Celt. (Den of Mercenaries #2)(33)

By the time he landed and was heading back to his place, night had settled heavily over the city. Grabbing a new phone once he was inside his war room, he activated the memory card inside of it, plugging in his credentials even as he made his way back to his bedroom.

While he didn’t have much time to spare, he still showered the day away and changed his clothes. Scooping up the keys for his bike, he was headed back out of his loft within an hour of getting there.

Kyrnon remembered the route to her place, having taken her home twice now. The street was quiet once he arrived, and though he rang the buzzer for her apartment, no one answered. While there was a possibility she wasn’t home, Kyrnon was a bit anxious, and instead of waiting, went around the side of the building to the fire escape.

Checking that no one was around, he climbed up, making his way up the ladders until he reached her window. Sheer curtains blocked the view inside, but from what little he could see, no one appeared to be home.

Which made f*cking sense.

What reason did she have to ignore the buzzer?

It wasn’t like she could know it was him calling for her.

Feeling like a proper stalker, he quickly made his way back down, then took a seat on his Harley. He was willing to wait.

An hour or more passed before a town car came rolling down the street, pulling over to the curb, the door swinging open as Amber climbed out. “Thank you,” she said to the driver as she shut the door and watched it pull away.

It wasn’t until she was closer to the entrance of her building did she notice him.

Full, pouty lips parted in surprise, but a smile didn’t grace her pretty face when she saw him. Actually, she made it a point to not show anything at all, which only made him feel worse. But she did look like she would rather be anywhere but there with him.

“What are you doing here, Kyrnon?”

“You needed a driver?” Kyrnon found himself asking, gaze gone off in the direction the town car had taken.

“I was at dinner with a friend and something came up. Her husband had someone take me home, though I’m not sure why any of that matters to you.”

Shite.

Aye, she was mad at him.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Kyrnon pushed off his bike toward her. “Can I explain?”

Her arms crossed over her ample chest, offering a tantalizing view down her low-cut shirt, but he didn’t let his attention linger too long. He didn’t need her upset with him for another reason.

“If you want,” she finally answered.

But he didn’t like that. He would much rather have her anger than to have her be indifferent.

Even if he was still telling himself that it wasn’t supposed to matter.

“First, I lost my mobile,” he said, even pulling out the new electronic for her to see. “And since I was in Brussels on business, I couldn’t get another one until I got back.”

Her expression remained the same. “Glad you got a new phone.”

“I didn’t get back until a few hours ago,” he added, thinking back to just how long it had been since he talked to her. “I—”

“Kyrnon, you really don’t have to explain if you don’t want. You don’t owe me anything.”

She wouldn’t meet his eyes as she said that, and that just wouldn’t do. He didn’t like that look on her face.

“But I do.” He came closer, but not so far that he was crowding her, but enough that she finally had to acknowledge his presence in front of her. “I can’t have you thinking I didn’t want to be there.”

She shook her head. “Kyrnon, seriously. Everything is fine. I’m not—”

Maybe that was what that other eejit had wanted from her when he f*cked up, lessen his guilt for being a shite person, but Kyrnon didn’t want that. “Amber.”

The way he said her name, low and a little harsh, grabbed her attention finally, making her turn those soft brown eyes on him.

“I wanted to be there,” he said before she could say anything else. “I had every intention to be. I’d thought about it for days.”

And he had.

He wanted to see what she was like when she was in her own space and could let her guard all the way down. He wanted to see her thoughts reflecting on the canvases that he didn’t have a doubt were all over her apartment.

And he also wanted to see just how flexible she was.

“And if you give me a chance, I’ll make it up to you.”

She didn’t say anything for a long time, just studying him as though to gauge his truthfulness. Then, she asked, “Brussels?”

Kyrnon released a breath, feeling some of his tension easing. If she was asking about it, she at least wanted to talk. “It was a long trip.”

“Is that why you look so tired?” she asked, and he could see the concern in her eyes.

She wasn’t wrong though.

He was f*cking exhausted.

It felt like he had been up for the entire week, and besides the handful of hours he slept, he had been. Before he had gone, he had felt rather energized, glad for the fact that he had been able to catch at least three hours of sleep when she was warming his bed, even if it did surprise him.

Kyrnon didn’t sleep well by nature, so whenever there was someone else near him, he really couldn’t sleep, not trusting anyone in his space when he was that vulnerable.