Page 80 of Kage

Gray laughed. “Don’t read into everything, Kage. I needed your expertise. That’s not a lie.”

Yeah, but he was holding something back. He’d never been very good at doing so. “No one else knows where she is. Correct?”

“Correct.”

“Keep it that way.” I ended the call, closing my eyes briefly before heading into the store. Why did I feel like I was in the middle of some communications war? Unless Randolph’s diversification skills had driven him into other arenas. Greed was a powerful, demonic animal.

CHAPTER 22

Kage

Less than thirty minutes later I was back at the store. As soon as I walked inside, the woman behind the counter turned her head in my direction. Her reaction was entirely different than what I’d faced at the drug store. She had a bright smile on her face. “You must be our new neighbor.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re Henry Rollins’ nephew, Kage. Right?”

Fuck. “Yeah, I am. I’m looking for a woman who came in here about thirty minutes ago. Copper hair. The brightest blue eyes you’ve ever seen. Hourglass figure.”

She laughed. I’d never seen the woman before and her telling me we were neighbors meant nothing since there was a huge horse farm beside me miles away and every other property near me had at least fifty acres if not more. I also had a private road stretching for almost a mile. For anyone to know I was living there meant someone in town had talked.

I wasn’t interested in learning her name.

“You must mean Corabelle.”

“I’m sorry?”

“She came in wearing a bright floral dress telling me you two just got back from your honeymoon and the luggage was lost?” She peered at me skeptically. “Congratulations. I know you two didn’t have time to get settled into your new home before you left on your trip. I hope she loves living here.”

My jaw was clenched to the point stars were flashing in front of my eyes. “That’s her.” At least she’d used a different name, but honeymoon? Was she kidding me?

“She’s in the dressing room. And I have everything else she purchased right here. I’ll ring them up in just a few moments.”

I glanced at the stack of items and another wave of fury crested right below the surface. There had to be two thousand dollars’ worth of clothes. How the hell had she shopped so fast and rung up such a bill?

“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’ll just hang around.” My voice sounded clipped.

“Of course. You can have a seat over there if you’d like.” She pointed to a huge stuffed red chair placed just in front of a three-way mirror. Like hell I was going to sit down like I was patiently waiting.

So I paced the floor. That’s what I did when I was in a mood, which had occurred on a regular basis.

Fortunately, less than five minutes later Juliette walked out of the dressing room. I caught movement out of the corner of myeye and turned my head in her direction. I’d be damned if I didn’t have my breath stolen again.

I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t for her to change here on the spot. She appeared to be an entirely different person and under the lights with the makeup and light blush on her cheeks, her entire face was shimmering. Long dark lashes skimmed across her cheeks as soon as she noticed me. She laughed and glanced down at herself.

Holy fuck.

She’d managed to slide into a tight pair of black jeans, adding a bright red sweater that should clash with her copper penny hair, but the combination was irresistible. The sweater was soft, clinging to her breasts, even the slightest movement highlighting them perfectly. She’d even found a stunning pair of cowboy boots. Not too over the top, just the right addition for the outfit.

I took a deep breath and she seemed pleased at my reaction. When she swaggered closer, I looked away on purpose. The last thing I wanted to do was give her the wrong impression.

“What do you think?” she asked, spinning in a complete circle.

“I think you spent too much of my money.”

Pouting wasn’t her style. She leaned in and gave me a hard look instead. “I could just walk around naked all day if that’s what you’d prefer, honey bunchkins.”

“What the hell did you call me?”

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