Page 20 of Sins of a King
“Hey, Tony,” I greeted the doorman who’d known me forever.
“Ms. Schaefer, good to see you. How’s the job at Columbia treating you? Are you department chair yet?”
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Barrett?” I demanded with a smile, deflecting the conversation about the job I no longer had.
Tony chuckled. “I’m old school.”
I rode the elevator and then stepped out onto Ash’s floor. I walked down the quiet hallway and knocked on her door. She opened it, looking immaculate in skinny designer jeans and a slouchy comfortable sweater. Wheat blond hair pulled up into a ponytail showed off her high cheekbones and the subtle bronze tint to her skin. She clearly had been sunning herself in Monaco. Knowing Ash, she’d gone topless and had no tan lines.
Ash blinked at me. “Something’s different.” She waved me inside, and we stood in the foyer while she continued to survey me.
“No glasses,” I said.
“Right. Contacts?”
I nodded.
“You hardly ever wear contacts.” She took the wine from me, and we went into the spacious kitchen. She set the bottle on the granite island and opened a drawer, searching for a corkscrew.
“Eh, I’ve been trying something new the last few weeks. Where’s John?” I asked.
“Will you get out the wine glasses?”
I retrieved the wine glasses from the designated cabinet and set them down in front of her.
“Cheese?” she asked.
“Sure.”
We took our glasses of wine and cheese platter to the living room. Making ourselves comfortable on a plush white couch—something only a person with an excessive amount of wealth would buy—I turned to her.
“You first,” I said.
“John and I broke up.”
“What?”
“John and I broke up,” she said again, far too calmly.
“But, why?” I sputtered. “You went to Monaco to visit his grandparents. You guys were engaged—”
“I’m not ready to talk about it. Not yet,” Ash said, a frown marring her gorgeous face. Her blue eyes were troubled but pled with me not to push her.
“Okay,” I said slowly, taking a small sip of my wine.
“Your turn. What have I missed?”
I blew out a breath of air. “Where should I start?” She waited while I gathered my thoughts. “So, my brother…”
I told her everything from Andrew’s debt to working it off in The Rex Burlesque Club, but I left out the part about the drugs.
“Are you kidding me?” she finally managed to ask, closing her gaping mouth.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Wait, are you talking about Flynn Campbell’s club?”
“Yeah. Do you know him?”
