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My fingers come up to tickle the side of his neck. "Well, then, you owe me a drink. I left my water back at the table."
"Should we go back to the bar?"
"No, Mister Baxter. You're on my turf now. And I have something to show you."
"Lead the way."
twenty-three
Kylian
I wasn't sure how Kiara was going to react to how I had acted during the incident at the poker table, and that makes me uneasy as she leads me through the poker club. Most of the time, I'm one of the most level-headed of my brothers. Words over fist is usually my motto. I'm not really sure where the macho Kylian came from, but it's not the first time that has happened this week. And it’s easy to guess that the reason is the beautiful woman in the world’s miniest of minidresses leading me into an elevator right now.
She grabs a bottle of champagne from the kitchen’s fridge, waving a hello to the cooks in there as she leads me into a back hallway and into the service elevator. She assures me that the owner is okay with her being back here and to be honest, even if they weren’t, I wouldn’t have been able to tell her no anyway.
"Come on, Lady Killer," she teases me, taking my hand and dragging me out to an open rooftop that overlooks the neighborhood. LED lights drape over the railing that runs along the perimeter. Other than those, it’s completely empty except for us and a tarp folded up in the corner.
"Wow, this place is incredible,” I sigh, enjoying the twinkling lights.
"Well, it's not the view from Baxter tower, but it's pretty."
I smile at her. "The view is most definitely better.”
She blushes and tries to hide it by handing me the bottle of Cristal. "Didn't you say you owed me a drink?"
“I did. Wait here.” I feel her eyes on me as I pick up the tarp and unfold it, laying it out in the middle of the roof. She walks over and lowers herself down onto it gracefully, ladylike. You wouldn’t have known that two hours ago she was begging me to fuck her.
"This place is beautiful, how did you know about it?"
"Um, I may have spent some time here."
"Yeah?" I tear off the foil and unwind the muselet keeping the cork in place. The champagne pops open and I hand the bottle back to her. She tips it into her mouth, taking a thirsty sip, a single drop leaking out of the corner of her mouth and over her jaw. I lean over, dragging my tongue along the length of her neck, collecting the drop of champagne on my tongue, and then continue to her lips.
She returns the kiss, pressing her mouth gently against mine.
When I pull away, she hands the bottle to me, and I take my own drink, preferring the single drop I'd licked off her neck.
"So, my whole operation? It started here."
"No kidding. How did that all come about?"
"Yeah, when I came back to Hong Kong, I'll be honest, I didn't really know what I was going to do. I came here to be close to my mom."
I'd done the same when grandfather was taking a turn for the worse. We all dropped everything and congregated back in London so we could be with him. Nothing else mattered during that time. And when he took his last breath, the four of us and our father were there, holding his hands, and sending him into the afterlife with us telling him how much we loved him and appreciated all the things he’d done for us. If everything else turns to shit in my life, I will be glad that I was there for that moment. To pay tribute to the great man that he was.
"I remember I was glad to hear that you made it back in time. You only got to spend a few weeks with her, is that right?"
"Yes.” Her voice is sad and it makes me want to hold her and take it all away. “But she was okay during that time. In a lot of pain, but still happy to see me and eat all her favorite foods."
"You didn't cook for her, did you?” I nudge her playfully. “She actually liked my congee."
Kiara looks wistful. "I bet she did. She loved all sort of Asian cuisines. They were her favorites. We used to tease her about that being the reason she married Dad."
"Hey, I don't blame her. I'm sure it's one of the reasons Damien is marrying My-Linh. How have you been since she's been gone?"
The wire cage from the bottle twists in her hand.
"I... don't know. Um... she and I didn't have a perfect relationship. It wasn't bad, but... well, mothers and daughters. Isn't there some saying about that?"
