“No, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that we’re family. We should be doing this together. You and me, together.” The emphasis on the last word sends uneasy feelings through me.
“Not this again, Alex. Not now. I can’t think about that now.”
“It worked once before.”
“Not really. And nothing about things is going to make it easier now.”
He lets out a frustrated sigh and pushes away from the bench. “You might not want to admit it, but something is going on withKingsley Baxter when it comes to you, and you’re not ready to go there. You don’t know what it’s like to be with a man like him.”
I spin the coffee cup on the bench, trying to focus my anger of his implication on the swirl of the liquid in the cup. “Why? Because I’m just Ernest’s love child? A peasant girl? Not good enough for the mighty Kingsley Baxter?”
“No, not because I think that, but because he and his family will always think that. And you’re lying to yourself if you ever think they’ll be different. But I have never wanted you to be anything more than who you are.”
Twenty-Five
Luna
Kingsley is wearing the same crumpled shirt he was wearing yesterday when I walk into his office.
The blinds of his office are closed, and he’s at his desk, staring blankly at the open door.
“Hi,” I say, stepping into the dark room.
He doesn’t say anything right away, just stares at me for a moment before nodding, his expression barely changing. “You should’ve called me. I would’ve sent the car.”
“Alex brought me.”
“Where is he now?”
Alex steps into Kingsley’s office, shoulder rubbing up against mine. “I’m here. And I’m staying until she tells me to leave.”
“Tell him to leave, Luna.”
I sigh. “Kingsley…”
“Tell him to leave or I’ll call someone to help him find the door.”
I give Alex a nod. “I’m okay. You can go.”
“But—”
“If I need anything, I’ll call. I promise.”
Kingsley snickers. “But don’t hold your breath, Alex.”
Seriously? Did he have to be so unhelpful? I sat in on a meeting with him and a member of Parliament last week. In the space of fifteen minutes, he’d all but secured a twenty million pound contract for one of Baxter’s subsidiary companies. And now he can’t keep his mouth shut for thirty seconds without pissing Alex off?
“I warned you, Baxter,” Alex hisses as he storms to the door.
“Let me know if you need a reminder of what to do with those empty threats, Alexis.”
I shake my head. Alex hates his full name. I only ever heard my father call him that twice in the whole time I knew him, and both times because he was in a world of trouble.
I watch and wait until Alex gets onto the elevator before I turn back into Kingsley’s office. He’s standing and leaning against the front edge of his desk when I get there. Then, without a word, he walks past me and straight to his open office door.
“Send everyone home, Marcus. I want everyone off the floor in five minutes. And yes, that includes you. Take the rest of the day off.”
He closes the door.
