Chapter Three

Chapter ThreeHolding a cup of coffee the next day, I walked into my grandmother’s cozy living room. She moved in with me when I bought the mansion five years ago, but she’d wanted her own living space for two reasons. Firstly, the building was so big that the rooms were too spaced apart for her liking, and she wasn’t a fan of all the stairs. Secondly, she felt that my having my grandmother living with me would put off any men I met—something I couldn’t give two shits about, but she’d refused to live here with me unless she had her own space.As such, I’d had a chunk of the mansion’s first level converted into what she liked to call her ‘granny wing.’ She had a living area, kitchen, dining area, bedroom, kick-ass bathroom, and a conservatory. I usually managed to coax her out of the wing for meal times so we could eat together, but not always. So I’d sometimes eat at her table.I’d only taken two steps into the living room when Judy’s two dogs hurried over for their usual strokes. Goose, a black-and-white mastiff/wolfhound was soft as a brush and unbelievably sweet. Chubs, a sharp-eyed beagle, was still as excitable as he had been as a pup. He also had a small-dog complex, but we didn’t talk about that.Both dogs were devoted to my grandmother, who sat in her plush recliner watching TV while absently stroking a calico. Sushi was one of five cats.With all her pets, Judy was never lonely when I went on tour. Still, my friends paid her visits to check on her for me while I was away. They even sometimes took her out if she allowed it. I was freaking lucky to have them.I gave Judy a bright smile. “Morning, Grams.”Her thin mouth curved, deepening the wrinkles around her heart-shaped jowly face. “Late night?”“Is that your way of telling me I look like crap?”“No, it’s just that it’s noon, darlin’, and you wished me a good morning.”I glanced at the wall clock that hung above the fire mantel. Huh. So it was. “I worked on some lyrics when I got home, so I didn’t get to bed until late.”My mind had been a whirl of chaos after what happened at the Vault. At one point, those chaotic thoughts had abruptly morphed into lyrics. I’d had to scribble them down or I’d never have slept—they would have hounded me.Disappointment clouded those eyes that were the same Nordic-blue shade as mine but had dulled slightly with age. “You came home alone, then? That’s a shame.”Snorting, I sat on the plush sofa. “You know, most grandmothers wouldn’t find it disappointing that their granddaughter didn’t bring random guys home for sex.”“I don’t see anything wrong with two adults enjoying each other for a single night.” She patted the dove-gray hair she’d neatly pulled back into a bun. “I would have gotten my sexual groove on like that if I’d been part of your generation.”Oh, I didn’t doubt it. The woman was not only a charmer but possessed no shame.“You know, Viera down the street has a great-nephew your age. He’s quite a spiffy young man. Not to mention single.” She paused as Chubs tried leaping onto her lap, earning himself a bitch-slap from Sushi. “He told me that he loves your music, and he hinted at meeting you.”I rolled my stiff neck. “Look, I realize that you’re Cupid incarnate, but it would really be great if you dropped your new hobby of trying to set me up with people.”Her brow furrowed. “What else am I supposed to do?”“Mind your own business, maybe.”“I would if you were at least getting laid regularly.”“Grams.” I looked down at Goose, who’d rested his chin on my thigh, and I gave his head a stroke. “Pain in the ass, isn’t she?”Judy huffed. “Is it so wrong that I want you to be happy? You’re a young, beautiful, amazing woman. It’s tragic that you’re unattached.”“I don’t need a man to be happy,” I said before taking a swig of my coffee.“But orgasms do bring a little light into a woman’s life.”“And I’m done with this subject. Let’s move on.”Her mouth flattened. “I still can’t understand why you won’t at least say hello to our new neighbor.”My stomach flipped as the memory of Kaiser’s kiss once more bounded to the forefront of my mind. It had been doing that since I woke up. I’d repeatedly tried shoving the memory aside, tried distracting myself, tried thinking of anything but him.Yeah, it hadn’t worked so well.“You’re both rock musicians, so I’m sure you have a lot in common,” Judy went on. “And let’s not pretend that you didn’t adoreKaiser Wolfewhen you were younger. You cried when his band broke up, even though you knew he’d go solo. Remember that?”“No.”“Liar. If I’d ever had that kind of crush on a man and then had the chance to meet him, I wouldn’t have hesitated to introduce myself.”“I’ve already met him.”Judy’s eyes sharpened. “Really? You didn’t tell me that.”“I meet lots of artists. I rarely mention them unless there’s something worth sharing.” There was no way I was telling her about last night’s kiss. She’d never shut up about it, not to mention read too much into it.It wasn’t like it would happen again. Yes, he’d taken two tastes instead of one, just as Izzy had pointed out. But that didn’t mean anything. And he hadn’t tried to take it further. He’d let me go and stalked off without so much as a goodbye.Judy shot me a moody look. “I still think it’s unfair that you won’t let me do the neighborly thing and go take him some cookies.”