“I barely understood what he did as a developer let alone how many companies, he has under the umbrella of McGrath Industries.” She met his gaze and then tilted her head, “do you think I purposefully went out of my way to rent from him?”
“No.” he denied it outright. “I do not. I know how angry you are with him, and I know you wouldn’t put yourself in his path willingly. I’m simply trying to piece together how the company got missed.”
“The name of the rental company is Trinity. I’ve never heard the name before.”
“Trinity is the name of a local rental agency they have as a subsidiary.” Isaias shifted her on his lap, so they were both leaning backwards into the cushions of the chair. “Why don’t you go pack a bag and I’ll bring you home with me?”
“What? Why? He’s gone and he gave me the key he used.”
“Because he owns the entire building which means he’ll be able to come and go and spy on you. If he wants to take a unit next door and stalk you from there, he can.”
“But he won’t. He has a condo he’s renting with Sandy.”
Isaias shot her an irritated glance, “do you want him to come back?”
“No!” she returned his annoyed stare, “but I don’t think he will.”
“Did you think he would have ever crawled into your bed naked in the middle of the night in an apartment he shouldn’t have had an inkling you were renting?” At her silence he continued, “Liesl, I told you he and his father got me out of town to get you alone. He probably thinks I’m still out of town.”
“He did say you were out of town.” She whispered.
“They’re watching your every move and looking to find a way to make you take him back. I get Merlin but not Trent. Why does Trent want you to take Merlin back so much?”
“He hates Sandy with a burning passion,” Fred tossed up, “and he has been eyeballing Liesl since the day Merlin brought her home to meet the parents. He once had too much to drink and tried to kiss her under the mistletoe when nobody else was around. Creepy bastard. I always said he was secretly in love with her. He wanted her for himself. I think he gets off knowing if he can’t have her, his son can.”
“Ew,” she shot her brother a disgusted glare. “You’re nasty.”
“And not wrong,” he mocked. He looked around the apartment, “Merlin might have snuck a key and climbed into your bed, but Trent probably installed cameras in here. He probably has one right over your shower.”
Isaias snarled, “go pack a bag now. You’re not staying here.”
“Isaias, he’s kidding.”
“Yet it’s probably very much on the money. I don’t trust them.”
She kicked Fred as she stood up from Isaias’ lap. “I like it here. I like the light in the spare room. I have my easel set up.”
“I’ll set you up in my sunroom at the house. You can paint there until you find another place.”
“You’re being absurd.”
“He snuck into your apartment in the dead of night and crawled into your bed naked and of the two of them, he’s the harmless one. Trent is a snake. I wouldn’t put it past him to do exactly as Fred said. Get a bag packed.”
She stomped off furious at his high-handed way he came in and took over the situation. “It’s not fair.”
“Life rarely is.” Isaias shot back.
Liesl entered her bedroom and paused as she looked at the bed and saw a red rose on her pillow. Her anger at Isaias fell away as she considered how out of bounds Merlin had behaved. Maybe he was right. Perhaps this place wasn’t safe. She beelined for her walk-in closet and pulled a bag down and began stuffing it, realizing she had only this day hung the same clothes back up. What a waste.
Returning to the kitchen she found Isais with his arms folded over his chest, leaning against the counter his phone in his hand and he was texting furiously.
“Where’s Fred?”
“I told him to go home and go back to bed. I got it from here. My security team is downstairs to take us to my place.”
“I could have gone back to Fred’s, or I can go to Elsie’s or Janka’s.”
“Is there something about my place you don’t like?”
“No,” she turned her nose up at him, “I love your house but it’s yours. I don’t want to impose.”
“It’s not an imposition. I want you there.” He reached out taking her bag from her fingertips. When she started towards the door, he grabbed her and yanked her close to him. “What are you doing?”
“I thought we were leaving.”
“Come here,” he tugged her until she was standing between his thighs. “I haven’t seen you in four, almost five days. You’re not going to kiss me hello?”
She rested her palms against his chest and plucked at the buttons, “a kiss would be nice.”
“Yeah?” his lip lifted in the corner in a partial smile as he lowered his mouth to hers.
The sigh escaping her lips made was whisper soft as his plush lips swept across hers. Her mouth parted and pliant allowed his searching tongue access as he kissed her hungrily. Her hands slid up his chest to find the back of his neck as she held his head tight to hers, her own tongue eagerly slipping to tangle with his and taste what she’d been missing for days. She was breathless when he broke the kiss and their lips were still almost touching, their breath intermixed between them.
“We should go before I have you on the kitchen counter and Trent uses video footage to blackmail us.”
“Very funny,” she grimaced as she pulled away from him.
He waited for her to lock up the apartment before making his way to the elevator at the end of the hall, holding her hand tightly in his. “Can we agree on you staying with me until we get this mess with them sorted out? I still do not understand what Trent’s end game was. There was no way he could have known you’d take an apartment over the weekend so despite Fred’s comment on the video, while I don’t doubt, he did something in your apartment, it’s not why he tried to get me out of the city.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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