Page 94 of The Lies of Bryn van Doren

“Um, I’m—I’m still working on it,” Jessica manages to say. Her gaze flicks to the group now preparing for their session and then quickly returns to Miah.

She’s still staring at Jessica as she says, “I want you back here tomorrow. I want to see that again.”

“You do?”

“Hell yes, I do. Tomorrow. Eleven. Can you be here?”

“Yeah. Sure,” she agrees, still taken aback.

“All right. See you then.”

Jessica nods and grabs her purse as she slips her feet back into her shoes. She’s not conscious of how sweaty she is until she steps outside, and the warm afternoon breeze hits her skin. Uncertain as she may be about what just happened or what to expect the next morning, she’s without a doubt she needs a shower. Feeling lighter than she’s felt all day, she heads for the loft to do just that.

It’s nearly eightwhen Atzel pulls up to the curb outside the loft. Khalohn grabs the take-out order he picked up moments before and steps out of the Maybach, bidding his driver goodnight as he walks inside. He takes the elevator to the sixth floor alone, the smell of dinner making his stomach groan in hunger. When he lets himself into 601, he locks the door behind him, discards his keys on the hall table, and heads straight for the kitchen.

Setting the food on the island, he looks for Jessica and finds her curled up in one of the leather armchairs. She’s sleeping, her arms clutched around a paperback book with tattered edges. Khalohn shrugs his way out of his suit jacket as he begins to close the distance between them, draping the garment over one of the dining room chairs along the way. Memories of the last time he was in the apartment filter through his mind, and he glances toward the closet. He knows the mess he made has long since been managed, but he stops short when he notices the closet isn’t merely straightened—it’sfull.

From where he stands, he pauses long enough to take a closer look at his surroundings. Aside from the closet full of Jessica’s clothes, he notices a couple picture frames on the nightstand, and a couple more on the coffee table. Against the far wall, behind where Jessica is sleeping, there are two small stacks of books on the floor, as if waiting for the installation of a bookshelf. His eyes settle on his woman, piecing together clues as to how she must have spent part of her day.

Having been without her company for as long as he can stand it, he continues to cross the room until he’s kneeling beside her. “Hey,” he calls tenderly, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. “Precious…”

Jessica comes out of sleep slowly, blinking her eyes open lazily before her focus settles on him. “Hi,” she whispers.

“You hungry?”

He watches as she considers his question and then offers him a sleepy nod. A crooked smile curls his lips, and he carefully extracts the book from her grasp, setting it on the coffee table behind him before he stands to full height. He holds out his hand, and she accepts the gesture, using him to help her to her feet. As soon as she’s standing, Khalohn tilts his head and leans in for a kiss. He’s not disappointed when she responds in kind.

“Missed you,” she confesses as he pulls away.

He can tell by the dreamy look in her eyes her words slipped out, unfiltered. He likes this and expresses as much as he buries his fingers in the back of her hair, holding her head still as he presses his lips to her forehead.

“Let’s eat, beautiful.”

Khalohn doesn’t know if Jessica likes salmon. When she takes a small helping of everything he ordered from the Greek restaurant a few blocks away, he’s confident he ordered well. She then settles herself at the dining room table, and he follows her lead, taking the seat next to her at the head of the table with enough chairs for eight.

“How was your day?” she inquires, breaking the silence between them.

Christina’s threat is the first thing to pop into his head. Suddenly, the weight of the phone in his pocket is hard to ignore. It’s been hardly more than twelve hours since he put Adams on her trail. The soonest he’ll hear from his PI is the next morning, but that doesn’t make him any more patient.

“The woman from the gala?” He avoids using her name on purpose. “The threat she threw at you Friday was meant for me. She followed through this morning.”

“What?” Jessica gasps, sitting up straighter in her chair.

“I’m not telling you so you’ll worry, Jess. I’m handling it, as I said I would.”

“Okay.”

She watches him closely as he takes another bite of his dinner, and he recognizes it’s time to change the subject.

“You moved in,” he states matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” she breathes, setting down her fork. “Actually—I didn’t mean to. I mean, I was going to talk to you about it.” She turns in her chair, facing him more directly as she anxiously gathers all her hair to one shoulder. “I went back to my apartment. I don’t want to keep it. I took what I wanted, and I brought it here, not sure where else to go. Then I left for a couple hours, and when I got back, the cleaner had been by. She unpacked my things.”

“You’ve always been welcome to live here; you know that.”

“That was before, Khalohn,” she responds, her voice hardly above a whisper.

“I’m happy to keep the apartment. It’s a solid piece of real estate. As long as you want to, it’s yours to call home. Not to mention, I already have a key.”

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