“Grams, do we really have to keep going over this? He wouldn’t appreciate anything neighborly. Nor cookies. I’d be incredibly surprised if he even answered the intercom. And if he did, he’d likely be rude.”“I can handle rude.”“But if he was mean to you, I’d have to ream his ass. Let’s not put any of us through that.”She exhaled a long, suffering sigh. “Fine.”I knocked back some more of my coffee and stood. “I gotta get back to those lyrics. Call me if you need anything.”“Will do, darlin’.”I gave the dogs yet another stroke before strolling out of Judy’s wing, closing the door behind me. Considering her décor was very much floral and old-fashioned, stepping into my more modernly decorated part of the mansion was like entering a different building.The two-bedroomed house that I’d grown up in was a far cry from this place—not merely in terms of size and style, but in the sense that my childhood home had always been dull and dreary. That had had nothing to do with the furnishings or color scheme and everything to do with how miserable I’d been there.Not simply miserable, but oppressed. It had been a cage. And there had been no room for laughter or peace or joy there.But here, I’d found peace. Here, I felt safe and relaxed and perfectly at ease. No one could take any of that away from me. I treasured that much more than I can ever prize the luxury around me.The brightly lit rooms, high ceilings, chandeliers, curved stairwells, and beautiful marble flooring served to remind me that not only was I out from under the man who’d fathered me, but that I’d achieved what he’d sworn I’d never achieve. The tall, brick walls that bordered the exterior of the property felt like an extra shield to keep him out.Not that he had ever come here. I doubted he ever would. Still, I liked having that extra bit of security.Although I had a music room upstairs next door to my beloved library, it wasn’t where I usually went when I worked. I often found myself in the orangery at the rear of the mansion. I was at my most relaxed there, basking in the sun that beamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows.Right then, I headed straight to the orangery, where I settled on the plush sofa with my guitar, notepad, and pen. As a singer, songwriter, and music producer, my life was pretty busy at certain periods each year with touring, song writing, and album recordings. But I fortunately had enough downtime to keep me sane.Once upon a time, I would tour from March up until November every year. But I’d found being on the road so long exhausting. It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It involved long drives, hotels, venues, diners—wash, rinse, repeat. Also, I didn’t like leaving Judy for lengthy periods of time. Nowadays, I didn’t tour for more than eight consecutive weeks, and I only did it once per year. Some artists didn’t tour at all these days.I did the occasional appearance at festivals and such. In a few months, I’d be headlining a three-day-long charity concert. I intended to perform a song from my upcoming, not-yet-fully-complete album—perhaps even the very song I was presently working on. I’d already come up with a melody the night before; already had a rhythm and beat. Now I just needed to finish the song I’d started.I played. Tinkered. Jotted down notes. Scribbled down ideas for lyrics. Tinkered some more.I wasn’t sure how much time passed—a good few hours, at least—when my phone rang. I snatched it from the coffee table and saw that it was Judy calling.“Hi, Grams,” I answered, “what do you need?”“I know you’re busy, darlin’, but I could do with a ride home,” she said, a slight strain in her voice.I frowned, carefully setting aside my guitar. “Where are you? What’s wrong?”“I was taking the dogs for a walk as usual. I don’t know if it’s the heat, but I’m having a little dizzy spell.”Worry tore through me.Trying to hide it from my voice, I placed my notepad and pen on the table as I stood and asked, “Where exactly are you?”“On one of the benches further down the street from the house.”“I’ll be right there.” I hung up and began slipping on my sneakers, my pulse quickening in panic. Judy wasn’t prone to getting dizzy spells, but she never did well in the blazing heat.She’d had a fall not so long ago, but she only took things easy for a short time. Judy had always been a very active woman, and she loved long walks and visiting friends. I’d failed to convince her to pace herself and enjoy more downtime here at home. She was too much of a doer.Having stuffed my cell in the pocket of my jeans, I grabbed my keys from my purse and then hurried through the mansion towards the garage entry door. I’d almost reached it when my phone rang once more. Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw that it was Judy again. Shit.I swiped my thumb across the screen and said, “I’m just about to leave, I’ll be with you soon. Are you okay?”“Oh, I’m fine,” she assured me. “I just wanted to tell you that there’s no need to rush. One of our neighbors saw me as he was pulling into his driveway. He stopped to ask if I was okay. I told him that you’d soon be here but he insisted I get out of the sun and brought me into his home.”My scalp prickling with suspicion, I paused at the garage door. “What neighbor?”“Our new one. Mr. Wolfe.”I felt my mouth tighten. Oh, the woman was diabolical. There’d been no dizzy spell. No, she’d hung near his home hoping that she’d see him so she could try her hand at matchmaking all while playing the role of damsel. Unbelievable.My hand clenched on my cell. “Am I on speakerphone?” I asked, my tone clipped.“No,” she replied.I snatched open the garage entry door. “Then know this, old woman. I’m going to kill you.”“That’s nice, dear.”I felt my eyelid twitch.“I’ll see you soon.” She hung up. She freaking hung up on me.Spitting out a string of curses, I strode into the garage and over to my car. I pretty much took my anger out on the vehicle—yanking the door open harder than necessary, stabbing buttons with my finger, roughly jamming on my seatbelt.The entire time I drove down my long-as-shit driveaway that cut through the perfectly manicured lawn, I reminded myself how much I loved my grandmother, how much she’d done for me, how she’d been there for me when no one else gave a damn … but I still wanted to throttle her.There was a short distance between each of the fenced-in properties along the street, giving every estate plenty of land. But it wasn’t long before I pulled up outside the gated entrance of Kaiser’s home.Had there ever in my life been a moment where I’d thought I’d be entering Kaiser Wolfe’s home?Not since I was a delusional teenager, no.I reached out of the window and pressed the intercom button. I could only assume that he’d spotted me through the CCTV camera, because the gates began to swing open a few moments later.Driving toward one hell of a grand residence, I let out a low whistle. It wasn’t much bigger than my own home, but it was far more opulent and contemporary. There appeared to be a rooftop sitting area, which looked pretty cool.My stomach did a nervous, slow roll as I parked my car directly outside the building. Uh, I could kill Judy for this. I would have been happy to never lay eyes on Kaiser again.Okay, that wasn’t true. He was far too much of a joy to look at for me to be happy about such a thing.Still, I would have preferred to never be face-to-face with him again. Because it had become crystal clear that I made positively dumb decisions when it came to this man.Seriously, where was the wisdom—and the self-respect, I might add—in rubbing up against your ultimate crush when he didn’t even like you? Where was the wisdom in teasing and kissing and engaging in a game of sexual chicken with him?My pride had refused to let me back down from his silent challenge, just as my hormones had refused to get their shit together when he touched me. And now I wasn’t going to be able to look at him without thinking of that explosive kiss, or stop myself from wanting a repeat.So. Yeah. It would have been great if I could have kept a nice, big physical distance from him. But Judy had made that impossible.I once more silently cursed my grandmother as I slid out of the vehicle. I was so gonna verbally beat her ass. Not that she’d care. Or apologize. Judy was a law unto herself.I advanced up the stone steps and rang the doorbell. I blanked my expression, hoping to hide my tension. But my damn fingers twitched as my nerves got all jumpy.Soon enough, the front door swung open. Then Kaiser was standing before me, holding what appeared to be a smoothie. God, he looked good. Glaringly sinful, to be truthful. And it was still difficult to believe he’d actually kissed me.Shit, I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about that.If he was thinking about it, nothing in his expression gave it away. He looked as chronically put-out by life itself as usual.He didn’t say a word. He just stared at me, taking an idle swig of his smoothie. I could almost think that he had no idea why I was there.I cleared my throat. “If you could send my grandmother out here, that would be great.”Instead, Kaiser opened the door wider and tipped his chin for me to follow him inside.Allllll right.He turned on his heel and walked into the house. No, stalked. All predatory-like.I stepped into the entry, closed the door behind me, and trailed after him. I couldn’t quite stop myself from admiring his butt. Well, it was a positively terrific butt.Passing various rooms, I noticed that the mansion had a somewhat Parisian style. Muted tones. Elegant furnishings. Shiny marble fireplaces. Gleaming herringbone parquet floors. Ceiling medallions. Crown moldings.As we entered the kitchen, I couldn’t help but grind my teeth at the sight of Judy sitting at the island, sipping what looked to be freaking ice tea. Yep, diabolical for certain.Goose and Chubs rushed to me, hinting for strokes. I glared at the woman even as I scratched their heads. She only smiled, seeming extremely pleased with herself.I was definitely going to throttle her.