The Other Side of Greed (The Seven Sins #5) - Lily Zante Page 0,71
lips moist. I tweak her nipples, my hands greedy and possessive under her strained clothing.
She looks around, then moves her hand on top of mine, halting it. “People can see.”
“You’re helping me to see the business in another way, Brad. Moving to bigger premises means I won’t have to build another factory.”
I should be ecstatic because this is what I wanted. My mission will be accomplished. She’s considering my advice and all I have to do is make sure she follows through. If Kyra moves, then so will most of the others. The rest, the ones who stubbornly refuse to move, I’ll get rid of by condemning the land. It was only Kyra Lewis I needed to convince, and now, it seems, I have.
And yet, it doesn’t feel like a victory. I don’t feel like a winner.
I let out a shaky exhale. My hard-on is making it hard for me to think, and with this woman looking at me as if I’m the best thing to happen to her and her business, I suddenly feel unsure. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“You’re the one who suggested it.”
“I know, but, you need to really think it through, Kyra.”
“I have been. It makes sense. Everything started to make sense once I saw things from another angle, and it’s all thanks to you.” She kisses me on the nose, dismissing my serious words easily.
I blink at her, not knowing what to say. “You even came at the right time, when Fredrich injured his arm. It was perfect timing. I needed you and you showed up.” She laughs in pure ignorance. Heat burns across my lying face.
“You weren’t so happy to have me around,” I remind her. “Simona made me feel welcome.”
“Simona thought you were eye candy.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Eye candy?”
“For me,” she clarified.
“I feel objectified.”
“She thought it would be good for …” She clears her throat, looks away. “After my ex and all that drama … I kept you at a distance.”
I understand it now. I cup the side of her face and attempt to make her laugh. “Afraid you might have fallen for my charms, otherwise?”
“Taking care of my invisible bruises. When someone cheats on you, it’s almost impossible to be able to trust again.” I press my lips gently against hers, to silence those fears and thoughts. To create new ones for her. But even as our lips touch and I inhale her scent, soak in her familiarity which is now almost like my second skin, a warning bell goes off in my head.
I am sliding across thin ice. I might not be cheating on her the way her ex did, but my initial intentions were just as bad.
“Anyway, I was thinking, why don’t we go looking at some places I could move to? You said you had some ideas.” She pulls me out of my thoughts and stares at me as if I can solve all her problems.
She’s just solved mine, but it doesn’t feel like a victory. “I ... uh... sure.”
“I’ve got nothing better to do now.” She shrugs. “How about we go now?” She must have seen my expression because she hurriedly says, “Unless you’ve got plans.”
I can hear it in her voice. The hint of nervousness. The doubt. The suspicion. There is a lot about me that must give rise to questions that are unanswered. She never pushes me, but I can tell that she needs more answers than I am able to give her.
I’ve done enough damage, and even though she doesn’t know about it, she soon will. I’ll break her. At the very least, I’ll ruin her trust in me.
“I have a better plan,” I offer.
“I’m listening.”
I’ve been hiding her. I’ve been hiding what we have, what I feel, and all because everything about me, about us, is based on lies. “Why don’t we get some lunch?”
“Lunch?” Her eyes light up, as if I’ve announced that I’m taking her on a luxury vacation. How easily some people are pleased. A flash of happiness crosses her face; something new, something I like to see, especially when she’s looking at me. My heart floats in my ribcage, in a way that is alien to me. “You want to?”
Her words break me. They imply so many things that must be weighing on her mind. I decide in that moment that when we go to lunch, I will tell her everything.
Since we’re in her car, she offers to drive, and we go to lunch, finding a