“It’s been two weeks since I last saw you, Quinton. You just got back in town. How was the meeting in Chicago?” She took the seat I was just in and Lora finally picked her head up to glare at Kelly. She finished the bite of salad in her mouth and then snatched up her plate, walking past me to get to the sink and then heading out of the kitchen.
“Annoying bitch,” Lora muttered under her breath on the way out.
Kelly frowned at her back, then pushed out of her chair. “Okay, you need to get her under control right now, Quinton! She has no respect whatsoever!”
I cocked my head, folding my arms. “Unfortunately, my sister says and does whatever the hell she wants. And unlike Kandy, she’s not so easy to fool or manipulate with your fake bullshit and girly shopping trips.”
She took a step toward me, narrowing her eyes. “How dare you say her name around me,” she hissed.
I shrugged, picking up my keys from the counter. “I have to run to the office. Things to do. Deals to close.” I walked by her, but didn’t get far. She caught my wrist and yanked on it. I glared down at her, challenging her heated glared.
“Tread carefully, Cane,” she warned, her voice eerily calm. “I would hate to see you drowning in this cold, cold world.”
“Trust me, the one who should be afraid of drowning is you, Kelly.” I turned to face her, squaring my shoulders, my upper lip peeling back. “You know things about me, but I’ve been you studying too. And trust me when I tell you, I know things about you that I would love to blast to the media. Imagine what your clients would think if they found out what I know about you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? What could you have possibly found out?”
“I found out you were a patient at Polly Heights, not a visitor.”
She blinked rapidly, swaying on her heels a little. “Who told you that?” she demanded in a whisper.
“You spied on me, fucked a few things up. It was only fair that I did the same.”
“So what?” she snapped. “It doesn’t change the fact that I can let the world know who you really are. If I go down, I won’t be going alone. I’ll drag you right down with me, Quinton, I swear to God.”
I tightened my grip around my keys, smirking as I took a step back. She was afraid. Good. That was the plan. “I suggest you tread carefully, sweetheart. I mean, I would hate for your clients and your friends to find out a lovely, perfect woman like yourself had to be checked in for something terrible. Imagine how many people would drop you? Pity you. Yeah, you’d hate that, wouldn’t you?” I grinned as she breathed unevenly through her nostrils. “But, for now, let’s make things simple. We’ll hold the secrets we know about one another and start by giving each other some space.” I grimaced, pointing a finger in her face. “Don’t show up at my house anymore. Don’t fuck with my sister or Derek and Mindy. Don’t even mention Kandy’s fucking name. You have something to say, you fucking text or call me. You may not get an answer, but at least you get to do something.”
She glared for a short moment, then a faint smile snaked over her lips. “You won’t get rid of me. I will ruin everything you have ever loved before you even get the chance to do that.”
I sighed, making my way out of the kitchen. “See your way out,” I told her, and walked out of the house.
When I got in the car, I sent Lora a text and told her to keep a close eye on Kelly while she was still there. She would snoop—it was what she did best, after all. But Lora didn’t bite her tongue. Not much. If Kelly looked like she was up to no good she would call her out on it. The one thing Kelly hated most was being embarrassed.
I had plans to get Kelly out of my life. I didn’t know how to go about it exactly without tainting my reputation, but I was going to make something happen.
It’d been two months of this ridiculousness. It had to stop. She was fucking with my livelihood. Right now, I had her on a short leash.
I’d hired a private investigator to look into her. I knew she was hiding something, and when he told me that she’d been checked into Polly Heights, it’d truly surprised me. All this time I thought she was a visitor when really, she was a patient.
When I put two and two together, though, it made sense. She was there almost every single day. I saw her often, but never thought much of it. She bumped into me, we grabbed coffee, got to know one another, and I never saw her show up at Polly Heights again after that. I don’t know how I could have been so stupid.