“Hello, darlin’.” She glanced around. “Isn’t this kitchen a dream?”It was, actually. It straddled a perfect line between rustic and contemporary, giving the room a casual elegance—particularly with the vintage floor tiles. But I wasn’t in the mood to admire it.“I take it the dizzy spell passed,” I said, going along with her bullshit for now. There was no way I was going to let Kaiser sense that she’d come here to matchmake. I would dieof embarrassment for sure.“I felt so much better once I got out of the heat.” She flashed him a sweet, grateful smile. “Thanks again, Mr. Wolfe.”“Kaiser,” he corrected, leaning against the countertop.I avoided looking directly at him, not trusting that I wouldn’t look at him in a way that alerted Judy to the fact that we weren’t as … barely acquainted as I’d led her to believe.“I was telling him that you went to a few of his concerts when you were younger,” she said.I felt the blood begin to drain from my face. Oh God. If she’d made me out to be some kind of crazed fan …“You had a crush on one of his old band members, didn’t you?” She put her fingers to her chin, pensive. “I can’t remember which one. The drummer? The bassist?” She flicked her hand, as if to bat away her confusion.What in the hell was she saying that crap for? She knew exactlywho I’d crushed hard on. And if she told him about it I was going to freak.Judy turned back to Kaiser. “Anyway, she’s always been a big fan of your music. Have you heard my Inaya sing?”“I have,” he replied.“Doesn’t she have a fabulous voice?”Goddammit, why was she doing this to me? I quickly cut in, “Grams—”“It’s my right to brag on you,” she insisted. “Be as humble as you like, but I’ll rave about you as much as I please.”“Another time. We need to go. I have a thousand things to do, and I’m sure Kaiser would like to have his home to himself again.”Judy sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” She directed another sweet smile his way. “Thank you again for being my savior today, Kaiser. If you ever need anything, you know where to find us.” Slipping off the stool, she said to me, “I told him which house is ours.”Of course she had. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d given him a goddamn key.Taking yet another swig of his smoothie, Kaiser led the way as we headed to the front door, dogs and all. And, yeah, I treated myself to another sneak peek of his ass. Those faded jeans hugged it just right.Reaching the door, he fished his phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and then pocketed it. Probably unlocking his electronic gates, I thought. I could control my own security system using an app on my phone.His eyes met mine as he pulled open the door. Eyes that were still unreadable. I hoped that mine were just as blank, because there was a lot I didn’t want him to see.He began to back up against the wall to give me room to pass, but then he stilled at the rumbling of an approaching engine. Moments later, a red convertible came whizzing up the driveway. Muttering a curse, he smoothly slid in front of me.I frowned, my view now blocked by his tall, powerful frame. Why he felt the need to all but shield me and Judy, I didn’t know. Uneasy, I ensured that I stood firmly in front of my grandmother, who was nosily straining to see what was going on.Aware of the dogs going on high-alert either side of me, I tensed as I heard heels click-clacking along the pavement. A woman. It was a woman. The ridiculous possessiveness I felt toward him rose up sharply, making my stomach churn.“You shouldn’t be here,” said Kaiser, his voice clinically detached.Whoa. He’d been gruff and abrupt with me on, well, pretty much every occasion we’d spoken. He’d even been patronizing and dismissive. But he’d never used that tone with me—one that said he had not even half a shred of respect for his conversationalist.“I had to come, Kaiser,” a feminine voice clipped. “You wouldn’t take my calls.”“I had no reason to take them,” he said, still coldly aloof.“What’s with the dogs? When did—”“Leave.”“But we need to talk,” she insisted.“You’ve got nothing to say that I’d wanna hear. Go, Camila.”My eyes narrowed. Ah, so this was his previous girlfriend. The infamous heiress to a fishing magnate. Or something. Whatever. I tried not to listen to any news surrounding Kaiser or his relationships—I didn’t like how much power the information had over my emotions.A finger gently poked my back and then … “Who’s Camila?” Judy whispered.I glanced at her over my shoulder and murmured, “His ex.” An ex he clearly had no interest in seeing. My stomach didn’t stop curdling, though. Because she’d touched him. Kissed him. Had him inside her and—Shit, I needed to push this crap out of my head.A long female sigh. “Come on, Kaiser, I’ve come all this way—”“Your problem, not mine,” he said with a slight, fluid shrug of his broad shoulders.