Empire of Desire by Rina Kent

But he’s not the one who stiffens, nearly turning into a statue.

It’s Jane.

The straw is between her lips, but she’s not sucking. She’s staring at Knox, who’s standing there with his shoulders squared. It’s almost an aggressive stance—which is out of the ordinary for someone like him.

Chris gets up and offers his charming smile. “I was just having lunch. I’m finished.”

“Then why are you still standing there?” Knox says in his serious voice that I rarely hear from him. He’s usually outgoing around me, but he sounds like a British villain right now.

My friend must feel it, too, because he quickens his pace and leaves the IT room. Knox doesn’t. He keeps staring. I thought it was at Chris earlier, but it’s at the computer. Or maybe it’s Jane, but why would he stare at her? No one even knows she exists. Nate calls her the IT girl and only because I talk about her. She’s invisible to everyone and likes it that way.

“Aspen is searching for you, Gwen,” he tells me, slowly breaking eye contact with Jane to focus on me.

“Why?”

“No clue. But you should go. She doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

I stand up, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Aspen is the last person I want to see. But I’m still an intern and interns don’t go around being stubborn little bitches to senior partners.

Jane grips the sleeve of my shirt hard, so hard that she nearly causes me to fall. I stare down at her and the alarm in her eyes is loud and clear, even through the thick as shit glasses.

“Gwyneth.” It’s Knox and he definitely sounds impatient. I haven’t seen him like this before, but I don’t want to be on his bad side. Like, at all.

“Uh, one moment.” I lean down and whisper, “What’s wrong?”

Jane tightens her hold on my shirt for a fraction of a second before she lets me go and murmurs back, “Nothing.”

I’m still unconvinced, considering the fact that she looked to be on the verge of a meltdown just now. But I also don’t want to risk Knox’s wrath, so I throw the remnants of my burger in the trash and step past him. I expect him to follow, but he doesn’t.

Weird.

I take the elevator up and head to Aspen’s office. I’ve dropped some files off to her before, so this isn’t the first time I’ve been here, but I hate it just the same.

Her assistant tells me to go in, and I knock on the door, waiting for her curt “Come in” before I step inside.

Her office is large, neat, and a bit manly, even if she is the most elegant woman I know. In a way, I understand why people like Jane or even Chris respect her. She’s a very hard worker and made it in a male-dominated world when the odds were against her. I should probably give her the benefit of the doubt, but I just can’t.

Not only has Dad always painted her as a witch, but she also chose Nate to be the only man she’s close to.

It could’ve been any man, so why Nate?

“You called for me?” I ask as soon as I’m inside.

Aspen looks up from the stack of files piled in front of her. “No. I didn’t.”

“Knox said you did… It must’ve been a mistake. Then…”

“Wait.” She stands up and marches in my direction, then towers over me. It’s on purpose, I swear. She likes being taller, prettier, and older than me. She likes having the upper hand in everything.

The witch.

She crosses her arms over her chest and I do the same. What? She doesn’t get to be the only one on the defensive.

“Nate probably didn’t tell you this, but I believe you should know.”

A ball the size of my fist lodges in my throat. Tell me what? That he’s in a relationship with her and will marry her as soon as I’m of age and he divorces me?

Calm down, Gwen, calm down.

“Know what?”

“Kingsley’s accident might not have been an accident.”

So it’s not about her and Nate. Phew. “Wait. What?”

“They found a problem with his car’s brakes. It’s minimal, something that could have been caught during a checkup. But Kingsley hadn’t had his car checked in a while, so the police ruled it as an accident.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So? Do you really think Kingsley wouldn’t know what’s wrong with his car? That man notices everything.”

“Are you saying…?” The ball tightens and blocks my breathing. “Are you saying someone messed with his brakes?”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

“Of course not! But who would want to hurt him?”

“Seriously, now, Shaw? He has more enemies than the fortune he’s amassed. He might have been a doting father to you, but he was a ruthless devil to everyone else.”

“And Nate knows this? He’s aware of the suspicions but never told me?”

“He thinks it’s nothing. We have no proof and that means we can’t ask for a second investigation.”

“Then why are you telling me?”

“So that you’ll watch your back, Shaw’s spawn. You’re too out in the open for your own good. If it’s true and someone tried to kill Kingsley, maybe you’re next.”

“I didn’t know you worried about me.”