Page 110 of Filthy Hot Billionaire
I met his gaze once more and ensured he saw the promise of more later.
21
Emily
I knew from the moment I surrenderedto Knox that nothing would be the same from that point forward.
I was right. It wasn’t.
Funny thing was that I welcomed it. For the first time in my life, I felt as though I had options, as though my decisions meant something. I wouldn’t go so far to say that Knox had given me that, although he’d certainly provided the opportunity. But I had been working toward my own independence since I was forced to do so.
Whatever it was that spurred this shift left me feeling freer than I’d ever felt before.
After we cleaned up in the private bathroom attached to my office, and after we completed the tour at Delta June’s, the three of us returned to my apartment, delivered via the car that Knox summoned to drive us. While I wouldn’t have minded the walk, I certainly didn’t complain about giving my weak knees a break. After what had happened in that office …myoffice…
I still wasn’t sure what to think about all of it. If that nameplate was to be believed, I was now the CEO of Delta June’s, something I’d wanted for as long as I could remember. It was true, I’d never thought I would achieve that goal, but I’d secretly hoped that one day my circumstances would change. I hadn’t expected things to turn out quite like this, but I would take it.
Perhaps the apartment felt like charity coming from Knox, but not Delta June’s. Deep in my soul, I knew that it was my company, my birthright. I wasn’t about to turn it down. I wasn’t an idiot.
“I’ve got some things to take care of,” Knox said as the car pulled up to the curb outside my building. “I’ll be back to take you to dinner tonight.”
I turned to him, smiled. “Would you be opposed to having dinner at Delta June’s?”
Knox’s eyes narrowed. “We don’t have a chef in place yet. Or any staff, for that matter.”
“I know a chef. If I can persuade him?”
His eyes skimmed my face slowly. “I’m not opposed to the idea, no.”
“Good.” I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, earning me a small smile that made my heart swell. When I pulled back, I glanced at Kieran. “Do you have things to do? Or would you like to come up?”
His smirk was irresistible. “I thought you’d never ask.”
The promise in his tone had my insides clenching with anticipation.
“Behave,” Knox grumbled under his breath.
I wasn’t sure which of us he was talking to, but I certainly wasn’t making any promises.
The trip up to my apartment was done in mostly silence with my arm tucked into Kieran’s, his fingertips rubbing small circles over my wrist. There was something innately intimate about the act. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it felt like a connection, one that was being nurtured, not ignored.
I stepped out of the elevator as a million things started going through my head, every single one of them pertaining to Delta June’s.
“How am I going to dedicate time and effort to it?” I mused aloud, Kieran steering me toward the living room. “I mean, I’ve got school.” I huffed a disappointed breath and repeated, “I’ve got school.”
“Tell me about school,” Kieran prompted, releasing my arm and walking over to the wet bar. “Would you like a drink?”
“Water, please.” I moved to the windows. “There’s not much to tell.”
“You don’t enjoy it.”
I noticed it wasn’t a question.
I shook my head, kept my attention on the park in the distance. “I’m not as keen on it as I thought I would be.”
Kieran joined me at the windows, passed over a small tumbler of water with two ice cubes in it.
“Thank you.” I took a sip. “I thought I would love it. I dreamed about it most of my life. Now I’m wondering if I’d built it up in my head because it was something that would get me away from Kitty.”