“You can’t give me five minutes?” she asked.“I could. Don’t want to. I’m not sure why you’re struggling to understand that.”“Don’t be this way, we have … Who’s hiding behind you?”Kaiser shifted slightly, widening his stance as if it would further conceal me. But she must have managed to at least get a glimpse of my hair or something, because a gasp of feminine outrage sounded.“You have another woman here?” she hissed. “Are you shitting me?”It was wrong that I had the urge to smirk, wasn’t it? But I wasn’t feeling so charitable toward this woman who’d had from him what I never would. Which was unreasonable of me, sure, but I’d own that.“Go, Camila,” he ordered.“Who is she? Huh? Let me see her.” She leaned far to the side, zeroing right in on me. “Wait, I know you.” Her eyes blazed at me. “Inaya Rose.”Kaiser took a step forward. “I told you to leave. Got no idea why you’re still here.”“You’re seeing someone?” she practically screeched at him. “You’re actually seeing someone? I can’t believe you!”Damn, a smirk was really tugging at my mouth right now.“You have ten seconds to get in your car and leave,” he clipped. “If you don’t, I’ll call the police and have you bodily removed. Makes no difference to me how this goes down. One. Two. Three …”Camila ranted, calling him everything from a cheating bastard to a cold-hearted motherfucker, but by the time he said the word ‘Nine’ she must have jumped into her car, because I heard a door slam shut. Then she was speeding away in a screech of tires.Kaiser sighed, shaking his head.“Well, she seems nice,” said Judy.I threw her a look. “Let’s go.”Kaiser turned sideways, allowing us and the dogs to brush past him. Avoiding that hard gray gaze of his, I helped Judy into the front passenger seat and then urged the dogs onto the back row. I grabbed the door handle for the driver’s—“Inaya.”I stilled. Hearing Kaiser’s voice say—no, rumble—my name … it did things to me. Especially when he hadn’t called me by my stage name, ‘Inaya Rose,’ like most people did. Only my friends and family referred to me as simply Inaya. He was neither of those things to me, so there shouldn’t have been so much intimacy curled around every gritty, raspy syllable. Bold bastard.I raised a questioning brow at him.“You owe me again,” he said.I owed him shit, but he didn’t know that. He had no clue that Judy had just played him like a fiddle. “You can’t do things out of the goodness of your heart?”“I’m a ray of asshole-ness, remember?”I recognized my own words being thrown in my face. Me and my big mouth. “What do you want from me this time?”“I’ll let you know soon enough.” With that, he retreated into the house.Grinding my teeth, I hopped into the driver’s seat and fired a glare at Judy. “You cannot be believed. Dizzy spell, my ass.” I switched on the engine.She lifted her chin. “A grams has gotta do what a grams has gotta do. You know, he didn’t seem very happy to find someone leaning against the wall near his gates looking close to fainting, and I think he probably would have told me to move my ass somewhere else. But when I said that my granddaughter Inaya was coming to pick me up, he invited me inside just like that.” She cast me a smug smile. “He wanted to see you.”“You actually acted like you were going to faint?” Driving forward, I shook my head. “God, you have no shame. None.”“I used to. Lost it somewhere along the way.”“Well you need to find it, because that cannot happen again. I mean it.”She flapped a reassuring hand. “Don’t you worry, I won’t do anything else. The next move needs to be his.”I felt my brows draw together. “There won’t be any moves.” What in the fresh hell went through her head? “What you just did wasn’t a move either. It was—”“Sneaky. I like sneaky. It gets a job done.”“And what exactly have you ‘done’ other than interrupt his day?”“Well, we’ve established that he likes you. As I said before, he invited me in once he knew you were coming for me.”“Likes me? The man barely spoke to me.”“Maybe he’s shy.”I almost barked a laugh. Oh, he was far from shy. He just didn’t bother his ass with social niceties.Exiting his gates, I pulled out onto the main road. “I really can’t believe you did this.”“In a few months, you’ll be thanking me for meddling.”I felt my brow pinch. “How do you figure that?”“Because you two will be humping like bunnies, of course. Give it a year or so and he’ll be talking about putting a ring on your finger.” She smiled. “Trust me, I know these things.”My jaw dropped. Her mind was one weird place. “You’re nuts, woman. Nuts.”“I don’t like how often you say that.”“I don’t like that you so often give me reasons to say it. Now maybe you could put down your bow for good, Cupid.”“But I’m such a good shot.”I snorted. “You’re the worst shot ever.”“I’ll make you take that back when he proposes.”“For the love of God, woman, there’s not gonna be a proposal.”