Knight's Game (34 page)

But they mostly stayed in, spending the majority of their time in Dominic’s bedroom, coming out on occasion to eat, use the gym, or sit outside on the rooftop deck with its spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge. On those fleeting occasions, Patty would summon the staff from next door to quickly clean Dominic’s bedroom and bathroom, change sheets and towels, pick up in general and in particular wash the used sex toys.

Kate had timidly inquired who exactly was in charge of that task the first time they’d returned to the room and she’d seen the tidy display all neatly lined up on the bathroom counter.

‘Patty’s in charge of the house, the cleaning people, the yard men, the billing and deliveries. I don’t ask. That stuff all looks clean, right?’ Dominic casually remarked. ‘Patty’s more of a stickler for hygiene than anyone. She uses organic everything so we’re safe there. You can eat off the floor, she always proudly tells me. So I think the toys are equally wholesome.’

A lifted brow. ‘Wholesome?’

He grinned. ‘And yet your qualms never last for long, do they, baby?’

‘You’re shamefully good at corrupting me,’ she murmured.

‘It’s not corruption if you’re having fun,’ he drawled lazily. ‘And I’ll always make sure you’re having fun.’ He tipped his head. ‘So pick out something.’

Her question answered with Dominic’s habitual disregard for the duties of his staff, Kate followed his suggestion and made a selection. He might not know how the toys came to be arranged and organized so systematically in the bathroom, but he certainly knew how to use them.

*

The next day, when Kate was discussing a recipe with Patty, Dominic took the opportunity to shut himself in his office and give Justin a call.

‘I may hang up abruptly if Katherine walks in,’ he warned. ‘Have you found anything?’

‘When money’s no object it’s not a problem.’

‘Good. Where?’

‘Upper Belgrave Street. A nice two-bedroom flat. Five and a half mil.’

‘It’s settled?’

‘Someone in your office here will sign the papers this afternoon. And the account for Amanda has been set up.’

‘Good. Roscoe said he’d take care of it. You sure Amanda doesn’t mind helping?’

‘She’s in shopping heaven as we speak.’

‘Give her a kiss from me. Although, tell Amanda if anything needs painting or new carpeting has to be fitted, it has to be environmentally responsible: no chemicals, no toxicity. Same with the furniture. All natural finishes, fabrics. Katherine’s not a large woman. She can’t absorb the same quantities of toxins as someone my size.’

‘Sounds as though you’d like Katherine wrapped in cotton wool and put in a glass box.’

‘If only I could,’ Dominic said drily. ‘So,’ he added briskly, ‘can you have this done by Saturday? We fly in either late Saturday night or Sunday.’

There was always only one answer for Dominic Knight. ‘Sure, no problem,’ Justin said. ‘We’ll have it ready.’

‘Thanks,’ Dominic said. ‘We’ll see you this weekend. By the way, we haven’t met. You’re just a magnanimous manager from CX Capital helping out a new contractor. You can cover your ass on that, right?’

‘Not a problem. I’m a little like you, Nick. I make my own rules.’

Dominic laughed. ‘Glad to hear it. Ciao.’

Then he made a quick call to Leo.

‘I was wondering when I’d hear from you,’ Leo remarked.

‘Life’s busy when you’re on vacation,’ Dominic said, the smile in his voice palpable.

‘Sounds like it. Everything’s going well then?’

‘Yes, very. We fly out Saturday, though, Sunday at the latest. I’d prefer Saturday. We’ll firm up the departure time later. And tell Sese I’m going to need him in London. I’m hoping to talk Katherine into having him serve as her live-in cook. That way there’s someone on the inside as well as your crews outside. A little extra security. And Yash better come along too. Just in case.’

‘I’ll tell them. Sese’s at his relatives’ in the Central Valley;
Yash is attending some seminar. I’ll see that they’re back by Friday night.’

‘How did things go with Tan?’

‘Everything went well. They’re all gone.’

‘You’re not saying Gora’s goon squad flew back to Bucharest?’

‘No.’

‘No repercussions?’

‘Only in Bucharest I expect. It should help your negotiations,’ Leo added.

‘Maybe. Gora will run out of guns before he runs out of muscle. But it might make him question his tactics. Tan and his relatives are fine?’

‘Everyone’s fine.’

‘I don’t suppose—’

‘You don’t want to know.
I
don’t want to know. Tan sees it as doing you a favour and it’s not as though Gora’s men had flown in from Bucharest for a vacation.’

‘Right. Thanks for the update. Gotta go.’ He set down the phone and smiled at Kate who was standing in the doorway of his office. ‘I was talking to Leo. I think we’ll leave on Saturday unless it matters to you. Did you get the recipe you wanted?’

Kate lifted a recipe card she was holding.

‘Come here. Show me. Is it something I’d like?’

‘As if you care about cooking,’ Kate said with a smile, moving towards him.

‘Hey, I care about what you care about.’ He swung his
chair a half-turn and lifted his arms as she approached. ‘Are you going to cook for me?’ He drew her down onto his lap.

