Kingdom Fall

“Hello, brother,” he said.

That was new. Griffin despised me. “Should I wait for the knife at my back?”

He laughed. “I thought you were a little shite, but I’ve changed my mind.”

“I’ve earned your respect?” Not that I’d needed it.

“Let’s say you’re not the dobber I thought you were.”

I waited for some yer and ayes, but that was more my brother.

“Are we friends then?” I joked.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, the Scottish accent more pronounced.

“Are you giving up on Lizzy?”

“She’s your wife. She’s made her choice.”

“A good one. Now you can pursue the Dubai princess. Does her father know?”

“She’s a friend.”

“Ah. Still, does her father know?”

“What did you tell me when I asked about Lizzy? Mind yer business?”

“I wouldn’t have used yer,” I said in jest. “Any word on Matt?”

“Not any more than I’ve already told you.”

“You need to make contact. Lizzy will not give up on hearing from him.”

“I know that. Bye now, little brother. Keep our girl safe.”

And he was gone. Though he claimed we weren’t friends, I had a feeling wherever we stood had turned a corner.

My next call was to Eliza.

“Boss,” she said.

“How did it go tonight?” I had access to my private servers and would go through the footage, but I wanted to hear from her first.

“Fine. Nothing happened.”

“Good.”

“When will you be back?”

“I’m not sure,” I said.

“I remember a time you used to tell me everything.”

“So do I.”

If she’d been waiting for me to say more, she was disappointed. “Fine. I’ll handle everything. You need not worry.”

“That’s all I want to hear.”

When the call ended, I realized I had no regret for the loss of our friendship. She was important for now, but replaceable. Something I hadn’t thought was possible. Eliza had been such an important person in my life, there was a time I couldn’t have imagined life without her. Now I felt oddly free.

The other thing I realized was that the club wasn’t as important to me as I thought. Out of all the places in the world, I felt I should be here with Lizzy. That in itself should have scared me, but it didn’t.

As the sky brightened, I made my way back to the house. Though I hadn’t been here before, the instructions I’d gotten in advance had been thorough.

There in the pool, doing laps, was my blonde. When she rose out of the water, my cock could have punched through my pants.

“Hey, handsome,” she said. “I’m glad you’re awake. I’m going to make you breakfast.”

“Are you trying to kill me?”

She laughed. “What?”

“You’re being nice and you’re offering to cook, which in itself could be a death sentence.”

She waved me off. “You’re not spoiling my mood. Plus, I can make an omelet.”

“We have food for a week or more if we don’t waste it. Maybe I should cook,” I offered jokingly.

“I owe you a meal and I’m going to make you breakfast. Sit, you look tired.”

Women. I had no idea what change had come over her. No snarky comments. No million questions. Something had to be up, but I wasn’t sure what it was.

Dutifully, I sat as she fluttered around the kitchen.

“Who stocked the place?” she asked. “Don’t answer. I know the drill.”

“They knew we were coming.”

“The guy on the pier.”

“You noticed that?” I asked.

She bobbed her head and went back to opening and shutting cabinets as she learned where everything was. Though I wondered if I would be able to smile and eat if what she made me wasn’t any good, by the time she set a plate in front of me, I didn’t have to worry.

“Grilled cheese and an omelet,” she announced. Her grin was all teeth. “The two things I can make. You like?”

It was actually pretty good. “It’s almost like being back at the frat house, eating whatever we could find.”

“It’s good to feel young again,” she said with a cheeky grin.

“I’m not that old.”

“How old are you?”

“So now you want to know more about me?” I questioned.

“We are married. We might as well get to know each other better.”

“I’m just a few years older than you.”

“What’s a few?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t check that out when you were looking at my driver’s license.”

She held up a hand. “Let’s not go there. How about where did you go to school?”

“I went to boarding school, then off to Wharton.”

“Impressive. Are you your father’s protégé?”

I shook my head. “No, much to his disappointment. I didn’t turn out to be the money-hungry son he’d hoped for. Kalen’s better for that role.”

“He’s money hungry?”

“No, but he’s in the business of making money.”

“What are you in the business of? Saving the world?”

“Something like that.” Needing a change of subject, I said, “And you went to Boston University.”

She nodded. “I did. I’d planned to go to Columbia, but I followed my brother to Boston and that bugger transferred to the University of Chicago our second year.”