Denial (Careless Whispers #1)(75)

nineteen



Kayden and I leave his room to head to breakfast, and the memory of me running down the hall in a towel manages to take precedence over the photos in my hand. “Marabella is going to embarrass me, isn’t she?” I ask as we reach the entryway to the living area.

“Oh yeah,” he confirms, amusement in his voice, his lips quirking in a near smile.

We cross to the kitchen and I glower fiercely at him. “You think it’s funny.”

He grins. “Guilty as charged.”

“It’s not funny,” I chide. “It’s embarrassing. I’m not hungry anymore.”

I try to turn away but he snags my waist, kisses my temple, and before I can steel myself for the impact, walks me in front of him and through the kitchen entry. “Ciao, you two,” Marabella greets us from behind the island, her ear-to-ear grin instant. “Have you worked up an appetite?”

I groan and cover my face and Kayden chuckles, sounding way too sexy for how infuriating his amusement is becoming. It’s made worse as he says, “Why yes, we have. In fact, make my pancakes a double stack, please.”

I sink into a chair at the table and set down the notebook, dragging my journal and the file I’d left behind last night to join it. “Can you put booze in my coffee, please?” I plead, while Kayden sits down next to me and taps the notebook, obviously eager for me to take a look. I grimace and add, “Make that a double shot, not stack, for me.”

Marabella giggles like a schoolgirl and delivers two cappuccinos to the table, a cute apron decorated with patches of strawberries covering her knee-length dress. “No booze for you,” she tells me. “Kayden doesn’t keep any in the castle.”

She hurries away and I ignore the notebook to pick up my cup. “You’re more of a control freak than I realized.”

“I’m hopeful that comment comes with a good memory of last night.”

My cheeks heat with the replay of his words in that shower. I will lick you. Bite you. Pinch you. Spank you.

He leans closer. “What are you thinking, Ella?”

“I was just thinking—”

“Right now. What are you thinking right now?”

I swallow hard. “I plead the Fifth.”

His lips quirk and he leans back in his chair. “That’s no fun.”

He’s playful and funny, and enjoys teasing me way too much, but I like this part of him too much to mind. “You don’t drink because it creates a lack of control you don’t like.”

He lifts the cup, his eyes lighting with wicked heat. “Control is much more alluring than the other options. Don’t you think?”

“Hmmm. I don’t think I’d know, but maybe I’ll give it a go.”

“You can try.”

I set my cup down, the delicious scent of pancakes cooking filling the air. “I will.”

“Looking forward to that battle of wills,” he assures me, tapping the notebook. “Let’s get this over with and go get naked again.”

I inhale a sharp breath, ready to do anything other than look at those photos, including broach the awkward subject of David. “I need to talk about something else first.”

“I’m listening.”

“David.”

“David,” he repeats, the name a blade sliding through the air. “The infamous fiancé.”

“Kayden—”

“Tell me.”

“He gave me a necklace. It was a large butterfly, and I found a handwritten note inside it.”

He goes very still, the lines of his face sharpening with his tone. “What did that note say, Ella?”

Unease flits through me. “I don’t remember. It could have been a silly love note.”

“You claim to just ‘know’ things. Is that what you think it was?”

“No. No, I do not.” He studies me with hooded eyes, his lashes hiding his gaze from my prying eyes, and I can’t take his silence. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Because I don’t like what I have to say.”

My fingers curl into my palms. “Just say it, please.”

“I think you were what is called a ‘carrier.’ ”

“I don’t like how that sounds.”

“For good reason. A carrier is an innocent person who’s targeted to transport items from one country to the next.”

“How do you know this?”

“The Underground has encountered just about everything over the hundred years it’s been around, and we have databases to store the history of those experiences. And I’ve personally encountered this kind of situation.”

“And you think David chose me to be a carrier.”

“It fits. Usually someone is directed to get close to the potential carrier and ensure they meet certain requirements.”

“What requirements?”

“You really want to hear this?”

“I have to hear this.” He still hesitates. “Kayden, please.”

“The targets have no family and very few people in their lives to miss them.”

Okay. I’m officially twisted in knots. “Confirmation my family’s dead.”