Chapter 2 - Eighteen Months of Watching
Serafina forgot how to breathe.
Kieran remained on the opposite side of the island.
He made no attempt to come closer.
“You asked,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean I expected that answer.”
“What answer did you expect?”
“That you were suspicious of me.”
“I was.”
She frowned.
“When?”
“The first week you arrived.”
“Why?”
“You were too observant.”
Serafina almost laughed.
“That’s your explanation?”
“You noticed security cameras other employees ignored. You remembered names after hearing them once. You knew when meetings ran late because you changed the coffee schedule without being told.”
“That’s called being good at my job.”
“I eventually realized that.”
“Eventually?”
“Three weeks.”
“And after that?”
Kieran looked at her.
“After that, I kept noticing you for different reasons.”
Serafina folded her arms.
“That sounds dangerously close to admitting you’ve been staring at me.”
“I’m not going to insult you by denying it.”
That answer unsettled her more than an excuse would have.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you worked for me.”
“Yet you watched me.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not exactly better.”
“No.”
Again, no argument.
Kieran was apparently terrifying when commanding people and even more difficult when accepting criticism.
Serafina looked down.
“What about Maya?”
“I can arrange the trial.”
“I said—”
“Listen first.”
She looked up sharply.
“No debt,” Kieran said. “No agreement. No change in employment. You can quit tomorrow. You can refuse to see me again. The medical support remains.”
“Why?”
“Because a seventeen-year-old shouldn’t lose treatment because her sister rejected me.”
“That still leaves me owing you emotionally.”
“You don’t.”
“You can’t decide what I feel.”
That stopped him.
“No,” he admitted. “I can’t.”
Serafina picked up her phone.
“Then I need time.”
“You have it.”
She reached the doorway.
“Serafina.”
She turned.
It was the first time he had used her first name that night.
“What?”
“I meant what I said. You can walk away.”
“Can you?”
His expression tightened.
“Can I what?”
“Watch me leave.”
For once, Kieran Blackwood had no answer.
---
At ten the next morning, Serafina entered his study.
Kieran was behind the desk.
A woman in a navy suit sat nearby.
“This is Evelyn Price,” Kieran said. “She manages the Blackwood charitable foundation.”
Serafina stopped.
“Foundation?”
Evelyn handed her a folder.
“Maya qualifies for our medical assistance program independently of your employment.”
Serafina opened it.
There was no personal loan.
No contract with Kieran.
No repayment requirement.
Nothing connecting treatment to Serafina’s answer.
She looked at him.
“You deliberately removed yourself.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were right.”
Evelyn quietly excused herself.
The door closed.
Serafina held up the folder.
“You could have simply paid.”
“Yes.”
“You probably wanted to.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Because I told you not to own the problem.”
Kieran leaned back.
“Because you told me not to own you.”
That distinction mattered.
More than Serafina wanted it to.
She placed the folder on his desk.
“Thank you.”
“You owe me nothing.”
“I know.”
Something almost resembling amusement touched his face.
“You sound disappointed.”
“I’m suspicious.”
“That sounds more like you.”
She stared.
“You know what I sound like?”
Kieran immediately realized his mistake.
Serafina narrowed her eyes.
“How much have you actually noticed?”
He looked toward the window.
“Kieran.”
His eyes returned to hers.
“You sing when you polish the library shelves.”
Her mouth opened.
“You hate pears.”
“What?”
“You remove them from the staff fruit bowl.”
“That proves nothing.”
“You drink coffee only after adding enough milk to make calling it coffee questionable.”
Serafina stared.
“You tap your thumb twice against a tray when you’re irritated.”
“Kieran.”
“You call Maya every evening at seven.”
“Stop.”
He did.
Serafina’s voice softened.
“Why me?”
His answer was immediate.
“Because you’re the only person in this house who has never wanted anything from Kieran Blackwood.”
“That isn’t true.”
“What do you want?”
“A raise.”
He stared at her.
Serafina fought a smile.
Then, unexpectedly, Kieran laughed.
It was quiet.
Brief.
But real.
And that frightened Serafina more than his warnings ever had.
May you like
Because for the first time, she could imagine liking the man behind the reputation.
---
