Hard Rules (Dirty Money #1) - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,86
Shane repeats. “You’ll know.”
Frank shuts up at that point and the rest of the ride to the penthouse is silent. The car stops on our level, and frank leads us to the one and only door on the floor, while Shane urges me inside the apartment for the first look. Upon entering, the wooden floor is dark, almost black, a striking difference to what Shane has now. Traveling a short hallway with stucco walls, I exit the other side to find myself in a half-moon-shaped room wrapped in windows. The view of downtown and the Rocky Mountains, is so stunning, I barely glance at the black leather furnishings framing a fireplace running to the ceiling.
“What do you think?” Shane asks, stepping to my side.
I turn to face him. “So far, it’s not that different from what you have now, though I haven’t actually looked around it completely.”
“You’re right. It’s got the same look and feel, down to the balcony off the living area.” His hands settle on his hips. “The difference is that there I’m by the office.”
“That has pros and cons,” I say. “And your father sure won’t be renting a room here.”
“My father,” he says, his look thoughtful, his fingers stroking the dark, sexy roughness of the stubble on his jaw, which he didn’t shave this morning. “Won’t be renting a room there either.”
“I thought you said he was already?”
“I did.”
Before I can ask what he means, Jessica appears between us, linking her arms with ours. “Let’s look at the rest of the place,” she urges. “Through the archway directly in front of us is a gorgeous gray stone kitchen and a sunken library.” We start moving in that direction. “There’s also an office and a bedroom, while the upstairs is expansive.”
For the next ten minutes we do a walk-through of the remainder of the apartment, including the rooms Jessica has indicated, along with a media room, and the second level, where we find a ridiculous number of bathrooms and bedrooms. Through it all, Shane is reserved, removed even, barely commenting on anything. Finally, we reach the master bedroom, which is another half-moon-shaped room, with a massive four-poster bed in the center, and another balcony to the right. Shane gives it a thirty-second inspection, says nothing, and then crosses the room to the balcony, which he opens and steps outside.
Jessica lets out a frustrated sound and I turn to find her facing me. “I know you two started seeing each other before you showed up at Brandon Enterprises,” she says. “What I don’t know is how well you know him, so let me point out the obvious to me. While other people throw things and curse when they’re angry, this is how Shane does pissed off. The quieter he is, the worse his anger. So what happened and with who?”
Her observations resonate as correct, and since Shane trusts her, I decide to answer. “Something Seth found out and shared right before we got here. I don’t know anything more.”
“If Seth’s involved, it’s bad.”
“Jessica,” Frank shouts from the stairwell.
She grimaces. “I’ll hold off Franky boy out there and give you two some time.”
I nod and she heads for the hallway, while I quickly join Shane on the balcony, seeing nothing but his back, his shoulders bunched under his T-shirt, and his gaze cast over the city.
“What can I say or do?” I ask, joining him, facing his direction, one of my hands closing around the steel railing.
He faces me, and his expression is all hard lines and shadows. “What can you do?”
“Yes. What can I do?”
He pulls me to him, his hands fanning out on my lower back. “You can go home with me, get naked, and stay that way.”
A few days ago his boldness would have flustered me, but not now, and this isn’t about sex anyway. “Will that help?”
“Temporarily,” he says. “Yes.”
His voice is tight, controlled, but his heart thunders beneath my palm. “Then why are we still here?” I ask.
“I was just wondering the same thing.” He cups the back of my head, an action he favors, and one I’ve come to like, and gives me a hard, fast kiss. “I’m going to deal with Frank.” He sets me away from him and just that quickly, he’s gone, and I’m leaning on the railing, watching him depart.
Jessica appears almost instantly, and I turn to face her. “I’m loyal to Shane but we are not, and never were, romantic,” she says.