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A throaty, amusing laugh escaped her. “For God’s sake, Remy, I’m a grown woman. Maddux doesn’t get a say in who I date or sleep with.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not going to test that theory.”
She wasn’t deterred. If anything, she took it as a challenge. “Then maybe I will.”
Leaning into him, she rose on her heels a few inches and lightly brushed her mouth against his, enticing him with what she was offering. He stiffened, but to her surprise, he didn’t pull away, but he didn’t actively participate either. Emboldened, she ran her tongue along his full bottom lip, tasting the faint hint of bourbon and something inherently, arousingly male. When she gently tugged that same lip between her teeth, his fingers tightened around her wrist, and he groaned like a man on the verge of breaking.
The chime of the elevator arriving on her floor startled not only Remy but Tempest, too. He dropped her hand and immediately stepped back, seconds before the doors slid open. She couldn’t imagine who’d venture up to her apartment with the fairy-tale ball still going on downstairs. She hadn’t locked out her floor from visitors, and only a few people had a key card to her place.
She expected to see Hunter or Maddux or both, arriving to deliver the news of Theodore Cole’s fate. Instead, Kyle strolled out of the elevator, looking way too cocky and as though he had every right to be in her apartment, which he didn’t. She’d never given him a key card, and she was more than a little pissed that he thought he had the right to invade her privacy.
She walked toward him, ready to wipe that arrogant look right off his face. “What are you doing here, and how did you get up to my apartment?”
CHAPTER FOUR
One minute Remy was trying really fucking hard to resist Tempest’s bold, seductive advance so he didn’t do something stupid—like push her down onto the couch and take what she was offering—and ruin his working relationship with her brother. And in the next jarring second, he was delivered a soul-deep shock he’d never seen coming as Kyle Jenkins—his half-brother—sauntered into the apartment. A sibling that Remy was ninety-nine-point-nine percent certain didn’t even know he exist
ed thanks to a selfish, gold-digging bitch of a mother who’d abandoned Remy at the age of seven to marry a wealthy businessman.
She’d cut all ties to Remy and her former life on that heart-shattering day she’d walked out on him and his father, and he hadn’t heard from Crystal Lowell—now Jenkins—or seen her since. But as an adult, out of morbid curiosity that had collided with his better common sense, Remy had looked her up on social media. He’d seen pictures of Crystal with her husband and the grown son she seemed to adore. And that son wasn’t Remy but Kyle. Remy had been completely erased from Crystal’s life, while Kyle had reaped the benefits of being part of a family that should have included Remy.
His stomach churned as his past crashed into his present in a spectacular way, bringing on a wave of painful memories he had no desire to revisit when he’d thought he’d managed to compartmentalize them into a neat little box. But all that torment of feeling inadequate—for both his mother and his ex-wife—seemed to mock him as he stared at his half-brother.
He had no idea what Kyle’s connection to Tempest was, but the awful intuition knotting in his gut, along with the smug, self-assured way Kyle entered her apartment and the intimate way his gaze raked over Tempest’s body in her red dress, made Remy more than a little nauseous. Were they dating? Were they a couple? He couldn’t imagine that Tempest would come on to him if she was in a relationship with Kyle. Christ, could this triangle get any more twisted?
While Remy remained rooted to the spot in the living room as he tried to deal with this unexpected and unwelcome encounter and process all the shitty emotions it had dredged up, Tempest walked briskly toward Kyle, her posture indignant.
“What are you doing here, and how did you get up to my apartment?” she demanded to know.
“You’ve been avoiding me all night,” Kyle said, his tone petulant. He turned his head and frowned when he caught sight of Remy, but there was no recognition in his eyes or expression before he returned his gaze to Tempest. “So, since you’ve made it difficult for us to spend a bit of time together, I thought I ought to take matters into my own hands.”
Tempest’s spine remained rigid, and with the two of them facing one another, Remy could see her profile—the furrow of a brow and the pursing of her lips indicating her annoyance. Clearly, she wasn’t happy to see Kyle.
“I’ve been busy and you know tonight’s ball wasn’t a date,” she snapped, her chin lifting angrily. “There was no obligation to spend any time with you. Answer my questions, Kyle. What are you doing here and how did you get up to my apartment?”
The other man’s gaze flicked to Remy in what looked to be a displeased glare before he shoved his hands deep into his pants pockets and addressed one of Tempest’s questions. “I came up here because someone told me you got into the elevator with some man, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She shook her head incredulously. “I’m not some damsel in distress. I can take care of myself just fine, Kyle.”
Jesus, this woman . . . she was strong and fearless and clearly didn’t take any crap from anyone—and despite the bizarre situation with his half brother, Remy found her fiery, gutsy attitude hot as fuck.
Kyle jerked his head toward Remy, giving him an impolite once-over. “Who is this guy?”
Tempest finally looked his way, her contrite gaze apologizing for Kyle’s rude behavior. “This is Remy Lowell, and we were discussing business.”
Kyle’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “What kind of business?”
“I’m going to contract him to design and build Wilder Things once I have the place, not that I need to explain any of that to you.” She snatched the key card from his fingers and held it up to Kyle’s face. “And where did you get this?”
The other man shrugged unrepentantly. “The last time I was here, it was on your kitchen counter and I thought it might be good to have just in case of an emergency or if I wanted to surprise you.”
Tempest’s jaw dropped in shock, then quickly closed. “The last time you were here in my apartment was over a month ago.” She shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe Kyle’s audacity. “Jesus, you took my spare key without asking?”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal considering we were seeing one another,” he said defensively.
Tempest made an exasperated, frustrated sound. “I already told you. We’re done. We’re not dating.”
Kyle’s gaze once again shifted to Remy, making it clear that he was annoyed with his presence, when all Remy wanted to do was take Kyle by the collar and toss him out on his ass. He was suddenly feeling very territorial when it came to Tempest, and it was all he could do to tamp down the possessive feeling tightening in his chest.
