A Wicked Song - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,35
right there with me, twining fingers in my hair, his lips near mine. “You really aren’t about the money.”
“You thought I was?”
“No, but I’m used to being disappointed and you are never a disappointment, Aria Stradivari.” His mouth comes down on mine and the kiss that follows is dark and sultry in all the right ways. I’m breathless when our lips part and he turns me toward the bathroom. “Go pack, baby. I have plans for you tonight.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I’m standing in my walk-in closet that I’d insisted on when Gio and I built this apartment, fretting over my limited clothing choices when Kace appears in the doorway. “Don’t forget you have clothes at my place,” he says. “If you need something more—”
“I don’t,” I say firmly. “Thank you, though.”
“Aria—”
“I’m with you, Kace, not your wallet. We, in fact, just had that conversation.” I shut my suitcase and zip it up. “Besides. I was just trying to make sure I have everything covered that I might need. I have a business lunch with Crystal tomorrow, by the way.”
“Mark and I need to talk through some things anyway. Why don’t I see if we can make it a foursome?”
“I think no. Mark makes me uptight, for a lack of a better word.”
“And he likes it that way, but if you’re going to work with Riptide, you need to nip that in the bud.”
“Good point,” I concede. “I really do and I love Crystal. Surely he can’t be with her and be the asshole he seems to be.”
“Mark’s complicated. I’ll let you define what that means. I’ll call him. And I talked to Savage. He can ramp up the surveillance here at your place. I’d like to tell him about that, the security feed, and the calls now. Let them see what they can find out.”
I abandon my suitcase and fold my arms in front of me. “What do they actually know about me?” My hands go to my hips. Obviously, I have a little nervous energy. “I just want to know before I meet them.”
“They don’t know who you are, Aria. I didn’t tell them. I kept my request limited and in a narrow scope.”
“You had a lot of details about my family in that file I found.” I try not to sound accusing. I trust Kace. I do. In my gut, I trust this man in ways I never thought I’d trust anyone, but I’m also afraid of that trust.
He steps toward me and sets my suitcase aside, his hand settling warmly, dare I say even possessively, at my hip. “I promise you, Aria. I was careful. I gave Walker a limited, specific task.”
In earnest, I search his face, and I believe him. Still, I worry that he’s opened the door to trouble, and that’s not about fear. It’s about birthright. “You understand that I have—”
“I do, baby. You don’t need to explain yourself. At all. Ever. But I want you to think about something my father said to me years ago. It’s a quote by Dan Montano. ‘Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle: when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.’”
“All my life I’ve been the gazelle trying to outrun the invisible lion, Kace.”
“And you think that’s control?”
“It’s the only way I had any control.”
“Because that’s what your mother taught you. My father was always the lion. And he made damn sure I knew you can only run so long before the lion catches you unless you catch him first. I don’t disagree with Gio. Control is a façade when you’re the hunted. We need to find a way to take control, really take control. Be the lion, not the gazelle.”
“And while I don’t disagree, there isn’t just one lion, Kace. The people who would want that formula, even just to sell it, are endless.”
“Agreed. But there has to be a way to ensure you’re not the path to their payoff. We’ll find Gio and then we’ll find a way but we need help. We need Walker.”
He’s right. I know he’s right. His idea represents a mammoth feat, but then so does running for the rest of our lives. And I’m no fool. I do need help. He’s offering me