Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 52447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
“What the fuck? Are you all right?” Diana asked.
“I’m fine. You?”
“We’ll never get tickets for that club from Jack again.”
“I’m sorry.”
Diana chuckled. “Don’t fret. His friends weren’t that hot anyway.”
Diana was only trying to be nice. Kat said guiltily, “I saw the way you looked at Enrico. I hope this won’t spoil your chances with him.”
“If Enrico is put off so easily, then he doesn’t deserve to be with me. Anyway, Jack deserved it. He behaved like an ass.”
“Thanks for being so understanding. You’re a good friend.”
After a short silence, Diana said, “I didn’t take Lann for the jealous type.”
“Neither did I,” Kat said. “He acted very possessively.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Better than okay.”
“Wait a minute.” Diana laughed. “I hear make-up sex in that statement.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Yeah, yeah.” In her mind’s eye, Kat could see Diana roll her eyes. “Look, I’m happy for you. You deserve it. Just don’t let him mess with your head.”
Kat looked out of her window. Lann was walking down the hallway, probably on his way to his office.
“Did you hear what I said, Kat? Don’t fall in love with him.”
“I won’t,” she said, keeping her tone light.
“Good.”
They spoke for a few more minutes about Diana’s new shoots, and when Kat hung up, her stomach was tight for some reason. No, she was not falling for Lann. She couldn’t. It would crush her when it was over.
After she’d had coffee in the kitchen, Kat intercepted Alfonso when he entered to make Lann’s mid-morning tea. She prepared a tray with a pot and carried it to Lann’s office where she knocked and pushed the door open. He was reading a tablet, a frown on his brow. The icy look in his eyes when he glanced up had her pause, but then he smiled. She walked around his desk and left the tray in front of him. He took her hand, intertwining their fingers, and pulled her into his lap.
“Bad morning?” she asked.
He wiped a hand over his face. “Someone took a photo of us in the club last night. It’s all over social media.”
She leaned forward to get a look at the tablet. There was a photo of Lann steering her from the club. “Is it that bad that we’ve been seen together?”
He locked his arms around her. “I told you last night, I kept our arrangement a secret for your safety. I’ve never been photographed with a woman before. Naturally, my enemies are going to assume you mean a lot to me. You can’t leave the house without security. I’ll double the guards. You can’t take off the ring, do you hear me?”
When she shivered, he hugged her tighter.
“I’m sorry,” he said, pressing his lips to the crown of her head. “I’ll see to it that you’re safe when our agreement ends. That’s a promise.”
His words were too ominous to consider. She preferred not to think of the implication.
“I have something for you.” He picked up a rectangular velvet box from his desk and handed it to her.
She looked at him in surprise. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
She lifted the lid and sucked in a breath. Inside was a platinum bracelet, a delicate rose with the stem and leaves twisted together, and diamonds encrusted in the petals like glistening dewdrops.
“It belonged to my mother.” When she looked at him quickly, he continued, “My father sold it when she died.”
“How did you get it back?”
“I took it from the bastard who bought it for next to nothing when my father was in a drunken stupor. Not even the Vodka could make him forget that I took her from him.”
Kat laid her head on his shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault.”
He didn’t answer. He took the bracelet from the box and slipped it over her wrist. The intricate design shone in the light that fell through the window. It looked antique and impossibly valuable.
She shook her head. “I can’t take this.”
“You will.”
When she parted her lips to argue, he kissed her, his tea forgotten.
Chapter 8
After the event in the club, and social media posts speculating about their relationship, it didn’t take long before Kat’s face and name were all over the Chilean tabloids. Despite what Kat had said to Marianne and Diana, to let her break the news to her parents, it was never her intention to tell them about her relationship. Why bother if it was going to be over soon? Now she couldn’t put off calling them any longer. What if they saw one of the articles back home? Her parents weren’t on Facebook or Instagram, but what if something leaked to the media in the States?
Kat sat quietly in the lounge, contemplating the situation. The world didn’t know that they had an agreement that was coming to an end in a week. As far as everyone out there reading the posts were concerned, she was Lann’s lover. To make matters worse, she was the first one he’d been photographed with. That made it look serious when what they shared was anything but.