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I exhaled. “I think I need to start with the Crescent Towers project.”
He crossed the room. “Do you know something?”
“No. But it’s the most important project I have. The legislation. The contractors in the state. It’s huge. It touches everything. The reach is bigger than the families.”
He rubbed the back of his head. He still hadn’t had a chance to shave. He looked sexy with beginnings of a beard. I knew it wouldn’t last past dinner. It made his eyes seem darker. His stare harder.
“We need Renee over here. And I’ll call Paul.”
I looked at Seraphina. What were we going to do with her and the fallout?
“I have plenty of rooms. Why don’t you find one you like, and you can get some rest?” I suggested.
“I can’t sleep.”
“You should try,” I urged. “If Brandon does call, you want to be able to think clearly. I’m sure you haven’t slept much at all.” I thought about how I tossed all night in my empty bed without Knight.
“I’m not going back.” Her lips pressed together. “I can’t.” Her hand was protective against her belly. “This baby deserves better than the Castilles.”
Knight spun to face her. “There is too much going on for you to leave that family right now.”
“Are you telling me I can’t?” she challenged him.
“I’m saying you don’t have any leverage. You’re in no position to make threats. What do you have Seraphina? Where will you go? How are you going to raise a baby alone?” His eyes filled with regret when he realized what he had said. “With Crew,” he corrected.
“You said you’d help me. You promised we could run the vineyards in France.”
“We will help. I had to get them to stop arguing. “We are going to get you out of New Orleans, but that takes planning and an exit strategy. By walking out of the Castilles’ compound, I think Knight’s trying to say you’ve backed us in a corner.”
He nodded. “Yes. But you said it much nicer than I would have.” He smirked and I felt the tension in the room begin to ease.
“Why don’t I show you the guestrooms instead of Bella?” I offered.
She stood from the sofa. “All right. I think that’s a good idea. And someone can bring my bags?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Knight mouthed a thank you as I walked with Seraphina into the foyer. I winked before taking his sister upstairs.
Chapter21
Knight
Iwaited for Kennedy in her office. I hoped she could talk some damn sense into my sister and convince her to tell Brandon she was bluffing. It was hard to believe it was only a few hours ago I was in a jail cell, awaiting a bail hearing. I couldn’t think about how tired I was. The complications were piling up faster than we could bury them. I wasn’t about to let fatigue add to the list of problems to face.
Kennedy walked into the room. “I think she’s going to sleep,” she announced. “I hope for a few hours at least.” She closed her office door.
“Good.” I exhaled. “Maybe when she wakes up, I can drive her back to Brandon. We could go with something like…she was so worried about my hearing, that she thought she should spend more time with me. I don’t know. Would the Castilles buy that? The worried sister.”
“She’s not going back,” Kennedy stated.
“She has to. I thought you would be the one to convince her she doesn’t have any other option.” I stared hard at Kennedy. We were supposed to be on the same page about this plan. Seraphina had to live with the Castilles.
“There is one thing I know about Corbans. That is once they have decided something, there is very little I’m capable of doing to change their minds. Your sister falls right into that category.” Kennedy sat at a table near the window.
“She hasn’t thought it through.”
The dark flecks of green in her eyes glimmered. “It doesn’t matter. Losing Crew like this has changed everything.”
