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Icouldn’t let him walk out of here. Not straight into danger.
I grabbed his hand roughly. “No. Stay with me. Please.” I kept my voice low. I knew Kimble agreed with me. “The tunnels are a labyrinth that very few people can get out of.”
“I know all about the tunnels.” I tried to ignore the bitter tone.
I wondered if the Vieux Carre would always be a point of contention for us. It was our first standoff. The pivotal contract that positioned our fathers against each other. It was the reason Knight was shipped to France. It was the reason my father saw my potential. I was the queen I had become because I negotiated the Vieux Carre out from under Raphael Corban. No one in New Orleans had forgotten the maneuver. Maybe Knight never would.
So much of our history was tied up in that building. I didn’t want him to go to it now. It had split us in two before. It had severed us so deeply we still had bruises from it. Scars that told the story of our past and present. My stomach twisted.
“Don’t go,” I begged him. “Stay here. Seraphina needs you.” I was willing to try any tool I had to prevent this suicide mission.
“She’s asleep. You yourself said she’d be out for a few hours. She doesn’t need me.”
I closed my eyes. “Then stay because I want you to stay. Stay because I need you to stay.”
Kimble clicked the gun in his holster, returning it with the ease of a man who had performed that ritual a thousand times. Knight didn’t have a weapon.
“I can’t.” He had that damn Corban determination in his eyes. “I’m going with Kimble.”
“You don’t need to do this. It’s exactly why we have security. This doesn’t make any sense. You aren’t making any sense. Can’t you see that?” I was angry. Instead of words of poetry that would convince him to stay, I was attacking him. Driving him away. Giving him a reason to leave.
“If you’re going. We need to leave now,” Kimble snapped. His attitude about this wasn’t forceful enough. How could he let Knight go with him?
I stared at him, imploring him to do something to stop this insane plan. It was dangerous, without logic or planning. Knight liked to plan everything.
Knight hurried toward the door, but I grabbed his arm, tugging him back to me.
“You don’t have to do this.” I wrapped my hands around his neck. I felt the warmth of his skin.
He kissed my palm. “I do. For us. For Seraphina. I do.”
“But you just came back.” I almost choked on the words.
“I’m going to come back.” He smiled. “I swear to you. I’ll be back.”
I still couldn’t let him go. How did I untangle my arms from his body, when the only thing I wanted was to hold him? Maybe I was the one who was supposed to keep him safe. Had he ever thought of that? Maybe I was supposed to protect him from dangerous decisions like these.
Kimble cleared his throat behind Knight. “Let’s go.”
I wanted a long slow kiss to seal in my memory, but instead it was quick and cruel—cut short by my body man.
They ran out of the house and I sank into the chair, grasping at its arm so I didn’t crumble into a pile on the floor.
* * *
Renee arrived,with crates and boxes of files. I welcomed her in my office. I needed the distraction. I needed chatter. I needed the minutes filled with work and a productive goal.
She stacked the files in rows. “I’ve divided the investors here.” She pointed at the table. “And over here are the legislators on board with the Crescent Towers. This stack is the ones voting against it. I’m still not sure why the Lieutenant Governor is involved in this. Did you see the note I gave you on that?”
That was the pile I reached for first. “I did. Normally, I would have Crew do the background research for me.” My stomach soured. “Seems if we have opposition, then we should start there,” I noted, trying not to think about Crew.
Renee exhaled. “I don’t know why the police would have arrested Knight Corban. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. I get it. The parents need a suspect for peace of mine. But Corban? He would never be sloppy, and this does not have organization fingerprints on it. The police are grasping at straws.”
I held my breath. Renee knew everything about my business. My personal life had intersected with a violent crash. She needed to know. She had always been the maternal presence in my life. I needed to do this. I needed to bare my soul to someone who cared about me as more than a boss.
“Renee,” I began.
“Yes?” She looked up from a report on Senator McKinley.
