Page 117 of A Taste Of Darkness

“Your secretary said you have a strict rule that states not to let me into your penthouse.”

“So?” Seriously, why was he so surprised about that?

“So, you tell that woman that I can come upstairs.”

“And why would I do that?”

Michael cleared his throat, turning his phone around so I could see his screen. He’d opened up the security camera in the lobby, so now I could watch as Kai was leaning against the reception, waiting for my okay.

“Because I’m your best friend and you adore me,” he said, looking up at the camera as he waved.

How the fuck did he know we were watching?

“Try again,” I said.

“I have information that might be interesting to you.”

“I’m busy,” I snapped.

Kai shrugged, still looking at the camera. “Fine. Then I won’t tell you why you can’t reach Sterlie.”

61

TIME TO PLAY

Milo Marucci

Before Kai even entered my penthouse, he handed me a piece of paper and then walked past me as if he owned the place.

“What the fuck is this?” I looked down at the paper, both surprised and annoyed when I realized it was a check for a million dollars.

“A check so you stop being pissed that I never repaid you the money I never took from you.” Kai looked around my entry hall without any form of emotion on his face. “I still believe you don’t need it, especially now, seeing as you took over for your father.”

He was right, I didn’t need the money. I never needed it. However, when Ethan stole it from me many years ago, I was promised I’d get it back so I wouldn’t alert the local authorities. Though I didn’t care for it, I never gifted Kai a thing in my life.

Had I known those million dollars would help kickstart the Auclaire empire, I would’ve killed Ethan before his mother did. Since Kai profited off of the money, the least the guy could do was give it back, seeing as I was the reason he was still free and had everything now.

“Where is Sterlie?” I asked, trying to get this over with. The faster I knew where she was, the quicker I could get to her.

If she had died, Kai would’ve told me, right?

No, probably not. It was Kai.

He ignored my attempt to find out.

“I’m impressed, I must say.” He walked over to my living room, and I followed. “You haven’t been in Toronto for twelve hours, and your family is already causing trouble. At the expense of Sterlie’s life, no less.” Kai tsked. That didn’t sound good. “Wasn’t her safety the whole reason you killed your father and took over?”

Why did he have to be married to Flora? Couldn’t she have married another rich jackass? Or at least not told him about any of this.

“Not even I managed to fuck up that badly before,” he added, stopping by my piano. As he turned around, facing me, Kai shook his head.

“Get to the fucking point, Auclaire. You can scowl at me later.” It wasn’t like I had much of a choice. That guy was going to be my family someday. In a sense. Definitely against my will.

If Sterlie was still alive.

“Oh, Sterlie, right.” He rolled his eyes. For the first time in hours, a rather normal amount of oxygen filled my lungs again. “She’s getting checked up at the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. But don’t you worry, she’s alright as far as I could tell. Sterlie’s awake, and pretty demanding for someone who passed out three times while crawling down two flights of stairs to get out of her apartment.”

A rush of emotion went through me like a tidal wave. Relief, pure and overwhelming, lifted the heavy burden of the thoughts of losing the love of my life.

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