A Reckless Note (Brilliance Trilogy 1)

Almost as if he reads my mind, Kace catches my eye and winks before bringing me into the story he shares with Steven. “His daughter is an aspiring violinist. I wrote a letter of recommendation for her application for Julliard.”

There’s a pinch in my chest over a dream that was once mine, but that was a lifetime ago, a dream I really do not crave anymore. It’s family I crave. And Kace. Somehow the hollow of loss is gentler when I’m with him.

“Then she’s good,” I assume.

“Very,” he confirms, as yet another employee rushes to help us with our bags, including that garment bag, that has me rather curious.

“I got this,” the twenty-something man says. “You violin players need to protect your delicate little hands.”

“Delicate hands, big bow,” Kace jokes.

Obviously, it’s a dirty joke that leads to further exchanges between these two, who are clearly friendly. I laugh with them and decide that each moment I share with Kace, he becomes more and more human. As Sara said, he’s a man, just a man, and it seems Kace himself doesn’t forget this. I shouldn’t either.

Soon we are in his fancy sports car, my curiosity about the garment bag sliding away, with my excitement for the trip, but Kace doesn’t make any attempt to drive away. He pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’ll order coffee on my app if you’ll run in and grab the order so I don’t have to park?”

“Deal,” I say. “Coffee sounds wonderful.”

“Same thing you ordered at the bakery?”

“You remember what I ordered at the bakery?”

“You ordered my drink, baby. Yes, I remember.”

My lips curve. “Yes. I want the same thing as at the bakery.”

He punches in the order. “We have about five minutes. You have to try the bread. And you have to be starving. I damn sure am.”

“I am, but don’t we need to move from in front of the building?”

“The perks of being a massive tenant are sometimes worth taking advantage of. They’ll tell us if it’s a problem and we’ll move.” He grabs a napkin and loads it with a slice of bread for me and then does the same for himself. “Try the bread.”

We both take a bite and I moan my approval. “It’s delicious, and I really was starving.”

“It is,” he says, downing half a slice before he cranks the engine. “But we’re going to choke if I don’t get us that coffee. We’ll grab some real food when we land before I faceoff with Nix.”

He places the car in drive, and by the time we’re idled in front of Starbucks, my bread is gone and so is his. “I’ll be back,” I say. “If I’m not, I made a run for it with the coffees.”

To my surprise, he catches my arm. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t run, Aria.”

I rotate to face him and press my hand to his face. “Are you going to give me a reason to run?”

“You have no idea.”

“At least wait until I have another slice of that bread. And coffee.” I kiss his cheek. “Please.”

He cups my head and gives me a toe-curling kiss before he says, “Get the coffee and bring you sweet little ass back here now.”

My lips curve, and this time when I reach for the door, he lets me. But as I steep into the chill of the air, I wonder what it is he feels I’ll discover, what he believes will make me run, because it’s clear there’s something there. But then, I have my own demons. Maybe it will be him who runs, not me. For now, I set all that aside.

I hurry to grab our order, and I’m back in a flash. “How many slices of bread did you have in the three minutes I was gone?”

“One more,” he said. “but I’m not done.”

I laugh and hand him his coffee. He sips and sets it down before he revs the engine and we’re on the road. I spy a charger and plug in my phone while he maneuvers us through traffic, mastering the car with the same ease he does his violin. Man and beast. They go together.

“My older brother, Gio, would love this car,” I say, eyeing Kace as he turns us down a new road. “You’d like my brother. He’d like you.”

He casts me a sideways look, a smile in his eyes. “Introduce me and we’ll find out.”

Just that easily, he tells me that the weekend isn’t just a weekend to him. It doesn’t end here. Unless it does, I caution myself. Only the weekend will really tell. “Gio’s off hunting treasures,” I say. “He and I don’t just own the business together. We own the building. We bought the place five years ago and had the upper level above our business renovated into two private apartments, so we each own one.”