Page 54 of Heart of Stone (Dark Billionaires)

Warren had sent her his list of kinks after she’d sent him hers. She’d thought of little else in the days since. And in the nights.

Whilst they passed a throng of people at the centre of the dazzling marquee, Warren leant in close. “By midnight,” he rumbled, “I want to see your lipstick marking my cock.” His large hand slunk down her spine, stopping just above her rear. He cleared his throat before Kate could so much as widen her eyes. “Alison, I’d like you to meet Kate.”

A deeply attractive middle aged woman stood in front of them, wearing a slate blue dress shimmering beneath the river of roses. Her striking amber eyes lit up as she saw them; eyes that Rhys had inherited, down to the last striation. “Darling,” she grinned, kissing Warren on the cheek before moving down to Kate. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Kate shoved her thoughts of lipstick to the back of her mind as quickly as possible. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“I was positively thrilled when Warren said he’d found you again. He used to write and tell me about you in his letters.”

“Letters?”

Warren’s hand tightened around her hip.

“It’s how Warren and I met,” Alison said politely. “Rhys would mention Warren in his letters—when they were in prison, you know. But we eventually started corresponding, didn’t we, darling?”

“We did, yes,” Warren answered.

“Did you know he didn’t have a single correspondent before I started writing to him?” Alison clucked her tongue, her brow creasing with compassion.

Kate felt the gentle chiding beneath Alison’s words. “I didn’t,” she said softly. In all probability, she could have guessed. A child bounced around the care system, with no family to call his own. After Warren was first arrested, Katehadwanted to visit him, but her father had overruled it, saying that he was a murderer who deserved his punishment. Her talk of sending letters to him had met the same fate. She addressed Warren. “I should have made more of an effort to write to you. I’m sorry.”

His face flickered into a frown. “You were a girl, Kate. And from your perspective, I had just killed your brother.”

“Still,” she shrugged. “You were my friend.”And I missed you.

“Well I’m glad you’re friends again,” Alison said gently. “And it’s lovely to see your mum and brother here, Warren.” She looked over to one of the seating areas, to the sky blue sofas and little cloud-shaped cushions, where Rhys, Sarah, and Mattie sat in deep conversation.

“I’m glad they’re here as well,” Warren agreed, taking another sip of his liquor.

“Your brother must be so worried,” Alison frowned. “How is your mum getting on?”

Warren’s throat shifted as he swallowed. “She’s managing as best she can. And Kate has been keeping her company during her chemo, haven’t you?”

“We’ve been going with her every day, Mattie and I,” Kate smiled. Sarah had needed people to be with her, and with Warren in New York she had been pleased to fill that role, be it offering a shoulder to cry on or fetching refreshments—or anything in between. “I mean, technically it’s chemoradiotherapy because she’s having both chemotherapy and radiotherapy together,” Kate chattered nervously, “but it’s a bit of a mouthful.”Wrap it up. Stop blabbering like an idiot.“So yes, um, we’ve been keeping her company.”

“And Rhys has been staying here, I hear?” Alison’s amber eyes flicked between them, like a cat waiting to pounce.

“And behaving himself,” Warren’s hand slowly made its way up to her neck; a proprietary touch that send goosebumps erupting over her skin.

“Of course,” Kate nodded enthusiastically. “He’s been very gentlemanly.”

“I’m glad,” Alison said wryly. “Don’t be fooled though, Kate. He wasn’t always like that. Between Rhys and Jensen, I was almost eaten out of house and home.” She smiled at someone in the distance. “Aldous was always my little angel when they were younger.”

“They were close growing up, then?”

Alison shrugged, her dress glittering in the movement. “Jensen would come down and stay for the summers, and he and Rhys were always thick as thieves. They’re closer in age, you know. Aldous was a bit too timid for their roughhousing.” Kate’s face must have shown her amazement, given that Aldous had by far exhibited the most aggression in front of her. “Aldous learnt to protect himself after Jensen and Rhys were sent to prison,” she explained. “I insisted on it.”

Kate had known that Warren had met Rhys and Jensen in prison, but it suddenly occurred to her that she’d never wonderedwhythey were there. “Whereabouts did they grow up?”

“On the Old Dean, it’s—”

A familiar understanding dawned on her. “In Camberley?”

Alison fired a question back at her with a smile. “Are you local?”

“I grew up in Wildridings in Bracknell, so the other side of Swinley Forest.”

“Oh, how funny. Jensen and Aldous used to go mountain biking in Swinley all the time.”

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