I’d sent a message on the subway that said ‘Bring back my watch or we’re done.’
His return message made my skin crawl.
Grayson: I can’t. You don’t understand. I’ll replace it Viv.
I typed a furious message back.
Me: Gram gave me that watch. You sell it for drug money and I’ll never forgive you.
Grayson: I’m sorry.
More angry tears were welling in my eyes. My office phone rang and I picked it up.
“Hey, Viv. You okay?”
It was Charlene, the secretary I shared with another attorney. She was always looking out for me.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
“Ben Broadwell just emailed me to say he can’t make the twelve-fifteen meeting.”
I sighed with relief. “Okay. Did he reschedule?”
“He’s getting in touch later about it. And Viv?”
“Hmm?”
“There’s someone on the way to your office. I didn’t catch his name. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and said—”
Kane came into view through the glass door to my office, his expression absent his trademark scowl.
“It’s okay, Charlene,” I said. “He’s here. I’ll see him.”
“Okay.” She hung up and Kane opened my office door.
“Hey. You busy?”
I crossed my arms across my chest. “No. Why?”
He walked in and closed the door behind him. I glanced at the big brown paper bag he carried.
“You were right.” He looked at me and waited.
“Yeah.” I was emotionally wiped out and didn’t have anything else to say.
Kane came over to my desk and leaned the backs of his legs against the side I sat on, looking down at me. He put two fingers under my chin and tipped my face up, our eyes locking.
“You’re upset,” he said.
“Yeah,” I repeated.
He took me by surprise by getting down on his knees next to my chair and taking my hands in his.
“I’m sorry I left. You were right . . . about Brooklyn and about me walking out. I’m trying to make it right by coming here.”
I reached for his cheek and cupped it, brushing my thumb over his dark beard.
“Okay. Next time don’t walk out.”
“I won’t.”
I sighed heavily. “I was feeling bad earlier because of you leaving, but then things got worse.”
He drew his brows together with concern. “How?”
“Grayson came over. He looked better, like he’d showered. He admitted he has a problem and . . . anyway, I thought we were making progress but then he used my bathroom before he left and I realized about ten minutes later that he stole my watch.”
Kane’s gaze iced over. “He stole from you?”
I nodded miserably. “It was a Bulgari. Probably worth quite a lot. It was my grandma’s last Christmas gift to me before she died.”
“Damn, Viv. I’m sorry. Does Grayson know that?”
“He knows. He was there when I opened it. Probably already pawned the pocket watch she gave him. Plus I texted him on my way here and reminded him. I’m not getting it back.”
“That fucking asshole.” Kane’s expression was grim.
“That watch is priceless to me. I’ve worn it every day since Gram gave it to me. She was so happy when I opened it and . . .” My throat tightened. “I’m just pissed. I feel like a doormat.”
“You’re not.” Kane wrapped his hands around my hips, still kneeling in front of the chair I sat in. “This isn’t your fault, babe. Grayson would do anything for his next fix.”
“But that’s so low . . . even for him.”
“Doesn’t get much douchier than that.”
I laughed and opened my arms to him.
“What?” He cocked a brow.
“The word douchier. Now hold me to make up for this morning.”
He pulled me close and spoke in my ear. “I’ll hold you all you want, but I also brought you something.”
“You did?” I pulled back and looked at the sack he’d left on my desk.
Kane got up and reached into the sack. “Remember when we were out walking a couple weeks ago and we stopped at that bakery? You tried a chocolate and I thought you were gonna come right there in the store.”
“Hey.” I swatted his thigh. “I wasn’t that into it.”
“You were all ooooh. Mmmmm. Yes.”
“Okay, maybe. It was really good chocolate. Anyway. . . .”
“I got you a whole box.” He pulled out a long white box with a red bow tied around it.
“Oh, Kane.” I took the box and smiled up at him. “That was so sweet. Thank you so much. I’m gonna eat the hell out of these.”
He reached into the sack again, pulling out another box. “This, too.”
“You shouldn’t have.” I shook my head. “I mean, you should have on the chocolates. I’m keeping those. But nothing else.”
“Just open it,” he growled, thrusting the box at me.
“Okay.” I pulled the gold wrapping paper from a small box and found a beautiful black and gray scarf inside. “Oh, this is gorgeous. You bought this? For me?”
He shrugged. “I know a lady who owns a boutique. She wraps Brooklyn’s presents for me. She said you’d like it.”
“I do. I love it. Thank you.”
He reached into the bag again.
“Kane, no. Seriously. I don’t want you thinking you have to spend a bunch of money to get my forgiveness. You have it, okay?”
His face fell. “Okay. That’s good, but . . . I wanted to buy you these things. I’m no fucking good at saying stuff.”
I stood and cupped both his cheeks in my hands. “Let’s work on that instead of you buying me presents.”
“You don’t want this, then?” He pulled out a small blue box.
“Tiffany?” I pressed my lips together, trying to stay strong. “Whatever’s in that box, I don’t need it. I just need you.”
“What if you can have both?”
I considered. “Well . . . maybe. I mean, if we agreed that you won’t buy me anything else for a very long time. That can be my Christmas present.”
He smiled and handed me the box. “Just open it.”
I did, relishing the moment. It had been years since I’d had a relationship so serious it involved gifts. And I’d only gotten a nice coffee bean grinder out of that one.
The necklace made my heart skip a beat. On the delicate silver chain was a pendant; a lower case letter ‘k’ with sparkling inlaid diamonds.
“The saleslady said I should get you a ‘v’, but I liked this idea better. To remind you . . . you know. And this way when some asshole strikes up a conversation by asking about your necklace, you can tell him the ‘k’ stands for me.”
“Or ‘kill’?” I smiled and ran my fingers over the pendant.
“Yeah, that’s good too, since I’ll kill ‘em if they touch you.”
“Oh, Kane.”
“You can’t say that here, Viv,” he said in a low tone. “You know what that does to me.”
“Well, you had me naked and willing this morning,” I reminded him.
“Fuck.” He rolled his eyes up at the ceiling.
“This is so beautiful. Thank you.” I leaned up and kissed him. “Will you put it on me?”
“Yeah.”
I took the necklace out and handed it to him, sweeping my hair up to make room for him to clasp it. He fumbled with it for a few seconds.
“The fuck is this thing?” he grumbled. “It’s the smallest shit I’ve ever seen. I can’t even get my thumb on it.”
“I’ll have Cara do it.”
“Okay.” He handed it back to me. “I have to go, I’ve got a meeting at the bank.”
I turned to look at him. “I’m so glad you came by. I feel so much better.”
He kissed me softly. “Me too. Can you have dinner with me at the club tonight? To celebrate?”