We sit like that in silence, listening to the sounds of our breathing. Kane’s hands stop caressing my thighs and move to the table behind me–probably cleaning up the mess I made.
I wiggle out of his embrace to pick up my panties from the floor. Sliding them on, I straighten out my skirt and return to my seat on the other end of the table. My laptop screen is locked, and I log in to reveal the program I’m currently running.
Kane also returns to his work after wiping the desk clean. We work quietly for a few minutes before Kane suddenly begins repeatedly hitting a key on his keyboard. I look up to see him frowning at his desktop.
“My files aren’t copying into this,” he pulls out a flash drive from the USB port and looks it over before tossing it away and asking, “Can I borrow yours?”
“Sure,” I reply, rising to my feet and walking out of the office. I head over to mine, and just when I grip the doorknob in preparation to open the door, I hear a familiar voice.
“…you sure Kane owns all this? Because that would make him the CEO of a billion-dollar company.”
Tim.
Another voice replies to him, “Exactly. I’m surprised you don’t know that much about your brother.”
The other one is Mike. I whirl around to take a look at the man who left me and my daughter a month ago. He looks just the same as I remember, with his dark brown hair that covers a part of his forehead, ears, and neck. Without looking further, I know the tips of his hair curl where they hang. His face is also unchanged, but he does seem a little thinner.
My eyes travel down to see he’s dressed in simple, casual clothes – a dark green hoodie and jeans. His tall frame easily towers over Mike, but his posture seems a bit tiled forward, like he has been through hell and back.
Mike leads him down the hallway to Kane’s office as he listens to Tim complain about his brother, “We don’t have the best relationship. He keeps a lot of things from me, but this is huge.”
For a split second, I feel sorry for him. He had no idea his practically estranged older brother was a tech billionaire, and he found out the fact from his brother’s employee.
“I’m happy to find out about this. I don’t need to look for a job somewhere else. He can just hire me.”
As they approach, Tim looks up, and his eyes land on me.
I suck in a breath without meaning to and watch as he skids to a halt in the middle of the hallway. His eyes are wide open as he stares at me, and his mouth drops open in astonishment.
I’m definitely not thrilled to see him.
“Chloe?”
His voice is high-pitched with shock. The same voice that told me I forced responsibilities on him that he wasn’t ready for.
My stomach rolls with disgust at the mere sight of him, and I grip the doorknob tighter. My instincts are screaming not to acknowledge him, but Mike is right there. The last thing I need is to stir up controversy.
So, I dip my head once in greeting, “Tim.”
Mike looks at both of us and asks, “Do you know each other?”
Tim uproots himself from his frozen position and starts to make his way over to me. His open mouth gapes like a fish out of water as he struggles to find words. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, he says, “You’re here,” as he exhales.
I don’t know if I’m imagining it, but he is acting as if he’s happy to see me.
He stammers, “W-what are you doing here?”
Raising my eyebrows at his theatrics, I tip my chin up and answer, “I work here.”
He nods, swallowing, then gives me a huge smile, “I thought I would never see you again.”
Are those tears in the corners of his eyes?
“I thought so too,” I say with frustration before twisting the doorknob and throwing the door open. As I step inside my office, Tim leaps forward in an attempt to follow me, but I shut the door in his face so hard that it could bring the building down.
Chapter 18
Kane