There was no response. With a sigh, Kaylee disconnected. For a brand-new phone it sure glitched a lot. “Great. Now she’s going to think I hung up on her.”
“That’s probably the least of your worries after that performance. You did good.”
“You won’t think so when it starts raining fire and the locusts show up.”
His grin made her heart stutter. “C’mere.”
He pulled her against his chest and she tucked in, listening to his heartbeat. “I’m proud of you.”
Tears formed at the foreign words, at the realization no one had ever said that to her before, but she willed them away. Today was her emancipation, and she wasn’t going to spend it crying. “Talk is cheap, Beckett.” She leaned back in his arms. “I’m gonna need you to back it up with action.”
He lifted his brows. “Name it. Your wish is my command.”
“Good. Because I like my omelets made with two eggs.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“SO? WHAT DO YOU THINK?”
Kaylee pulled off her motorcycle helmet and stood beside Aidan on the cracked pavement. “When you said you wanted to spend the day together, I definitely wasn’t expecting this.” She cocked her head contemplatively. “It’s nice, as far as abandoned buildings go.”
Aidan rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand, pulling her with him toward the door. Even now, the thrill of his touch made her skin prickle. She wondered idly if it would ever go away, the jolt of his presence, the way every cell in her body vibrated when he was near.
Aidan let go of her hand and passed her his helmet so he could unlock the door, and then she found herself inside a high-ceilinged industrial space. It still had the faint smell of fresh paint and old sweat. And the front reception area was obviously next on the list for renos, as the walls were stripped bare and there were patches of plaster where repairs were being made.
Aidan relieved her of the helmets, setting them on the counter to the left before ushering her farther inside. “Welcome to Sal’s.”
Two boxing rings, a gauntlet of heavy bags, an assortment of speed bags, and a bunch of other specialized equipment that Kaylee couldn’t identify filled the massive space.
“And Sal doesn’t mind us being here?” she asked, meandering toward a wall that had obviously not undergone any recent painting. It was full of names and dates scrawled in black marker, some dating back to the ’70s.
“He doesn’t have much say considering I own the place.”
The announcement pulled Kaylee’s attention from the signatures.
“Sal’s retiring, so I partnered up with his son to keep it open. Just doing a little cosmetic stuff before it reopens next month. This is where I learned to box.”
There was a note of pride in Aidan’s voice, a boyish excitement, as he surveyed the wall. “Here, look.”
He pointed at one of the lower signatures, and Kaylee did a double take at the boyish printing that read Aidan Beckett.
“Everyone gets to sign when they win their first bout in the ring.” He rubbed his finger almost reverently across the date beside his name. Kaylee did some quick math.
“You had your first boxing match when you were twelve?”
Aidan laughed as he walked along the wall. “No. I won my first boxing match when I was twelve. After my mom got sick, I developed a bit of an attitude. It was...highly recommended that I find healthier ways to channel my aggression. Sal kind of took me in. I learned a lot from him.”
Aidan tapped on the wall. “Check this out.”
Kaylee walked over to join him. The sight of her brother’s name in his bold, slanting scrawl took her aback. The date beside his name made him fifteen when he’d signed.
“This is the year we met,” Aidan told her, making his way toward the closest speed bag.
“At Harvard-Westlake?” Kaylee prodded, naming their high school in a desperate attempt to keep Aidan reminiscing. She’d never actually heard their origin story.
Aidan nodded as he lifted his elbows and sent the speed bag dancing beneath his steadily rolling fists. The rhythmic thwapping echoed through the cavernous space. “I punched a guy for calling me a scholarship kid, and then Max had my back later when a bunch of actual scholarship kids tried to jump me. Which, for the record, I probably deserved. But Max and I held our own against the four of them, and they left me alone after that.”
Aidan gave the bag a final punch and turned to face her.
“I remember that day! Max came home with his face all messed up, and my mother was beside herself yelling at him because she was hosting a party that night. ‘Do you want the neighbors to think I’ve raised a common street thug?’”
Aidan grinned at her impression of her mother. Kaylee had to admit, it was pretty good.
“He was banned from making an appearance that night. I remember being kind of jealous about that. That was because of you?”
Aidan nodded slowly. “Friendship forged in blood and split knuckles. Max and I used to spend a lot of time here.”
“You did?” There was so much she didn’t know.
“Max never told you any of this?”
She shook her head. “Max and I aren’t close. Not like the two of you were.” There was a sadness to her voice, Kaylee realized. One that Aidan had obviously recognized, because when he spoke again, there was a cajoling tone in his voice that she recognized from their past and his youthful attempts to cheer her up.
“All right, KJ. No more talking. Let’s get you in the ring and see what you’re made of.”
* * *
“You’re never going to make the wall if you keep hitting like that.”
She laughed at the smack talk. Aidan liked the way she crinkled her nose before she punched.
“I’m trying. This is harder than I thought.”
“Remember, elbows in and hands up.”
The stubborn set of her chin when she concentrated reminded him of Max. She reset into the stance he’d taught her earlier.
