Page 10 of So Close

“Absolutely,” I say smoothly.

“So, we’re just going to sit around and wait?” Darius sets his hands on his hips, spreading his jacket open to reveal a lean, powerful torso beneath a fitted shirt. “I’d rather be spending time withmywife.”

“Me, too,” Ramin concurs with a wicked gleam in his blue eyes. Since he’s unmarried, the intimation is clear.

“Fuck you,” Darius snaps.

“What? Amy makes great martinis.”

“You’re a piece of shit.”

Aliyah snaps her fingers, marginally breaking the tension between the brothers. “Enough. Ramin, get us some decent coffee. Darius, get the names of the doctors.”

As the brothers walk away in different directions, Aliyah turns her dark gaze towards me. “You and I are the only ones who really worry about Kane. We need to keep an eye on things, make sure he’s protected.”

“As you say.” But my thoughts are with the woman beyond the door who has only a man she evidently fears to manage her care.

8

AMY

“A lovely gesture, Mrs. Armand.”

Witte takes the huge bouquet of yellow roses I’ve brought to the penthouse with me. They’ll clash with everything else in Lily’s bedroom, making my pricey gift impossible for Kane to ignore – if he bothers to go into her suite at all. I’ve been stopping by a couple of days a week for the past three weeks she’s been home, and I have no idea if Kane even knows of my efforts.

Gesturing toward the living room, Witte shuts the front door behind me. “Please, make yourself comfortable while I put these in water.”

I step deeper into Kane’s domain, my heels tapping quietly. The urge to hurry is hard to resist, but I manage it. I’m irritated by my jitteriness.

Fucking Witte. I don’t know how the tight-ass does it, but he’s an even better bullshitter than Aliyah. If I had half a brain, I might fall for the warmth of welcome in his voice, but I’m not an idiot. I know he can’t stand me.

“How is she?” I ask over my shoulder, midstride, adjusting the strap of my tote bag. Took me forever to find the damn thing earlier. It’s becoming a serious pain in the ass to pull together outfits casual enough to hang out with a comatose woman yet still sophisticated and flattering enough to make me look good if I run into Kane. At least I made it here before it started raining. A summer storm is rolling in. It’s humid as hell outside, the pressure lowering.

“Mrs. Black’s condition is unchanged.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” It pisses me off that I can’t decide whether I really mean that or not. She’s just lying there like a corpse. Either die or wake up already. “We’ll just keep our thoughts positive.”

Entering the living room, I shake my head at how fucking clean everything is. Not a speck of dust anywhere. The floor shines like a spotless mirror.

Kicking off one of my high-heeled mules, I press the sweaty ball of my foot against the polished black. I expect the tile to be cool to the touch, but it’s the perfect temperature.

A shiver of desire runs through me. The extravagance of penthouse-wide heated floors reminds me of how sensual Kane is.

Jesus, I’m a fucking joke.

The condensation that outlines the shape of my toes swiftly evaporates, leaving behind only the faintest smudge. It’s quiet enough to hear my breathing. The penthouse seems sepulchral, filled with secrets Iwillexpose. One way or another.

So many questions. And the one person who can answer them is locked away in her own mind.

I’m sliding my shoe back on when the man I can’t stop craving appears as if I conjured him in a fever dream. I force myself to look away as Kane approaches. How does a man that big move so silently?

And God is he tall. Everything in the world must feel too small to him.

“Amy.”

I shiver. His voice is a weapon, deliciously low, and it cuts through me like a well-honed blade. I turn my head, my gaze starting at the oxfords that are as highly polished as the floor, then rising to settle on the intersection of his legs. His tailors have some trick for disguising the club between his thighs. I’m guessing he got that big dick from his father because neither Darius nor Ramin is as spectacularly endowed.

Maybe that’s why Aliyah is such a bitch. She used to get plowed by a mighty cock until Kane’s dad got sick of her shit and fucked off.

---