. You can’t trust. Don’t you think I know that?”
She shook her head. “No. I want to know if you trust me.”
She slinked toward me. I swallowed, wondering if when the power grid went down, another switch had been flipped—something inside her was different than when I first walked in the room. Her eyes were dazzling. Seductive.
I reached behind my back and turned the lock on the door.
“I guess that depends. I trust you not to cheat at poker.” I winked as I stepped toward her.
“When have we ever played poker together?” she asked.
My hand landed on her hip. My fingers instinctively curled into her waist. Our eyes met and I wondered if she had let go of the anger or if it was still there beneath the surface.
“I don’t think we ever did,” I answered.
Her chin tilted upward. “What if I told you I knew what you were doing?”
I shrugged. “I’d be fine with that.” I brushed the hair off her shoulder. “You know the big secret.”