Aidan slapped the focus pads together with a loud thwap and held his hands up as targets. She landed three decent jabs and one really good one. “There you go! Now you’re on a roll. Try that again.”
His phone buzzed in his back pocket and he dropped his guard, intending to answer it. Kaylee punched him in the shoulder with a pretty respectable shot. “Whoa. Easy there, Fists of Fury.”
Her gloved hands flew to her mouth, eyes wide with horror. “You moved your hand! I’m so sorry.”
Aidan grinned as he pulled off the focus pads and tossed them onto the stool in the corner of the ring. “I’ll live,” he assured her, extricating his phone.
His easy dismissal stoked her competitive streak. “Well, sure, but you might have a bruise, right? That was a solid punch.”
“Bloodthirsty,” he admonished, but he was still chuckling at Kaylee when he answered the call. “Hello?”
“Just got the results back from the coding analysis. You said you wanted to know right away.”
The words stiffened Aidan’s shoulders. He nonchalantly angled his body away from his boxing protégée and lowered his voice. “And?”
“Coding bingo, just like you thought. The Whitfield and Cybercore products are both built on the original sample you provided.”
His dad’s work. Aidan let the news sink in. He had all the proof he needed to ruin Whitfield Industries. To gain control of the patent for code he could put in the hands of Endeavor Tech, the start-up he’d just backed, to give them a foothold in a tough market—one he truly believed they could dominate if given the chance.
“Say the word and I’ll turn the results over to the lawyers.”
Aidan glanced over his shoulder at Kaylee. Ever the vigilant student, she was shadowboxing, practicing the combination he’d taught her. “You know what? Hold off on that.”
“Sorry?
”
“I want to look it over before we take the next step.”
“Uh, okay. Whatever you say, sir.”
Aidan disconnected the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry. Business,” he said vaguely as Kaylee bounced over to him in an exaggerated impression of a boxer.
“Sounds like a convenient excuse from a man who knows he’s about to have his ass handed to him,” she taunted, raising her gloves. “Jab, jab, hook.”
She named the punches as she threw them, and Aidan couldn’t help his smile as he raised his bare hands to block.
“I’ve got you on the ropes now,” she jeered when he took a step back. “What are you gonna do?”
God, she was gorgeous. Flushed with laughter and exercise, her dark ponytail swinging, Aidan wanted her more than his next breath.
“That’s easy,” he said, and in a lightning-quick move he’d reversed their positions, caging her in with her back to the ropes. He captured her gasp of surprise with his mouth, kissing her deep and hard, the same way he wanted to fuck her. Only when she moaned under the onslaught did he let up and break their kiss. “First I’m going to overpower you, and then I’m going to distract you.”
Kaylee swallowed as he stepped closer so their chests touched. “I think it’s working.”
He grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, and she raised her arms so he could pull it off. The sleeves got stuck on her boxing gloves, but it was nothing an impatient tug couldn’t fix, and then she was free, despite the protest from the stitching.
He’d buy her a new one later.
The rest of her clothes came off without the slightest objection, and his followed suit.
“Hold on to the top rope,” he ordered as he sheathed himself with a condom from his wallet. Kaylee obligingly spread her arms along the top rope and hooked the gloves around it.
Fuck.
Aidan stroked himself at the sight of her, spread out before him wearing nothing but boxing gloves. His blood thundered in his veins as he stepped toward her, so close that his cock rested against her stomach, and her nipples grazed his chest.
Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips and his hips gave an involuntary jerk at the visual stimulus.
“You make my knees weak,” Kaylee said softly, and the romantic words, so out of place in the middle of a boxing gym, made him want to claim her more. He pushed down on the white rope, second from the top, and hooked it under the sweet curve of her ass. Kaylee’s eyes flew wide as he used the recoil of it to lift her up. Her legs wrapped around his hips instinctually, an attempt to steady herself that aligned their bodies in a way that made his hips jerk again.
Aidan gave her a second to catch her breath and adjust her grip on the top rope. Once she’d stabilized herself, he reached between them, guided his cock inside her, getting off on her dreamy look and the way she bit her lip as her body opened to take his length. She felt so goddamn perfect stretched around him.
“Better hold on tight,” he warned before grasping the rope on either side of her hips and giving it a quick bounce.
Their bodies came together with a force that wrenched a startled cry from her lips, and Aidan worked them into a rhythm, pushing down on the rope before pulling her back to him, their bodies colliding again and again, until he couldn’t see straight. He was so fucking turned on by her, the bounce of her breasts as she rode his cock, the sound of her pleasure as their bodies slammed together.
“I’m so close, Aidan. I’m going to come. Make me come.”
He wasn’t sure if it was his name on her lips or the dirty words that followed, but everything in him drew tight in preparation for her orgasm, and the second her body spasmed around him he abandoned his control and let the sparks racing through his veins ignite.
