Page 58 of Queen of Diamonds
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Kinsey liftedher face to the morning sun. “This is nice.” She lazily rolled her head toward Aiden. “I’ve missed you.” Since being drafted, his time seemed to be owned by the Dolphins.
They were stretched out on lounge chairs on the roof of Rand’s building. Surrounded by tall, lush potted plants, it was a garden paradise. A place she liked starting her day while she drank her morning coffee. Rand usually joined her before heading off to work, but he’d declined to come up with her today, saying she needed some alone time with her friend. She smiled, thinking it was a rare man who wouldn’t have a problem with his girl being close friends with a star football player and one as good-looking as Aiden. Her guy was amazing.
“Right back at you, kiddo.” She’d made mimosas for them, and he took a sip of his. “This is good, but only one for me. Got a long day of practice ahead.” He glanced over at her. “Every time I think of what that man did to you, I want to kill him.”
She rolled her eyes. “I never realized before how bloodthirsty men were. You’ll have to get in line behind Rand and my brothers.”
“Make sure they know to include me if they ever decide to teach him a lesson.” He shook his head. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around you all of a sudden having brothers. Add to that they’re all FBI, and then add to that you’ve gone and fallen in love with an FBI agent”—he swept his arm out—“and let’s not forget a rich one with a roof garden on top of his penthouse apartment…” He started laughing. “You have to admit that’s all hard to take in.”
She snorted. “Tell me about it.”
“Are you happy, Kinsey?”
“Yeah, I am. More than I ever thought possible.”
“That’s all that counts then.”
Yes, it really was.
After Aiden left, she showered and dressed for the job interview scheduled for late morning. It was a second interview, and she was excited. Her position at Summer Fashions had been as a junior buyer, and this one was for a full-fledged buyer for Cheeky Chic, an upscale chain of women’s boutiques.
Her phone rang as she was drying her hair, and she frowned at seeing Corrie’s name on the screen. Kinsey wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to the woman who’d advised her that the way to handle Sebastian was to just ignore him. Still, she was curious, so she answered.
“Hello.”
“Kinsey, this is Corrie. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for what happened to you. I swear I had no idea Sebastian would do something like that.”
“Did you know about the others?” That was the one question she wanted an answer to. If Corrie had known, then she should have realized what Sebastian was capable of. And if she had known, Kinsey wasn’t sure she could forgive her saying Sebastian was harmless when she knew he wasn’t.
“No, not the details of what he did. Not until all this came out after he was arrested. I did know something happened with one of the women, but when she didn’t show up for work one day, Mr. Summer said that she’d made false accusations in an attempt to extort money. I wasn’t working there when the incidents before her happened.”
Kinsey thought Corrie probably did know more than she was admitting to, and she hoped her former boss had learned a lesson. “All I have to say is that if another of your employees finds herself being sexually harassed, I hope you’ll do more than advise her to ignore it.”
There was a moment of silence, then, “I should have done more for you. I know it, and I’m truly sorry, Kinsey. Please believe that. The other thing I wanted to tell you is that I resigned. Not that you care or even should, but it was my own protest to what happened to you.”
“Hm, okay.” She really wasn’t sure what to say. Mr. Summer had thought very highly of his head buyer, and there was a bit of satisfaction in hearing that he’d lost his favorite employee because of what his son did.
“Before I left, I took a call from the HR director for Cheeky Chic, asking for a reference. I told him that you were one of the most talented buyers I’d ever worked with, and that if they didn’t hire you, they were stupid.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.”
“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. Kinsey, I wish you the best.” She disconnected.
Kinsey stared at her phone for a moment before setting it back on the counter, not sure how she felt about the call. If nothing else, it was a closure between her and Corrie. One thing she promised herself was that if she was ever in the position Corrie had been in, she wouldn’t turn a blind eye.
Rand stoodat the bar of Aces & Eights, surveying the crowd. It was one of those nights. They’d broken up three fights already and had banned the Tricksters Motor Club for a month for bringing weapons into the bar.
“Not liking tonight much,” Spider said, coming to stand next to him.
“Tell me about it.” But it was Rand’s last night at Aces & Eights, so that was the good news.
Nate had found his replacement, who was here tonight getting the lay of the land. The dude… Rand gave a mental shake of his head. Themanwas biker bad boy right down to the chains hanging out of his pockets and the tattoo sleeves decorating both arms. No one would peg him as an undercover FBI agent. Josh was already enamored of the man and would be in good hands with his new dude friend.
Josh had finally gotten the Hot Shots to trust him, so that investigation was heating up. Rand was relieved that he wouldn’t be a part of it. He went to the office to box up the few personal belongings he had here. He wondered if he’d miss the bar. He thought about it for a moment. “Nah.” It was doubtful that anyone would even notice he was gone. Spider, maybe, but that was about it.
It was Friday night, and Monday he’d be back in the field where he belonged. A month had passed since Kinsey and her noisy bird had moved in, meaning their… not their,hertrial period of living together was up. He had big plans for tomorrow night.
