I STEPPED OUT OF A cab, paid the driver and approached my brother’s posh Upper East Side apartment building. After an elevator ride to the fifth floor, I banged on the door, not bothering with the formality of a few light knocks.
Screw him. He hadn’t returned any of my texts yesterday. It was the least he owed me after Friday night. Now I was both pissed and worried.
“Grayson,” I called. “It’s Viv. Let me in.”
Silence. God, what if he was dead in an alley somewhere? Shot by the people he owed money to or killed by an overdose? I pounded on the door harder, by heart racing with worry.
“Open this door or I’ll call Mom and tell her everything,” I said, pressing my palms and forehead to the door. “She’ll be on the next flight here. Bet she’ll stay at their apartment here for a while. Or maybe I’ll tell her she should stay with y—”
The door opened and I stumbled inside, barely finding my footing without falling.
“Christ, Viv, it’s like eight in the morning,” Grayson grumbled. “What do you want?”
I could hardly make him out in the darkness. The blackout shades in the apartment were all drawn. I fumbled for a switch on the wall and found several. I flipped all of them and two lamps switched on.
What the hell? I looked around the apartment in disbelief. Grayson’s entertainment center had blank spaces where his flat screen TV and other electronics were supposed to be. His furniture was gone, other than the couch and a coffee table. Wrappers, half-eaten food and wadded up pieces of foil littered the table and floor.
“Grayson.” I stepped closer to him and wrinkled my face with disgust. He stank. Still in the jeans and rumpled t-shirt he’d been wearing Friday night, his hair was messy and he had several days of dark, unshaven hair on his face. “What is this?”
He shrugged. “I’m single. I don’t have to answer to anyone. Especially not my little sister.”
“Hey, asshole,” I said, poking him in the chest. “It’s not eight in the morning, it’s almost eleven. You smell like dirty ass and B.O. And where’s your stuff?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Not your concern, Viv.”
“Then I’ll leave and make it Mom’s concern before I’m even out of this building.”
“Jesus,” he muttered. “You’re gonna tell Mom on me? How old are we?”
“You don’t have any idea what you’re playing at.”
“What, Kane? Believe me, I do. That asshole gave me a bloody nose and a concussion. He almost broke one of my ribs. What the hell was he doing at your place? I can’t even contemplate you’d date him.”
“I can’t even contemplate you thinking that’s what I mean, you dumbass. Drugs, Grayson. You’re using drugs.”
His vacant eyes showed no reaction to my words. “What do you want, Viv?”
“I want you to come to your senses. Look at you. Look at this place. Obviously you sold your stuff to buy drugs.”
He glared at me, eyes narrowed. “I told you, I don’t answer to you or anyone else. Now if you don’t want anything, go away so I can get some sleep.”
Where was my clean-cut workaholic brother? He’d always taken pride in his place and now it looked like he was squatting here.
“This is crazy,” I mumbled.
He put a hand on my shoulder and steered me toward the door.
“Grayson, let me help,” I said as he opened the door.
“I asked for your help and you turned me down.”
“Not money. You need help. Rehab or—”
He put his hands on my back and shoved me so hard I stumbled into the hallway. The door slammed closed before I even had a chance to look up at him.
My hands shook as I buttoned my coat. Grayson had never treated me this way. I was more worried about him than ever, and torn over whether I should alert our parents or let him deal with the consequences of his actions himself.
He was thirty-one years old. I’d offered my help. Now I just had to wait and hope he took me up on the offer before it was too late.
I grabbed my phone and read Kane’s text again. He’d sent it four hours ago and I’d read it at least a dozen times. It still wasn’t old.
Kane: I’ll bring dinner tonight. Dress sexy for me.
Sexy. I’d gone through outfit after outfit trying for the right look. I wasn’t the type to open the door wearing nothing but a bra and panties, because my paranoia about it being one of my neighbors wanting to borrow a cup of sugar was too strong.
Every dress and skirt I’d tried on had been wrong. They reeked of trying too hard. I’d finally settled on dark jeans that fit just right and a silky black top that cut all the way down to the tiny freckle between my breasts. I wore a new lacy black bra and panties that made me feel super sexy. And ballet flats, since I was at home.
My hair was wavy and loose past my shoulders. I’d gone a little darker with my eye makeup. Getting dressed for the night had kept my mind occupied this afternoon when I’d been trying not to worry about Grayson.
The swirl of excitement in my belly wasn’t just from dressing sexy. I was dressed sexy for him. There was no one else in the world who mattered right now. I could put aside everything else and just escape into Kane tonight.
A knock sounded at my door and I dashed off a quick text to Cara as I went to answer it.
Me: He’s here!!! OMG I may finally get some!
I hadn’t slept with a man since before moving to New York, and every time I looked at Kane I grew more acutely aware of the drought.
When I opened the door, his gaze moved down my body, his eyes darkening with raw approval.
“Very nice, Viv,” he said in a low tone as he stepped inside and closed the door.
“Thank you.”
He wore his usual dark jeans, black t-shirt and leather jacket. The savory scents of steak and spices emanated from the paper bag he carried.
“Hungry?” he asked, his eyes fixed on me as he set the bag on a console table.
“Just for you,” I admitted.
The corners of his lips quirked up in a satisfied smile. “For me, huh? What would you like from me?”
“Everything.” The word spilled from my mouth before I even thought about it.
Kane’s dark eyes swirled with something I couldn’t place. He almost looked conflicted. But we were past all that. It had to be something else.
He put a hand on my hip, the warmth of it encircling me in a possessive way that made me shiver slightly. Eyes still locked with mine, he slipped his other hand into the low v of my shirt, his fingertips sliding past the edge of my bra. My lips parted and a small breath escaped me as he cupped my breast and ran his thumb over my nipple until it was hard.
I looked down at the thick erection straining the denim of his jeans. When I wrapped my fingers around it, his strangled groan made me bold.
“This is what I want,” I whispered.
His gaze grew predatory as he put his hands on my upper arms and moved them into the air. He pressed me back against the wall, pinning my wrists above my head with one of his large hands.
He dipped his face against my neck, his lips grazing over my jaw line. I let my head fall back against the wall as his free hand roamed beneath the bottom of my shirt, his touch on my bare skin making me break out in goosebumps.
He pressed his mouth to mine in a hard, demanding kiss. I tried to wrap my legs around him but he was so tall that he had to put a hand under my ass and hike me up on the wall.
“Oh . . .” I cried as his erection pressed against me. “Kane . . . you feel so good.”
He squeezed my ass and let me slide back down the wall. Keeping my wrists in the air with his hand, he pulled my shirt up and off over my head, letting it fall to the floor. When he dropped to his knees and pressed his lips to my bare midriff, I moaned and ran my hands over the short dark hair growing out on his head.
I grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it up and off. The wide planes of muscle and huge tattoo of an eagle on his back made me feel hot and needy for him. I ran my hands over his hard, bare shoulders and back as he kissed around my belly button.