She dropped her forehead to his sweat-slicked shoulder, and he slid his hand under her ponytail, letting the soft strands tickle his knuckles as he processed the fact that she made his knees weak, too.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
KAYLEE HAD SPENT a dreamy weekend in Aidan’s arms, wearing Aidan’s T-shirts, and eating Aidan’s food. The man really was a genius at omelets. And life advice.
This morning, she was going to implement it by walking into Max’s office and unquitting.
As she rode the elevator to the top floor of Whitfield Industries, she felt like a new woman. And it wasn’t because her muscles were deliciously sore or her smile was sensually satisfied. Well, it wasn’t just that.
In a single weekend, she’d given voice to her sexual desires and erected a massive boundary with her mother, and for the first time in her life, she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself. To say exactly what she wanted. To claim some of the self-assurance she felt in her job and onstage and translate it into her personal life.
The delightful haze of secret sex and rebellious confidence dissipated the second the elevator doors slid open.
Max was back.
Kaylee could feel the difference in the building the second she stepped onto the floor.
The office was robust with purpose, as though her brother had brought with him a burst of diligence and sharpened focus that had been missing in his absence.
Not that she hadn’t done a kick-ass job of handling things while he was gone, because she had. But Max was Whitfield Industries. The company in its current form was the result of his vision. And he’d put his blood, sweat, and tears into it. Figuratively, of course. Emotional robots like her older brother didn’t lower themselves to such human weaknesses as feelings.
Ignoring her shaking hands and pounding pulse, she strode straight up to Sherri, Max’s hyper-efficient executive assistant. “I need to see him.”
“So does everyone. But unfortunately for all of you, the FBI has requested the honor of his and Emma’s presence today to talk about the case against your father, so you’re out of luck. At least until after four o’clock.”
Kaylee wasn’t sure if her exhale was one of relief or resignation. “I guess I’ll check back later, then.”
She wished it inspired more shock, the idea that her father had committed a felony, exploited Emma Mathison for information about SecurePay in return for financing hospice care for her dying mother. Sadly, it was far too easy to believe.
Kaylee had always liked Emma. Pleasant, professional, incredibly dedicated.
When the news of her father’s indictment had broken, Kaylee remembered the one time she’d seen the two of them together. She’d been down in the lobby, where her father was supposed to meet her so they could go for lunch, and Emma and Charles had stepped out of the elevator together. Her father had looked so... predatory, but it was Emma who really stuck out in her mind. The woman’s posture, her smile, her voice. Everything about her had been brittle. At the time, Kaylee had brushed it off, but in retrospect, it never ceased to haunt her.
“Did you need something else?” Sherri’s voice startled Kaylee from her thoughts, and she shook her head.
The day sped by with a million fires to put out, so her ability to check back later didn’t present itself until seven o’clock that evening.
Kaylee made a point of not knocking as she walked into his office. “Got a minute?”
The sky outside had gone dark, and Max had removed his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, loosened his tie. Despite the familiar tableau, Kaylee couldn’t help but feel that something had shifted in him. He seemed different. And she wondered exactly what had happened while he’d been in Dubrovnik.
“Not really.”
“Well, you need to make one.”
Max lifted an eyebrow at her imperiousness, and with a deceptively casual flick of his wrist, his computer screen went dark. He gestured at the chair across from his desk before he leaned back in his own.
Waiting.
A frisson tingled up her spine.
Max was most terrifying when
he was silent. Still.
Just say what you want. Be the butterfly.
She was surprised that it was Aidan’s voice in her head, and not her mother’s.
Kaylee lifted her chin as she strode toward him, pretending that her heart wasn’t climbing up her throat.
Show no fear.
“Tomorrow will be two weeks since I quit.”
“And?”
The bland question was enough to shake her out of the normal pattern of sit and wait she so often fell into with her brother. She remembered how he used to be, how they used to be together. And sometimes she found herself sitting quietly around him, hoping that one day he might just look over and see her again. Remember how it was when they were kids.
But he never did.
And she wasn’t willing to wait for him anymore.
“And you haven’t said a word about it.”
“You didn’t answer any of my texts or calls.” His tone was sharp.
Kaylee allowed herself a moment of petty satisfaction. “I’ve been a little busy around here doing both our jobs. And while you were gone, I realized something. I’m really good at what I do. So I’m here to unquit. I want my job back.”
Pride blazed along her nerve endings. She was triumphant and ready for a fight.
“Fine.”
“I’m not taking no for an ans—fine? Fine?”
She should have been thrilled. Instead she was furious.
“That’s all you have to say? Do you know how much courage it took for me to walk in here and stand up to you?”
Max dragged a hand down his tie. “I ceded to your demand. Mission accomplished. What more do you want from me?”
“I want you to be a goddamn person instead of a robot for once in your life!”
She’d surprised him. And what shocked her even more was that he let her see it. He didn’t temper his flinch at her outburst, the widening of his eyes.
Max’s legendary poker face was gone, and years of bearing his cold distance had her ire up, now that she’d pierced his armor. Now that she could watch her barbs land.
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