Page 76 of Truth (Wicked Empire 2)

“You can go,” Elias said.

Kayla started to leave, but I stopped her. “Kayla, would you like to visit with Amethyst?”

The question came out of the blue, but seeing her reminded me that I had wanted to get the two of them together again.

I had no idea if they had anything in common. And while Amethyst had told me she enjoyed their shopping trip, she hadn’t mentioned anything else. So it seemed like a good idea to potentially give her someone to talk to.

“Of course. If she’d like that, I’d be happy to,” Kayla said.

There was no indication of how she felt about spending time with Amethyst, but then again, I didn’t expect it. Kayla was a master, one of the best I’d ever seen at answering questions freely without giving any information whatsoever.

It was an admirable trait, and probably part of the reason she had been around for so long.

“I’ll ask her,” I said.

She nodded. “If she agrees, I’m sure I can set something up.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Are we done arranging Amethyst James’s social calendar?” Elias asked.

Kayla blanched ever so slightly, but then continued out of the door.

“You shouldn’t get so familiar with her,” Elias said, staring at the space Kayla had just vacated.

“Well, Elias, she’s been around for years, so I already am quite familiar with her. And as you heard, I was trying to arrange something for Amethyst,” I said, not allowing myself to be annoyed by his antics.

He had a stick up his ass about Kayla, something that annoyed me, though I hadn’t yet addressed it.

And now definitely wasn’t the time.

“Do you think Isaac’s up to something?” I asked, turning back to the business at hand.

“Always. But he is correct that we don’t have anything concrete.”

“So, what? We wait until he does something?”

“Yes. But I don’t think that’s a concern, at least not yet. Isaac is smart, and while I expect him to push the envelope, I don’t think he’ll do anything too risky or up front.”

“I hope the rest of his family is as smart as he is,” I said.

“We’ll see, and then handle it accordingly,” Elias said.

I looked at him for a moment, and noticed that he seemed tense again. “What’s the problem?” I asked.

“The problem. You say that like there’s only one,” he responded, sinking back in his chair.

I laughed. “True. But you seem tense,” I said.

“I just have a lot going on,” he said.

“Well, you know—”

“Yeah, Davit, I know you’re here if I need you, blah, blah, blah. Brother,” he said, looking me directly in the eye.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“I love you. But please fuck off,” he said.

I laughed and then stood. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” I said as I walked out of the office.

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