He makes a frustrated noise. “Frankly, it’s a miracle she hasn’t been kidnapped long before this.”
“Christ,” Parker mutters, looking up at the elevator ceiling as we ascend.
“How do you know all that?” I squeak, narrowing my eyes at Nate. “Have you been spying on me?”
He doesn’t answer. He just watches me with those steady brown eyes, and I can’t help but notice they’re crinkly and warm as they move over my face.
“You’re an odd duck, Sweet P.” Parker hooks one arm around my neck and pulls me in for a half-hug. “But I still love you.”
“Gee, thanks,” I mutter sarcastically. “I feel so cherished.”
My eyes catch Nate’s as the words leave my mouth and the sarcasm in them seems to float away.
He’s as far from me as possible, on the exact opposite side of the elevator, but as the moment stretches on, I hold my breath and marvel at the power of this man who can touch me so deeply without even using his hands.
The blush never leaves my cheeks the entire ride up to the twenty-seventh floor.
Chapter Twenty-Three
If I were a better man, I’d be able
to stop picturing her naked.
Nathaniel Knox, keeping his eyes
carefully averted at all times.
“Phoebe.”
Milo West rises from behind his desk as soon as I step through his office door. His salt-and-pepper hair is meticulously styled, his mouth is etched with frown lines from too many long nights at the office.
“You haven’t been answering my calls.”
I roll my eyes at his stern words, bending to let Boo off his leash so he’s free to roam the office. As soon as the latch unclips he’s off like a shot, smelling every piece of furniture on the 27thfloor.
“Yeah, well, it’s been kind of hard to keep in touch, ever since a mobster chucked my iPhone into the Atlantic.”
His face pales a little. He opens his mouth to say something else, but the words die in his throat as Nate and Parker step through the entryway behind me. I shuffle awkwardly into his hyper-organized domain to give them some room. The CEO suite is all white and glass — so sterile just stepping foot inside makes me feel like a bull in a china shop, liable to break something without even trying.
“Parker.” There’s surprise in my father’s voice — a rare emotion from him. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Dad.” Parker shoves his hands in his pockets and surveys the space, whistling under his breath. “Nice office. ThisWolf of Wall Streetact must be paying off.”
“And what act are you playing?” Milo asks coldly. “The ungrateful son? The whore-mongering wastrel?”
A long-buried ache stirs in my chest, seeing the two of them at odds. I can’t remember the last time they were in the same room.
Parker’s hands fist inside his pockets and a chilling smile crosses his lips. “Don’t hold back to spare my feelings.” He scoffs. “Tell me how you really feel.”
“Oh, believe me—”
“Believe you?You?!” Parker laughs, but it sounds almost like a snarl. “That’s rich, Pop.”
“You’re just as disrespectful as I remember. I should—”
“Mr. West,” Nate cuts in before the situation can escalate to bloodshed. “We’re here to talk about Keegan MacDonough.”
The power of that name alone makes everyone fall silent.