Page 76 of Relentless Pursuit

“Yes, Ron,” he answered after he pushed the button.

“Mr. Quinn would like to come up.”

Might as well get this over with.“Send him up.”

“Yes, sir,” Ron said.

Julian went to the foyer and opened the door, waiting for Jack to step off the elevator. He hoped Jack hadn’t come there to fight. Kayla already had tremendous guilt about keeping their relationship a secret from her brother.

Jack came out of the elevator, meeting Julian’s stare. Neither said anything as he motioned for Jack to come inside.

“Is my sister here?” Jack made his way into the foyer.

“She is.” Julian closed the door. “If you’ve come here to fight with her, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“How did you end up with her?” Jack rested his umbrella by the door. “I just don’t get it.”

“It was one of those things. We were attracted to one another. I don’t know. I liked her and went with it.”

“She came to your club?”

Julian nodded.

“So she’s like your others?”

“Not at all.” She couldn’t have been more different.

“Jack?” Kayla came down the stairs in a pair of pink sweatpants and a long-sleeve, white t-shirt. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to speak to you both.”

“If you’ve come here to bad-mouth Julian or tell me I’m making the wrong decisions, you need to save your breath.” She stood next to Julian. “Is that why you’re here?”

“I’m here because Caroline made me come,” Jack admitted. “I told her what happened this morning, and she was appalled by my behavior.”

“She always was smarter than you.” Julian laughed. “But I get why you were pissed. I’d be pissed too if my sister and best friend kept a secret from me. All I can say is, we weren’t sure where we were headed. We saw no reason to go public, knowing how awkward it would be if we didn’t end up staying together.”

“And now you’re sure?” Jack asked.

“Is anyone really certain of anything?” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Julian and I are good together. We have fun. He makes me laugh. He treats me well. I would do anything for him. I’ve known him as long as you have. I trust him. You shouldn’t need any other justification.”

“If we hadn’t crossed paths this morning,” Julian said, “I would have told you about the two of us tomorrow at our breakfast meeting.”

“That’s what you wanted to discuss?”

“I wanted to tell you in person. I thought it would be best.”

“I thought we were meeting to discuss your finances.”

“They probably would have come up.” Julian smiled. “We decided it was time to let you know about us. We didn’t want to do it together because we didn’t want to ambush you.”

“Instead, I came at you both and acted like an ass in public.”

“Pretty much.” She hugged her brother. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Jack held her tight. “Sometimes I forget you’re a grown woman. I was trying to protect you.”

That’s my job.

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