Page 59 of Cruel Fate

I go to the bathroom and pause near the bed. I want to get dressed, but I don’t want to put on my sweater dress. I pull his dress shirt off the floor and find my panties under his crumpled pair of pants. I need coffee, and I bless Lucille who is already downstairs in the kitchen. A weekend morning talk show is playing on the TV, and she’s stirring batter.

“Good morning,” I say shyly. Zane told me a little about her, and just from that, I know she’s very protective of him and Zarah.

She glances at me and notices Zane’s dress shirt. A smile tugs at her mouth. “Good morning. Come down for coffee?”

“Thank you, yes.”

I help her fix a tray I can carry up to Zane’s room, and I lean against the island, sipping a mugful first. Lucille goes back to whipping batter, and I watch the morning news program. A local gossip segment begins, and Zarah and Ash flash on the TV.

They’re walking a red carpet, and the caption at the bottom of the screen says they attended a premier of a play. Zarah looks glamorous wearing a white dress, and her hair is pinned into a complicated twist. Silver sandals on her feet match the silver clutch she’s carrying.

The camera doesn’t give me a good view of her face, but there’s something about her...Maybe it’s just me. Because I hate Ash.

Lucille frowns. “I do not like that man,” she says, taking her aggression out on the batter. It won’t be fit to eat if she keeps it up.

“I don’t blame you there,” I mumble, my lips pressed against the rim of my coffee mug.

Ash looks slick in his tux, not a hair out of place. His posture is rigid, and he lays a possessive hand on Zarah’s lower back. Together they look like royalty, and the cameras love them. As a couple, they’ll be the darlings of King’s Crossing.

I lift the tray off the island, sick of watching Ash, but the gossip segment moves on and Zane and I flash on the screen. I bobble the tray, and with the help of Lucille’s quick reflexes, I set it back onto the counter.

Pictures of Zane and me petting animals and picking out pumpkins flash in a slow montage. A short video clip credited to an outside source shows Zane laughing hysterically while a baby goat eats pellets off his palm. His rich voice fills the kitchen.

The difference between Ash and Zarah and Zane and me is striking.

My cheeks flush, and I feel like a fool until Lucille puts an arm around my shoulders. “You’re good for him. He’s had such a terrible time since his parents passed away. You help.”

Her words do little to make me feel better. “Thank you.”

Carrying the heavy tray, I bump my way out of the kitchen, and as an afterthought as I walk through the living room on the way to the staircase, I place our sparkly gourds next to the coffee carafe.

He’s staring at the ceiling when I come in. “I thought you went home.”

“No. I have priorities.”

Zane grins. “My kind of priorities.”

I set the tray on his dresser, pour him a cup, and add cream. I’m slowly learning how he likes things, and he sips appreciatively, a low hum vibrating from his throat.

“Lucille and I were watching TV. Zarah and Ash went out last night.” I sink onto the side of the bed holding my own mug.

“I probably won’t see her all weekend, then.”

“You should text her. Ask her to meet you for dinner.”

Zane leans on an elbow and shakes his head. “Nah. She’s with Ash. She’s okay. Besides, I need to get some work done this weekend. Denton and Cramer are angry and frustrated. I have to learn faster so I can start making decisions without them.They’re different without my dad around, and I need to stay in control. I can’t let them cut me out of my own company.”

I didn’t know how serious Zane’s problems were. At twenty-five, he probably doesn’t have the insight he needs to run an international, billion-dollar business. He didn’t think he would ever need to, at least, not without Kagan Maddox’s help.

“Do you need me?” I ask, already moving aside my weekend chores to help him with work.

“Always,” he says, and I smile. “But not with anything at the office. Stella—” He stops and rubs his thumb against his coffee mug. My heart starts beating like crazy. I have no idea what he’s thinking, and it scares the hell out of me. “I know we’ve been quick, and I don’t know if you were seeing...” His voice fades, and he looks down into his half-empty coffee cup.

“I wasn’t seeing anyone.” I don’t have the free time to date much, and spending evenings this past week with Zane has made me fall behind. I have a ton of homework and laundry is piling up.

“Can I...ask you not to?” He peers at me, his eyelids hooded. His hair is deliciously mussed, his brown eyes serious, his jaw covered in scruff. He looks like he’s posing in an ad that’s selling luxury bedding.

Sexy as hell.

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