Page 76 of Captivated By You

“Oh, my baby. I’ve missed you!”

Kiana struggled to free herself. “Mom! For God’s sake. We speak on the phone every week.”

“Yes, but that’s not the same as being able to hold you. When you have children of your own, you’ll understand.” She gave me the full head-to-toe appraisal. “So, you’re potentially the future father of my grandchildren. Pleased to meet you.”

She stuck out her hand while Kiana closed her eyes and let out a soft groan.

“Holy cow, Mother. Way to scare him off.”

I chuckled, shaking her mom’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Doherty.”

“Call me Pamela.” She glanced over her shoulder and screeched, “Owen! Your daughter and the billionaire are here.”

Kiana covered her face and moaned something that sounded remarkably like “Kill me now” while my shoulders shook as I tried to contain my laughter.

Pamela ushered us both into the house, where Kiana’s father and her two brothers waited. The three men in Kiana’s life assessed me as I introduced myself to each one while, behind me, Kiana issued threats to her mother, who, from what I caught out of the corner of my eye, dismissed them with a flick of her wrist.

Owen handed me a cold beer, then gestured for me to head into the living room. Kiana sat on the couch beside me, and her two brothers squished on the end, with her mom and dad picking a chair each. Eight pairs of eyes turned on me.

“So, Asher,” Owen began. “Kiana told us that you met in a bar. Do you often pick up strange women in bars?”

My jaw slackened. I scrambled for an appropriate response when Pamela chimed in.

“Kiana tells me you fired the manager who touched my daughter without her permission. Is inappropriate sexual behavior an issue within your company?”

Whoa. Talk about nailing me right between the eyes with their directness. I could see where Kiana got it from. I flailed around, wishing I’d asked Kiana just how much she’d told her parents, not only about that fucker Forster, but about how we met, too. Too late now. I cast a sidelong glance at her. She was looking at me with innocence and interest, head tilted to the side, a slight curve to her lips.

Despite the warnings she’d given me, and the cautionary tone she’d used with her mother, she was enjoying my discomfort. Reveling in it.

“Absolutely not.” I cleared my throat, directing my first answer at Owen. “We just got to talking, and she charmed me so much that I asked her to dinner. But when she told me she lived in Chicago, I honestly didn’t expect to see her again.” I shrugged. “I guess fate had other ideas.”

Switching my attention to Pamela, I continued. “And as for my former employee, as soon as I investigated what had happened to Kiana, I dealt with it and instructed my team to carry out a full review. I can assure you that I take things such as this with the utmost seriousness.”

All four of them stared at me, sizing me up. I felt as if I were on trial and the jury was assessing me harshly. Not only that, but my lawyer had handed me to them on a platter.

I lost count of how many seconds passed, and I wondered if they were waiting for me to defend myself more vigorously. And then Kiana laughed, and the entire Doherty clan joined in.

“We’re just messing with you, Ash.” Kiana dug me in the ribs, then held up her hands. “I confess. It was all my idea.”

“Although,” Pamela said before I could turn my mind to the payback heading Kiana’s way. “We’re not in any way belittling what that man did. If it were up to me, he’d be in jail.”

“Me, too,” I said, earning a beaming smile from Pamela. “However, neither Kiana nor the other women I discovered he’d also behaved inappropriately toward wanted to press charges. But believe me, I haven’t forgotten, nor have I taken my eye off him.”

Kiana’s head whipped in my direction. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I know where he is, what he’s doing, where he’s working. And if he puts a single foot wrong, I’ll nail him.”

“Whoa. Remind me not to piss off your boyfriend, Kee,” Louis said. Or it might have been Mason. It was as if they’d both worn white shirts and blue jeans just to make life difficult for me to figure out which was which.

“Why didn’t you tell me this?” she demanded.

I pulled my lips to the side. “It didn’t occur to me.”

Okay, wrong response. Her lips thinned, and flecks of molten lava fired from her eyes.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

The twins laughed. “That’s Kee speak for ‘Protect your balls ’cause I’m gonna twist ’em ’til you pass out first chance I get.’?”

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