Another part tells me to leave it alone.
When I reach Laura’s sitting room, Nell already has the older woman dressed for the day and in her wheelchair, ready to go. Odd, considering it’s still about five minutes before Laura usually wakes on her own.
I cross the room toward them, where Nell huffs, seeming to struggle with pinning a broach to Laura’s blouse. “Here. Let me.” When she steps aside, I take the broach in hand and offer Laura a smile, as I slide the pin through the silky fabric. “What’s going on?”
“Rand asked that we come down to the office. He wants to speak with us. All of us, apparently.”
Rand? Surely, if it was something I’ve done wrong, Lucian would’ve given me a heads-up over the weekend.
“Did he say what it was about?” I study Nell’s expression for any flicker of emotion, any hint of what to expect from this meeting.
Her face is as impassive as her voice. “No. Just that he wants us down there in five minutes.” She unlocks Laura’s wheelchair, while I shuffle ahead of them, back toward the elevator.
I press the down button, and when the doors open to show Lucian against the rear wall in a crisp black suit, glancing up from the phone in his hand, my breath hitches.
He quirks a brow, as I step inside and press the button to hold the door open for Nell and Laura.
“Lucian!” Laura’s face lights up at her son, pride beaming in her eyes. “My, you look dashing today. Doesn’t my son look absolutely dashing, ladies?”
“He does.” Pursing my lips to hide a smile, I back myself alongside him to make room.
Nell doesn’t say a word as she pushes Laura onto the elevator, her eyes directed away from Lucian, and she turns her back to us.
The elevator doors close, and I feel a warm hand snake beneath my shirt, across my back. I stiffen at his touch, and turn my head just enough to catch the smile tugging at his lips, while he keeps his gaze ahead.
“Lucian, will you be joining us for breakfast, darling?” Laura asks, leaning over the side of her chair, seemingly oblivious to Lucian fondling me behind her.
“I’m sorry, Mother, but I have a very important meeting this morning. Perhaps another time.”
“Pity. I miss talking to you. Oh! And hearing you play piano. Amelia plays very well, don’t you, dear?”
Eyes closing, Lucian shakes his head. “It’s Isadora, Mother. Not Amelia. Amelia is dead, remember?” It’s strange hearing him respond so frankly, when I’ve tiptoed around the subject.
“Oh.” She slumps back into her wheelchair, raising a trembling finger to her lips, as if in contemplation. “How could I have forgotten that?” She shakes her head and leans over the chair once again. “Anyway,” she says, waving her hand in the air. “You should come listen to her play sometime.”
Another handsome smile greets me, when I slide my gaze toward his again. “I’ll have to do that.”
Nell’s head kicks to the side, not enough to see the two of us, but clearly interested in the exchange, perhaps picking up on the slight amusement in his voice. The doors open up to the first floor, and she pushes Laura out of the elevator, and into the hallway.
As I follow after them, a grip of my wrist stops me in my tracks.
“I’d like to speak with Ms. Quinn for a moment. Go on ahead, and she’ll catch up.”
Still not bothering to look, Nell gives a nod, and Laura tips her chin in what I’d surmise as suspicion as the two head off in the direction of Rand’s office.
Once out of sight, Lucian spins me around and, as the doors close, pushes me back against the elevator wall. His lips crush mine in a fervent kiss, while his hand travels the length of my thigh. “I should’ve snuck into your bed last night.”
“I thought, for sure, I’d get to pull a knife on you again. What gives?”
“The very thought of that makes me regret sleeping alone.”
“So, why did you stay away?”
“Because there’s a saying … absence makes the dick grow harder, or something.”
Snorting a laugh, I shake my head. “Ah, I think you’re mistaken. I believe the phrase you’re looking for is, makes the heart grow fonder.”
Taking my hand in his, he guides my palm to the massive bulge in his slacks. “I’m not mistaken, at all.”
Swallowing hard, I run my hand over what must be one painful erection tenting his slacks. “Oh.” Another moment of touching, and he releases my hand. “Well, I wish you would’ve, because I heard noises in my room.”
“What kind of noises?”
It somehow feels silly saying it aloud to him, like I’m admitting I believe in ghosts. “Just shifting of the walls, I guess. It’s nothing.”
“This place can be haunting at times.” His palm slides down my belly, only the tip of his finger breaching the waistband of my khakis. “However, if you feel something touching you while you sleep, just keep your eyes closed and roll with it.”
The thought of that makes me chuckle. “I’ll try.”
“I have a meeting out of state this afternoon, and will return this evening. Expect me.”
“Out of state?”
“Yes. Vermont. I trust you’ll wear something appropriate.”
“I don’t have anything sexy, if that’s what you mean.”
“Ah, then, we’ll have to rectify that.” Warm lips press into mine again, his tongue dipping past my teeth. “In the meantime, wear something expendable.”
“Expendable? As in, I don’t care if something happens to it?”
“Exactly.”
“Can I ask what for?”
“You can ask, but I’m not going to tell you.” He bends forward and seizes my mouth in yet another kiss. “I’ll see you tonight.”
As he pulls away, I reach for his arm. “Hey, do you have any idea why Rand called us down?”
Glancing toward his reflection in the elevator wall, he straightens his tie and jacket. “Yes. I’m firing Nell.” The playful tone from seconds ago dulls with indifference, as if her firing doesn’t matter to him, one way, or the other.
“Wait. What?”
“I can’t have someone in this house who constantly accuses me of murdering my wife and son. Call it a conflict of interest.”
“But what I told you … I didn’t want her to know.”
“She won’t know.”
“Well, it’s, like, obvious.”
Gaze shifting back to me, he plants his palm against the wall as he leans in. “And if her accusations were directed at you, what would do?”
“Confront her.”
“Which is the purpose of this meeting. The outcome depends on her response. Either way, it’s out of my hands.” He straightens again, rolling his shoulders back. “Rand does the hiring and firing for me.”
“And if it were me?”
“What about you?”
I cast my attention from his impervious stare that suddenly has me feeling childish and insignificant. “Never mind. It was a stupid question.”
“You’re trying to navigate what this is. If I’d treat you like an employee, or the girl I’m fucking.”