“I hope this vendetta is worth the amount you’re going to have to pay when that space is unoccupied,” Carter said uncritically.
“More than worth it,” Landon assured him, and arranged for his helicopter to take him back to New Canton. No doubt, Basil Hampton would struggle along for a little longer, but the killing blow had been dealt, and Landon wasn’t the type to watch a bug struggle and die.
After signing the last bit of paperwork, Landon went home to pack a bag and found Basil himself waiting in the lobby. Landon was surprised to see him. He hadn’t expected Basil to track the blow back to him so quickly.
“Basil, I didn’t know you owned a space here.”
Basil stood up, and Landon saw that his hands were shaking. “I don’t,” he said, nearly choking on his fury. “But I came as soon as I heard.”
“As soon as you heard what?” Landon asked pleasantly.
“That you were trying to fucking ruin me.” Basil’s voice rose and broke, attracting the attention of the front desk attendant and the discrete security guard.
“Who did you hear that from?”
“The bank for one thing. Apparently, James Investments now owns my restaurant and is responsible for my new rent. And then I talked to some well-informed sources who traced the rumors about roaches and food poisoning back to Simone Dexter, and everyone knows that bitch is your friend.”
Landon was impressed. “You should become a detective now that your restaurant is on death row, Basil. Really, I’m impressed.”
“I called your lowlife business partner, Carter, and do you know what he said?” Basil’s face was bright red now, and Landon almost grinned in anticipation. “He told me that this will teach me not to drive like an asshole.”
Landon struggled to keep from laughing out loud. “You must have pissed him off,” he said gravely. “Carter is prone to road rage.”
“I don’t drive,” Basil hissed. “So this has nothing to do with road rage.”
Landon held his breath, wondering if Basil had even managed to trace the cause, but Basil looked as baffled as he did enraged.
“So what did I do to you, James?” he spat. “What is it really?”
“You hurt someone,” Landon said evenly. “Probably a lot of people. And I’m no choir boy, but you brought this on yourself, you piece of shit.”
He could have gone on, but just then his cell phone rang and he looked down to see Ben’s number on the Caller ID. “Sorry, Basil,” he said, cutting off the stream of profanity directed at him. “My helicopter is ready.”
“Don’t walk away from me, James!”
On his way to the elevator, Landon heard the security guard intercept Basil.
“You can’t go up there, sir,” the man said evenly.
“I’ll go wherever I fucking want,” Basil snapped, and then there was a brief scuffle before Landon heard him being unceremoniously removed from the lobby.
Only then did he let himself laugh.
Kaitlyn spent a long, twitchy week in the city. For the first few days, she expected to see Landon around every corner. Then, she started wondering what the hell had happened to him. They’d practically had sex on that divan, and now he couldn’t even call?
“He’s probably had sex on divans in the middle of book launch parties,” she said bitterly to Marjorie. “It’s probably like, a Tuesday night for him.”
“That’s a really specific Tuesday night routine,” Marjorie said mildly, leaning in close to her large Mac screen and adjusting the shadow on a photograph. “What do you think he does if there isn’t a book launch party on a Tuesday? Or a divan, for that matter?”
“Then he switches to a bench in Central Park,” Kaitlyn snapped. “Don’t take me literally. The point is, clearly it didn’t mean anything to him.”
“I doubt that.” Marjorie didn’t want to ignore her friend, but it was hard not to look up and say: He’s obsessed with you, dummy. Can’t you see it? “Why don’t you call him?” she suggested.
“No.” Kaitlyn dismissed that idea immediately. “I’m not calling him. That would make him think he’s won. That it’s okay to seduce me any time he wants.”
Marjorie stifled a laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use the word ‘seduce’ in real life. Have you been reading trashy romance novels again?”
“You know what I mean. Kiss me like that. Paw at me.”
Finally, Marjorie looked up. “Kait, be honest for a second. Isn’t it okay? I mean, you kissed him back, right? When he had my dress around your waist, where were your hands?”
Pulling his shirt from his waistband. Kaitlyn shook her head to clear the memory. “I was seduced,” she muttered. “It means I’m not accountable for my actions.”
“You’re an adult,” Marjorie reminded her. “So you are. And you can’t have it both ways. Either he crossed the line, and you want nothing to do with him; or you were just as into it as he was, and you want him to call you.”
Kaitlyn pondered this. “How do I know which it is?”
Marjorie sighed. “Do you want him to call you?”
Kaitlyn nodded reluctantly.
“Then it’s option B. Which means you should call him.” When Kaitlyn remained silent, Marjorie prodded, “So are you going to?”
“No.”
Marjorie threw up her hands. “Fine. You’ll see him back in New Canton tomorrow anyway.”
Oblivious to the turmoil simmering in New York, Gray was having his own trouble. Finding a good pastry chef was proving impossible. Two applicants didn’t even know how to prepare pastry cream.
“But I’m great at following a recipe,” one assured him.
He was starting to wonder if he’d even be able to find one. It required technical baking skills and a
