I had said and done things last night that exposed the cracks in my armor. It was okay. I had more armor lying around.
“Kennedy.” Renee sounded testy.
I spun on my heels. “Get Victoria in here. I want in on the meeting.”
“It’s at two. I’ll tell her—”
“No,” I corrected her. “Now. Get her in here now.”
“But—”
My eyes were as cutting as my voice. Renee backtracked her steps. “All right. I’ll see if she can rearrange her morning.”
“Good. And send Crew in for me on your way out.”
Within a matter of minutes my assistant stepped inside the glass doors.
“You look horrible.” I stared at him. There were dark circles under his blue eyes. His shirt was wrinkled. “I take that back—it’s worse. You look like you slept in the office.”
“Sorry.” He shook his head.
“Did you sleep on the couch?”
“It was a late night. We were all here,” he answered. He looked away, but I got the message. My team was here trying to put out a fire while I was in the Vieux Carre suite. Crew had no idea how much I wished I could change the decision I made last night. My stomach twisted in knots every time I thought about Knight’s hands canvassing my body.
“Thank you.” I tried to soften my tone. “For working so late.”
“Of course.” He paused. “Renee said you needed something?”
“Right.” I shook Knight from my head. “I need everything else on my schedule cleared for the day. The Crescent Towers project is my main priority. My only priority until we can get the votes we need.”
“Okay. What else?” he asked. His head was buried in his phone, taking notes. It was possible he had already re-ordered the day for me.
Crew had been with me for three years. I had trained twenty assistants before finally landing on him. He was a fast learner. He didn’t try to weigh me down with personal conversations. He had been reliable and trustworthy since the day I hired him.
“I’ll let you know.”
He turned to leave.
“Crew?”
“Hmm?” He stopped in the doorway.
“See what you can find out about Knight Corban’s tech investments. I need everything you can dig up on it.”
“Excuse me?” It wasn’t often he didn’t understand my instructions.
“He has new money. Money he’s using to fund the PAC. Renee told me you are up to speed on this.”
“I am. I know all the players.” His voice was clipped with defiance. I wondered if I’d ever seen him this short and edgy before.
“Good. I didn’t want to have to bring in someone else. It should be easy for you to tell me everything about the tech. I want to know all of it.” Whatever Knight was capitalizing on with the tech, I was going to strip it down to its bare bones and render it useless. I would find a way to cut off his funding.
“Got it.” I sensed uneasiness on his part or maybe it was the exhaustion from working nearly twenty-four hours straight.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded. “I’m good. Going to get a coffee refill now. I’ll be back with the information before the end of the day.”
The door closed and I felt the heaviness of the quiet room. I wanted to pull my staff back inside. I wanted incessant chatter and constant questions. I needed the distraction. I needed to be steered on course and drawn out of the darkest parts of the ocean. Right now, all I felt was the murky water squeezing the air from my lungs. I had to sit. I gripped the side of my desk before I stumbled. Shit. I had let Knight in, and I had to find a way to shut him back out before I drowned in my mistakes.
4
Knight
Had my little sister ever been on time? I strolled through the open barn, eyeing the horses in their stables. She had added several since the last time I was home. Seraphina often texted pictures when she was deciding between her first and second picks. I couldn’t keep up with her decisions, though. She changed her mind at the last second. I patted a chestnut stallion while I waited for her to arrive.
The upgrades were noticeable. She had obviously taken my advice and used the Castilles steak fortune to her advantage. There were two fully furnished apartments adjacent to the building that were new. I wondered why they had been built.
It had been years since I had spent any time at the stables. It was always Seraphina’s favorite place to escape. I assumed it still was. I continued my walk, leaving the horses behind. We used to run through the fields together as kids. Half the time I was chasing her with a frog or mouse I had found near the barn, the other half she was trying to catch up to me. I was older, faster, stronger. There were days I didn’t want my little sister on my heels or next to me. I’d outrun her and end up at one of the equipment buildings. I stopped outside the door and let it creak open when I turned the handle.
I spotted the tractor on the other side of the giant room. I couldn’t believe it was the same one. I ran my palm over the hood. I smiled at the small dent in the side. My grandfather had given me the wheel and I was over eager to prove how I could maneuver around tight spaces. My index finger rested in the groove. Childhood was simple. I barely recognized the life I lived now.
“You’re here? I’ve been looking
