Page 58 of Inarticulate

She measured her breath while revenge and commonsense warred inside her chest. The ability to open her mouth and blame all of this on Penny was a simple sentence away. She could take her cousin down. Make her pay. Only, the moral high road was a bigger and brighter path. It was shiny and filled with gushing amounts of good karma.

Stupid karma.

“Yes, that was all.” Patrick would respect her more if she kept it short and sweet and simple. He didn’t want to know the intricacies of every badly worded email or who they came from. “Thank you for sparing the time to see me.”

“Not a problem.” He stood and offered his hand. “It was nice to meet you, Savannah.”

“You, too.” She raised to her feet and grasped his offering. “We should do it more often.”

He chuckled and shook his head. He was like Mr. Rydel in so many ways, and she’d won him over just as quickly.

“Goodbye, Mr. Black.” She dropped her hold and turned toward the door.

“Wait a minute.”

She paused and glanced over her shoulder as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a business card. “If you have any concerns in the future, please feel free to contact my son. I’ll make sure he sorts it out personally.”

She grasped the card and the thick, formal font glowered back at her.

Keenan Black

Director of Operations

An invisible hold grabbed her around the neck and tightened. The world crumpled to ash and memory after memory after memory flashed in her mind. Each thought was consumed with one man and a past that now seemed like a bad re-run of a B-grade horror movie.

“Keenan.” She cleared her throat to dislodge the fist caught in her windpipe. “That’s an uncommon name.”

“Yes. My son is quite unique,” he muttered, announcing an annoyance with his offspring that she currently reciprocated.

“I bet he is.” She ran her finger over the embossed lettering and tried to deny the betrayal staring back at her. Keenan hadn’t held contempt for his position. He didn’t have a low-level job. He was the pomp and circumstance behind her competitor’s hotel chain. He was the charm and the arrogance.

He was Grandiosity.

“You’ll need to send any concerns via email,” he continued. “My son doesn’t have the best communication skills and refuses to answer his phone.”

No shit.

“On second thought…” He reached for his drawer again and handed her another card. “Penelope is probably the best person to speak to. The two of them are joined at the hip. Practically husband and wife. If you have any concerns that need urgent attention, call her and she can convey the problem to Keenan.”

Her head bobbed of its own accord.Husband and wife. That little fucker.

“Thank you again for your time.” She cast him one last glance and wished the family resemblance hadn’t escaped her until now. He had Keenan’s stormy eyes. And that smirk.Christ. She should’ve noticed the picture perfect curve of lips the moment he shot that look her way.

She measured her steps to the door, making sure she didn’t falter, or worse, run, no matter how much her rampant heart rate demanded it.

She couldn’t deny Keenan was good. He was so damn good. He’d fucked her physically and professionally at the same time, which disputed the lifelong myth that men couldn’t do two things at once.

He’d never worn a suit in front of her or anything expensive to tie him to his obvious wealth. He’d given her the impression he lived in the suburbs, for heaven’s sake. And how convenient that he could use the unfavorable competition between Rydel and Grandiosity as a scapegoat to never discuss his position.

But why? Was he hoping he’d screw sensitive information out of her? Had he, without her noticing? Or was he helping Penny get revenge?

Disgust crawled under her nails and crept along her skin like termites on a rampage. The overreaction must be due to the Seattle air. Or the stress of the settlement. She hadn’t experienced even a tenth of the overwhelming buzz of fractured emotions that currently overwhelmed her when the months with Spencer had ended.

Jealousy made the muscles in her legs burn, which was pathetic in itself. She should be focused on the betrayal and lies. Instead, she stormed into the reception area, livid at how badly she’d underestimated his relationship with Penny.

“Do you have something I could write with?” She suppressed a wince as her cell buzzed in her back pocket like a beaver trying to burrow its way into her ass.

The receptionist held up a shiny silver pen.

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