Milana took the dress off and looked at herself in the dressing room mirror. Carey had just handed her the fifth dress over the door and she already wanted to go home. She’d waited up for Kelley, night after night, but she always woke in the morning realizing she’d fallen asleep.He hadn’t brought sex up and he made no move towards her, in fact it seemed more like he was avoiding her. She liked Carey though, the woman was real. In the next stall Marella was talking about men and how vile they were. She smiled to herself now knowing the whole sordid story of Lee dumping Marella after almost seven years because he wasn’t ready to be a father.Marley’s voice interrupted as she complained about Jesse not getting the message and just thinking up more elaborate schemes in trying her to say yes to wearing his ring. The women were all nice, she liked them but she had no idea where she stood with Kelley.“Come on, Milana, show us how it looks.”Milana climbed into the dress and pulled it over

Mason had just finished breakfast and Grace sat at the counter eating blueberry pancakes. He hadn’t slept much the previous night for fear of waking up and finding Grace gone. He knew it was a ridiculous fear but he couldn’t help it.“Daddy …”“Sorry, princess, what?”“There’s someone knocking on the door.”Mason stalked to the front door, unlocked the latch and opened it. Andrea stood there in jeans and a checked shirt and Mason gripped the door tighter. “I don’t want to fight, Mason.”“Then what do you want?”“I won’t tell her who I am, please, I just need to see her.”Mason stood unmoving, thinking about what she’d just said. He saw the pleading in her eyes, the need to see her daughter and he couldn’t deny her that one small act. “Come in.”“Thank you, Mason.”“Don’t make me regret it.”Andrea nodded her head. “I won’t.”Mason closed the door and Andrea followed him through to the kitchen. Grace turned her head and Andrea faltered in her steps. Grace looked quizzically at the woma

The date with Milana had gone surprisingly well. They had made small talk, talked about inconsequential things but he felt that he knew her a little better now. She hadn’t once mentioned Ernesto or his deal and he liked that.Kelley had walked her to her room and kissed her hand before retreating to his study again. He worked for another hour before calling it quits. His shoulders spasmed and he stretched, his back popping painfully. He was in dire need of an assistant but the people he did trust weren’t assistant material. Lee was a lawyer and Mason was the money man, Connor and Jesse handled security and Carey and Marella were too busy with the construction side of the business.Kelley pulled off his jacket and tie the moment his bedroom door closed. He kicked off his shoes and undid his belt as he walked to the bathroom, leaving his clothes on the floor. Under the spray of the water he closed his eyes as the jet streams beat into him.He hadn’t shaved since the previous day and he

Connor pulled the SUV into the garage and the doors closed behind them. Connor was still gripping the steering wheel tightly as he turned to look at Kelley. “Next time I’ll shoot you in the leg.”“I’m sorry.”“You can’t go rogue like this, Kelley. This whole operation falls apart if something happens to you. You’re the core component keeping it all together, don’t you get that? Every single person in your employ, those in your inner circle, they all depend on you.”“I get it.”Connor bristled. “Do you? You shot my fucking tyres out, Kelley!”“I didn’t know I was going to do it. But I kept my head, Connor, I got valuable information we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”“Someday your luck’s going to run out, that’s why you have a brain, Kelley. For fuck sakes, man. You know what, there better not be a next time.”Connor climbed out of the car and slammed the door closed. Kelley rubbed a hand over his face, he knew Connor would be pissed off but he hadn’t bargained on Connor’s rage exploding

Carey stood looking at Andrea as Milana excused herself. The door closed and Andrea walked deeper into the office. Carey crossed her arms over her chest as Andrea looked everywhere except at her so she decided to wait it out.“I’m not here to make any trouble, Carey.”“Why are you here, Andrea?”She fidgeted with her hands and finally sat down in a chair across from Carey. “I wanted to meet Grace and explain things to Mason.”“So explain it to me too, Andrea, because the way I see it is that a woman who abandoned her baby is now back to claim a daughter she had no hand in raising.”“A lot of bad things happened back then. I left Grace with her father because I wasn’t in a position to look after her. I don’t know how much you know of what they’re all busy with, the playhouses and the forced marriages …”“What playhouses?”“I think you should talk to Mason … or Kelley.”“Where are you staying, Andrea?”Andrea looked down and Carey knew the answer before she even said it. “With Mason.”“