“He does all right. Why?”
“You can tell a lot about an interview subject by the company they keep.” She glances at the picture again. “Are they your friends, Kavan?”
“Yes.”
A smile greets me when she finally looks into my eyes again. “Good. Everyone needs friends they can count on.”
My desk phone rings breaking the moment.
She glances at it. “I suppose I have to leave to preserve that Bane mystique thing you have going on?”
I ignore the call. “That Bane mystique thing? Is that tied to my status as a cookie-cutter billionaire?”
“Might be.” She bounces to her feet. “I’ll go see Nara and check what’s on the dinner menu.”
“Let her make the suggestions, Juliet.”
“Or I might request chicken nuggets and curly fries, Bane.”
I watch her leave my office, transfixed not only by the gentle sway of her ass as she walks but by her determination to never back down.
She’s a force to be reckoned with and she’s heaven to kiss.
That’s a combination that could take the strongest of men to their knees.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kavan
I exit my office near six expecting to see Juliet in the main living area with Nigel, but that’s not what I find.
Nigel is alone looking through what looks like pictures of birds on his phone.
I suppose there’s some truth to the fact that there are clues everywhere about the people in our lives.
“Sir!” He bounces to his feet as soon as he spots me. “How did your final call of the day go?”
“Fine,” I lie.
I spoke to the owner of a global sporting gear company that I’ve been trying to acquire for the past few months. He was adamant that he couldn’t sell to Bane Enterprises after reading that fucking The Bad Bane book. He had the audacity to quote passages from it that he thinks are relevant to how I run the business.
I assured him the book was laced with lies and bullshit.
He told me to go to hell and hung up on me.
It’s just another random afternoon in my world.
“Where’s Juliet?” I start toward her office. “Is she still working?”
“She left an hour ago, Mr. Bane.”
I turn to look at Nigel. “What?”
“She got a call and explained that she had to meet someone for dinner.” He sighs. “I don’t know the details, sir. She did say that she chose our dinner from Nara’s suggested menus.”
“All right,” I say as disappointment tears through me.
I thought Slate was a no-go, but maybe a quick peck on the cheek is akin to first base for Juliet.
If it is, we rounded third based on the kiss we shared this morning in her office.
“She did want me to tell you that she won’t be by tomorrow.”
More fucking bad news.
“Why?”
“She has an appointment to tend to.” He glances back at the screen of his phone. “She wasn’t forthcoming with details. I didn’t push.”
He should have pushed.
Having her here, inside these four walls, has been welcome. It didn’t begin that way, but I enjoy having her in my home.
“It works out well, though.” Nigel says with a cheery note in his tone.
I snap my head to look in his direction. “How so?”
“The board called an emergency meeting for tomorrow afternoon I just received a secret memo about it.”
As if on cue, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I yank it out to see the notification of the meeting.
For fuck’s sake.
“Fine,” I growl the word out. “Tell Nara I want dinner in my office. You’re free to go home, Nigel.”
“I’m going to do just that.” He turns toward the foyer. “I’ll miss her too, sir.”
I face him again. “Who?”
“Juliet,” he says with a grin. “She’s brought something to this place that has been sorely missing.”
I ignore that because I can’t acknowledge it out loud.
“Once her article is complete, we may never see her again.”
“She’s not moving across the globe, Nigel,” I point out, frustrated with this conversation. “She works a block from here.”
“That’s close for me,” he agrees with a nod of his head. “It’s a world away for you though, isn’t it?”
Without a word to him, I head down the corridor before I slam my office door behind me.
Five fucking hours.
I spent five fucking hours listening to the board drone on about everything that isn’t going right.
Nigel took it upon himself to point out where the company is making profits, but the goddamn board was stuck on the deal with the sporting goods company that collapsed yesterday.
It’s yet another mark against me.
I sat through that hell until I called it adjourned.
The chairman of the board attempted to pull rank to keep me in my seat, but fortunately, the other board members were in a rush to head home to home-cooked meals and I suspect rendezvous with mistresses, so we called it a day.
Now, I’m on the sidewalk in front of the Bane tower about to head home through the alley that has become a shortcut of sorts for me.
I turn up the collar on suit jacket to help with the biting wind that has swept over the city since this afternoon.
A couple strolling by do a double take when they see my face, but they move on whispering something to each other.
I glance to my left to a line of people waiting to gain access to a restaurant.
At one time in my life, I would have leapfrogged that line while holding tightly to my mother’s hand.
It’s her favorite in the city, and that’s not because they serve a steak that melts in your mouth like butter.
It’s one of those places that paparazzi used to converge on to snap pictures of New York’s wealthiest as they were on their way to eat an overpriced meal and consume a bottle of wine that costs most than most people in this city pay in rent for a month.
I step closer to the curb to get a better look at those in line because I recognize someone.
Her hair is as red as I remember. Her profile showcases the same small bump on her nose that she’s always hated, yet never took that extra step to fix.
I turn away briefly because it’s been years since my mother has spoken to me, but something draws my gaze back to her.
That’s when I see the woman she’s with.
She’s wearing a black lace dress that accentuates every curve of her frame. On her feet are nude heels. She turns slightly, sending her brown hair whipping against the side of her beautiful face.
It’s Juliet.
“Fuck,” I mutter as two women walk past me.
“I’m game,” one calls out to me. “You did say you want to fuck, right?”
Her blonde-haired friend giggles. “I’m in. He looks like he can handle both of us.”
I can, and I have taken two women to bed at once.
I wave them away as I head down the sidewalk, my blood boiling, my heart thumping against my ribcage.
“Juliet!” My name snaps off her tongue laced in anger, confusion, and an ounce of disbelief.