Page 49 of Beautifully Broken Control

Kennedy nodded slowly. I saw her desire to ask more questions, to delve deeper, but she held back. I was grateful for that. I just didn’t have it in me to tell her about Kiara. I hadn’t told anyone new about her since walking into Dr. Murphy’s office a decade and a half ago.

“Alarm companies all over the world use our equipment, but we also work one-on-one with larger individual clients, designing systems specifically for them.”

“And what you’re working on right now, what’s that for?”

I hadn’t been doing much on that project at all. I’d hoped Sutter Lake would provide me some quiet and time to focus on my new program, but I’d been distracted by the mysterious beauty in front of me. “It’s a program that we’d use for all our individually designed systems.”

“It sounds like you love what you do.”

“I do. Most of the time.”

Kennedy grinned at me. “It’s a job. It’s impossible to love it all the time.”

“What about you? Are you happy at the Kettle and teaching ballet?”

Her smile turned soft. “I am. Both jobs give me a sense of purpose.” She started to say something more but stopped herself.

“What is it?”

Kennedy gave her head a little shake. “I have this crazy dream of rebuilding the community center, creating all sorts of new programming.” She let out a breath. “But I’m not sure how that would even be possible. Maybe one day.”

“You’re pretty amazing, you know that?”

Kennedy’s eyes widened as her cheeks flushed. “Uh, thank you.”

I chuckled. “Okay, no more compliments tonight. I promise.”

The pilot announced our descent into Portland, and before long, we were pulling to a stop on the tarmac. I unbuckled my seat belt and rose. As Kennedy did the same, I noticed her fingers trembling slightly.

My jaw clenched, and I reached out to take her hand in mine. I gave it a little squeeze. “Just remember, you can call it at any time.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” I helped her out of the plane and led her towards a waiting SUV. As we approached, the driver rounded the vehicle, and Rachel stepped out of the passenger side.

She strode towards me, reaching out and giving my arm a quick squeeze. “Missed you, Cain.”

I gave her a quick smile. “Thanks for holding down the fort while I’m away.” I took a step back. “Rachel, Vince, this is Kennedy.”

A look of shock swept over Rachel’s features before she hid it. I wanted to laugh. It wasn’t exactly typical for me to fly in with a date. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too. It’s lovely to meet you both,” Kennedy said as she made her way to the door Vince held open.

He grinned at her. “You, too, ma’am.” He turned to me. “There are a few items that were messengered to the house. Would you like me to have them stored in the plane?”

I climbed into the SUV behind Kenz. “That would be great.”

Rachel followed suit, hopping into the front. “Here are some files for you to look over.” She looked briefly at Kennedy as though unsure if she should continue speaking.

I waved a hand for her to continue. “You can say anything in front of Kennedy.”

Rachel’s eyes flared. “O-okay. There’s a file in there with the list of employees we were discussing.”

I nodded. “I’ll look at them tomorrow. The system update is in place and working?”

“It is. Though I have to be honest with you, some people balked at needing another employee for access.”

“Tough shit.” My hands fisted at my sides. “Our company is under attack, and if any of them have a problem with doing something that’s just a little inconvenient to protect it, they are welcome to leave.”

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