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TWENTY-ONE
Amethyst
“So, have you figured it out?”he asked on Monday morning.
I’d spent the weekend at his place, doing everything I could to forget what had happened, at least for a little while. It had seemed impossible, but he’d helped—the way he touched me, the way he held me, making me forget about everything but him.
But that time was up.
Now, I was sitting at his kitchen table, noticing how nice it was, the way the grains of wood lined up perfectly.
“Your table is very nice,” I said, “but these chairs suck.”
I knew I sounded nuts, and his silence only served as confirmation.
It also confirmed that he wouldn’t be deterred. I breathed out a deep sigh, then lifted my eyes to meet his.
He stared at me intently, the weight of his gaze making my breath squeeze in my lungs.
And not for the reasons it should have.
Looking at him made me remember what it was like to kiss him and have him hold me in his arms. Given the question he had just asked me, that should have been my last thought.
Not my first.
I breathed out another deep sigh and then focused on him again.
“No. I’m sorry to say that one still has me stumped,” I said.
He nodded, confirming what I suspect he’d already thought.
“But…” I trailed off, not sure how to broach this topic.
Not sure if I even should.
“Go ahead,” he encouraged.
“Does this have something to do with you?”
I stilled, looked at him warily, but he just shrugged.
The concession kind of surprised me. But then, of course, he would have thought about that angle, and I was yet again reminded I was completely out of my depth.
“I’d considered it, but no. I don’t think so.”
“You sound pretty certain,” I said.
I should have probably just taken his word for it, but I still had questions, and this wasn’t a topic where I could sit by idly.
“You can never be certain about anything. But outside of James Industries, no one knows that Josh Kelley exists.”
“But they know Davit Petrosyan exists,” I pointed out.
“They do. But if they were coming after him, they wouldn’t send one man, a hired one at that,” he said.
“Is that some kind of underworld bragging?”
He chuckled then shook his head.
