Page 43 of Keeping Kasey
She’s handing me the opportunity on a silver platter, and I happily take it.
“A few days ago,” I say with a disinterested shrug. “He wanted to talk about putting security on Kasey to keep eyes on her at all times, like he does with you.”
Her face gets red, and I pretend not to notice.
“That, and he’s having Kade investigate Kasey for blackmail material.”
The anger rolling off of Elise almost makes Moreno’s intrusion in my office worth it.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
“Believe it or not, I have met other women. Kasey is not some rare, mythical creature brainwashing me into liking her. She’s a decent human who happens to be female.”
It’s not lost on me that Kasey was demoted fromnicetodecent,but mentioning that won’t get my sister to leave me alone any sooner.
“Thanks for the chat, Elise. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Just be careful. She’s a strong ally, so don’t make her an enemy. As much as I disagree with his actions, Joshua is right. Kasey has a lot of power going unchecked, so now isn’t the time to show how big and bad you are.”
The concern shining in my sister’s eyes is heartwarming, at the very least.
“I’m happy to have you around,” I say and descend the few stairs between us to kiss her cheek. “But I’ve been doing this my entire life. I know what I’m doing.”
She gives me a side hug and an expression that indicates she’s not quite ready to end this conversation but realizes she’s not getting anything else from me. She bids me goodnight and goes to her room.
Once I reach the top of the stairs, the hall splits in two.
The left leads to my room, the right to Kasey’s.
Despite my sister’s warning, I go right.
The hallway is silent, forcing me to take slow steps if I don’t want Kane to hear me and start barking. After what feels like an eternity, I reach the door and lean in.
It’s silent.
I inspect the bottom of the doorway for any source of light, but there isn’t any.
I don’t want to go to my room. I want to open this door and see Kasey. I want to talk to her for the first time in days.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I’ll fix things and finally get what I want.
“Excuse me?” James asks, staring at me like I’ve lost my mind.
Maybe I have.
“You’re fully capable of handling the call with the Nashville capos. Have Matteo take notes, and I’ll read them when I’m in this afternoon,” I tell him, pouring my coffee into a mug.
His shock is warranted. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve taken a morning off.
I wait for him to voice the obvious question: Why am I taking off on the one morning Kasey just so happens to be the only person in the house?
My pre-planned reasoning and excuses are locked and ready to go—consisting of some crap about getting more rest and taking time to myself—but the question doesn’t come.
James keeps his expression neutral. “I’ll handle everything.”
I nod. “Make sure Matteo’s notes are on my desk by the time I get there. And remind him to refrain from using explicit language in official meeting transcripts.”
