The Exception(19)
My wits were scattered across the room and I gathered as many of them as I could before responding, “I need to go.”
A look flashed across his face that I couldn’t read. He raised his eyebrows. “That’s all you’re going to say?”
“I don’t know what else you want me to say.” I sidestepped him and made my way to the door. I looked over my shoulder one last time and he changed before my eyes.
The confused, vulnerable look gave way to an impassive, cool veneer. He sat his hands on top of his head and turned away, heading towards the office.
Seeing everything I needed to see, more than enough to convince myself I was doing the right thing, I pushed through the door and didn’t look back.
CANE
I turned around as soon as the door closed. I watched her walk to her car and drive away, no sign of the Avalanche Simon had been driving in sight. Satisfied that he wasn’t following her, I flipped the lock on the door and retreated to the back office and called Max.
Max answered quickly, the sound of hammering loud in the background. “What’s up, Alexander?”
“Quite a bit, actually. You’ll never guess who just looked at Solomon Place.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Simon Powers.”
“No shit,” Max said in disbelief. “Hang on a second.”
I heard a door slam and the tell-tale sound of Max’s diesel truck start. “Sorry. I didn’t want to have this conversation in front of everyone. Simon Powers, huh?”
“I walk in and Jada is standing there with that piece of shit. What the fuck?”
“Man, I don’t know. Do you think he knew you owned the building? What are the odds, Cane?”
I leaned forward on the desk, my mind going a mile a minute. “They’re not good. Even if he did know, why would he want to buy anything from me?”
“Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“I guess it could be a coincidence. It just seems fucked up.”
The line grew quiet as we both tried to process the possibility of it being random.
“You want me to check around, see what he’s been up to? It’s either the strangest coincidence in fucking history or something is going on.” Max paused. “Why would he even need a building? I mean, what does he do these days? Didn’t his family lose everything when all that shit went down?”
“Yeah, they did. So how would he even have the money to think about buying this place? He would have had to have proof of funding to get past Stanley, so where is he getting his money?”
“I don’t know. This ain’t good either way. Do you want me to see what I can come up with?”
I released a breath that felt like I had been holding forever. “Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
“I’ll make some calls now.”
“And Max? Let’s keep an eye on Jada.”
“I’m not even going to ask.”
“Trust me on this one.”
“I’ll get back with you as soon as I have something to go on.”
JADA
“You have a call on line 2.”
I was immersed in a data gathering mission the next day, my head so focused on the project that I jumped when Alice buzzed into my office.
“I’ll take it. Thanks, Alice.”
I rested my hand on the receiver until her light went off, then held it to my ear and pressed the line.
“Jada Stanley.”
“Hello, Jada.” Cane’s voice, smooth and rich, was like music to my ears.
I hated that my stomach felt like butterflies fluttering when I heard his voice, but I couldn’t help it. What I did have to control was that he didn’t find that out.
“What can I do for you?” I had replayed our kiss in my mind, and imagined it going much, much farther a hundred times over. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I enjoyed it. And that just meant I needed to keep my distance.
“Have you heard from Simon?” The melody of his voice changed, cooling considerably.
“No, I haven’t.”
“That’s good.” Relief was evident in his voice as he blew out a breath. “I need to ask you a question. Did he provide you with pre-qualifications for funding?”
“Of course. Why?”
“No reason. I just doubt he is actually going to purchase it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Just a hunch. So don’t waste a lot of time on him, all right?”
“I’ll remember that.” I absentmindedly brought my fingers to my mouth, remembering the feeling of his lips against mine.
“Excellent.” He cleared his throat. “It’s almost closing time. Want to meet me for dinner?” He was playful again, almost as if he already knew my answer.