Page 113 of Twisted Enemy
Which means I need to make amends. Immediately.
Kate mutters when I ease out of our bed. She half-turns and reaches for the warm spot I’ve left behind. For one crazed moment, I consider climbing back under the sheet, pulling her close and indulging in a lazy morning fuck.
But I don’t have that luxury—not today. If I succeed at what I’m planning, then Kate and I can have a lifetime of exploring each other’s bodies, back in the dungeon, here in the bedroom, wherever and whenever we chose.
It takes me less than ten minutes to shower and dress. I’m texting Nilsson as I pad into the kitchen, but he’s already there, pouring my green smoothie into an insulated cup.
“Good morning, Mr. Wolf,” he says, with his usual formality.
“Good morning.”
“About the gardening sledge, sir. Do you still need it by the mudroom, or should I return it to the greenhouse?”
It’s been sitting out for nearly a week. I should have thought of it before now. “Back to the greenhouse is fine. I’m afraid the wheels ran through something disgusting.”
“I’ll see that it gets a thorough cleaning, sir.”
“Excellent. When you come back to the house, I’ll need your help in my office, for an hour or so. And I’ll need to borrow your car again.”
“Sir,” Nilsson says in absolute acceptance. Then: “Let me just make a pot of coffee for Kate, and I’ll get that sledge to the greenhouse.”
“I’ll make the coffee,” I say, bemused that Kate gets called by her first name.
“It is truly no bother, sir.” If I didn’t know Nilsson’s frozen heart as well as I do, I’d think he has something of a crush on my wife.
“I’ll make it,” I say.
He inclines his head, giving in gracefully before he heads to the mudroom.
I measure the beans carefully before I grind them. While the coffee brews, I take my smoothie into the dining room. Studying the walls, I take out my phone and place a text to get the wheels in motion.
“Maybe I should have come alone,” Kate says. “She would have agreed to see me.”
“You don’t do my dirty work,” I say. But looking at the scarred table in front of us, I’m beginning to wonder if I haven’t made a huge mistake.
The door to the tiny conference room opens. The bank manager’s bald head gleams in the fluorescent light as he licks his lips. He takes care to keep his eyes fastened on mine, as if there’s nothing else in the room. “Can I freshen your coffee?” he asks. “Get you some water?”
I shake my head and resist the urge to look at my wrist. Staring at my watch won’t make Alix arrive any sooner. If she intends to arrive at all. “We’re fine,” I say.
The manager looks like he questions that evaluation, but he wisely holds his tongue.
Kate waits until the door is closed before she says, “I could call her.”
I’m starting to explain why that’s a terrible idea when the door opens. I draw a breath to tell the bank manager—again—that we don’t need his assistance. But it isn’t the bank manager who enters.
It’s Alix Key.
I stand by reflex, twitching the front of my jet-black jacket to make it fall straight. This morning, I thought about wearing more comfortable clothes—summer-weight linen, a close-fitting T-shirt. But there’s nothing comfortable about this meeting. I want Alix to understand precisely how seriously I take the fact that she’s agreed to meet me at Sherman Federal Bank in Dover.
“Cole,” she says. Her tone doesn’t offer anything, not a hint of warmth, barely a shadow of recognition. She doesn’t offer her hand either, and there’s no way in hell I’d dare to kiss her cheek.
“Kate,” Alix fills the silence, and this time she nods, giving a faint smile. I realize Kate was right. She could have come as my ambassador. But I need to build this bridge on my own—if there’s even the vaguest chance such construction is possible.
“Thank you,” I say, letting gratitude warm my words. “I truly appreciate your coming here.”
If anything, Alix’s expression cools even more. “You got a bank to open its private conference room for an outside meeting. How could I possibly miss the opportunity?”
“I knew we couldn’t… I know the freeport is closed to me. But we needed some place to…” Dammit. Words usually come moreeasily to me. I finally nod at the table beside me. “I had to show you these.”
