Page 68 of Vicious Souls

“Like all the gossip about who he’s seeing? Who he’s running with these days. There has to besomeonein his life – I mean look at the guy.”

She flutters her eyes and fans her face before she does a mock swoon in her chair.

“There’s no one in his life that I’m aware of,” I say, settling on what I believe to be the truth. No point telling them he kissed me and sent tingles up my spine.

“Ohhhhh… swoon!” Chloe or Zoe vibrates with excitement as she fans herself again and declares her next stop would be Seattle. I wondered if that meant I’d have to entertain her when she made it out our way.

“Kingsley! There you are!”

I turn at the sound of my name to find a flushed Stella rushing up to the table. She settles a hand on the wooden table-top and pauses to catch her breath.

“Stella?” I’m surprised to see her.

“Thank God I finally found you!” she says, and even to my own ears, it sounds like she is faking all the effort she’s gone through to find me. “I forgot to remind you of your meeting with Clay this afternoon. You need to attend that meeting – he’s flying out of NYC in two hours.”

Before I know what’s happening, Stella forces me out of my chair and pulls me to my feet. I almost stumble trying to catch myself.

“What meeting? But I haven’t even eaten yet.”

I protest loudly enough for every person in that restaurant to hear me and turn my way as Stella manhandles me away from the girls and they look on in mock horror.

“No time,” she mutters, ushering me away from the table as I thank the ladies for a lovely day over my shoulder. “You can really be dense sometimes, you know that?” She simmers, letting go of my arm as we walk to a waiting car a few meters away.

“What’s with you, anyway?” I argue, rubbing at what I’m sure is a burgeoning bruise on my arm.

“I was trying to rescue you!” she stammers. “The minute I found out who Dante had sent you out with, I was like a bat out of hell on my way to save you from those entitled, pompous cows.”

I stop walking and stare at her. Gosh, she’s beautiful. And then I start to laugh. Like a deep, aching chuckle that starts in my belly and causes my whole body to vibrate with laughter.

“What are you laughing at?”

Stella is furious. She can’t understand me any more than I can understand her. But she is real, as opposed to the fake I had just spent an entire day with.

“The fact that you so eloquently described the cows so much better than I could have after spending the whole day with them.”

Stella and I laugh all the way back to ASV’s corporate offices, where she gives Dante a tight lipped nod and Claymore a peck on the cheek. I do not miss the way that Claymore grabs Stella around the waist before she can leave and moves her to stand between his knees. I look at them, somewhat confused as I try to make sense of their relationship. Dante leans close to my ear and whispers, “They’re married.”

“I’m still mad at you, Dante,” Stella says, whirling round and placing a perfectly manicured hand on her hip. Dante sends her an apologetic yet amused look and holds his hands up as though asking for a truce. What has he done to her? It is Clay’s turn to play referee when the look on my face alerts them to my immense confusion.

“Stella took offense that Dante would send you out with a bunch of women who do nothing all day but shop, gossip and bitch about their lives. She believes a woman should extend herself mentally. She had a hard time trying to understand why he would do that.”

“Girl time is what I do best,” Stella says. And… did she actually just pout? I watch carefully as Clay looks up at his wife in what I can only describe as adoration. It looks like he would do anything to wipe that frown off her face.

“You’re good at everything you do,” he says, and she bends down and nuzzles into his neck, before righting herself, smoothing down her skirt, and turning businesslike again.

“Right, then! Kingsley hasn’t eaten yet. So I’m taking the rest of the afternoon off and spending it with her.” She grabs her bag, folds her arm under mine, and drags me out of the office without a backward glance. Oh, and did I forget to mention I forgot to pick my jaw up off the floor before leaving?

60

DANTE

It’s rounding on 8pm when Kingsley finally straggles through the main door of the Brownstone and shuffles up the stairs to her unit. Her security detail enters after her and goes to first floor unit reserved for them.

“How was your day?” I ask, coming down the stairs to greet her. When I’d realized she was going to be late, I’d ordered pizza and eaten with the boys. I had to admit, even pizza doesn’t taste the same without her. Even though I’m happy she has spent the day out with Stella, I can’t say I didn’t miss her company.

“Oh gosh, I’m exhausted,” she says, throwing off her shoes and landing on the couch with a thump. “But it was so good. I think it was exactly what I needed.”

“And Stella. You liked spending time with her?”

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