‘Maybe.’ She gave him a smile. ‘It’s your rice pudding.’

‘Score.’ He lightly kissed her cheek. ‘I’ll even help with that. Although,’ he added, keeping his voice deliberately bland, ‘I was thinking you might like Sese to stay with you and cook. You really don’t know your way around a kitchen. You like to work long hours or at least you did in Amsterdam – in Singapore too, according to Johnny Chen. When you’re pushing yourself that hard, you need nourishing meals. And Sese will stay out of your way.’

‘Tempting, but I can’t imagine this apartment is very big.’

‘Let’s wait and see.’ The word
tempting
was a good sign. She wasn’t adamantly opposed. And he knew a two-bedroom for five mil had some decent-sized rooms.

Their remaining days were nothing but sunshine and roses, rainbows and bluebirds, unalloyed pleasure, luxurious and momentous. Dominic made sure of that. Whatever Kate wanted, he gave her.

Kate had told herself that first night in Singapore that whatever time she had with Dominic she wouldn’t spoil by thinking about the future. And, by and large, she was able to deal with her emotions in a practical way. She was incredibly happy most of the time – actually, fantastically happy. Only occasionally, late at night, she’d wake up terrified, her heart pounding, afraid she’d lost him. But a second later, she’d feel Dominic beside her, or holding her close, and her panic would subside.

For his part, Dominic was feeling a rare tension. He was generally nerveless. But with Katherine’s safety at issue, with them both in the crosshairs of Gora’s relatives, considerably more was at stake. Katherine had already been targeted in Singapore, Gora’s men in place before he’d arrived. So he wasn’t just gambling with his life, which had been curiously easy to view as disposable for years. Living held more purpose now. Since meeting Katherine, he felt as though he had a future, perhaps even a good one. And he was unprepared to lose either her or that future.

Although on a purely tactical level, Gora was the problem. He was a loose cannon at the best of times, conditionally in thrall to his wife’s mafiosa family organization. Defiantly independent on the surface. None of which offered a predictable outcome to the meeting on Tuesday.

Money usually worked as leverage, but not always.

There were too many players at the table this time.

And some of them were invisible.

Dominic’s private plane landed in London Saturday afternoon at five.

Kate had received a text with the address of the sublet apartment the day before. Justin had offered to meet her there and give her a tour; he was waiting when they reached the flat. Along with Max.

Justin introduced himself to Kate and Dominic and while he showed Kate the flat, Dominic and Max quickly reviewed their plans for Tuesday and arranged to meet at the airport Monday afternoon. Then Max left and Dominic caught up with Justin and Kate in the sleek, stainless-steel kitchen.

‘Nice,’ Dominic said. ‘I like it.’

‘It’s intimidating for a non-cook,’ Kate said, viewing the handle-less cabinets that soared up to the high ceiling, the large, brilliant blue Aga stove and larger refrigerator. The three sinks and sizeable wine cooler. ‘But I’ll manage. There’s always take-out and pizza.’

‘Why not let Sese take charge?’ Dominic suggested. ‘You
won’t even have to come into the kitchen. And with your punishing work schedule I doubt you’ll have time.’ Dominic turned to Justin. ‘Katherine has a work ethic on steroids. CX Capital is lucky to have her.’

‘So I’ve heard,’ Justin replied with a well-mannered smile. ‘We’re looking forward to her help.’

Dominic glanced at Sese who’d come in behind him. ‘What do you think, baby? Care to see if Sese can help you out? At least until you get settled in. Your first week or so at work could be hectic.’

‘I don’t know.’ She hesitated. ‘Would I be imposing? Sese probably has better things to do.’

‘Why don’t you ask him?’ Dominic smiled. ‘Although keep in mind Sese cooks for a living.’

‘Divinely as a matter of fact.’ Kate smiled at the huge mountain of a man standing beside Dominic. Their meals on the plane had been crazy good. ‘Would you mind helping me out, Sese? It wouldn’t be for long. Just until my schedule … I don’t know … falls into place.’

Sese dipped his head. ‘Sure. No problem.’

‘OK.’ Kate took a small breath. It was her first experience with something so grand as a live-in cook. ‘I don’t have a clue how this works.’

‘Don’t worry about it.’ A flashing smile. ‘I’ve been doing this a while.’

‘Great.’ She exhaled. ‘And I can pay for this,’ she added, turning to Dominic. ‘So don’t even think about it.’

‘Perfect. It’s settled then.’ He glanced at Sese. ‘Here’s your
new domain. Starting Monday.’ Dominic shot a look at Justin. ‘Is there a cafeteria in the headquarters building or does Sese have to bring in food when Katherine’s working late?’

‘People generally go out to eat.’

Dominic put his arm around Kate and pulled her close. ‘Sese will see that you have food. Sometimes you forget to eat when you’re working. Now, do you have any questions for Justin?’

‘How far is the office?’

‘My driver will drive you,’ Dominic said before Justin could answer.

‘He doesn’t have to.’

‘Nonsense, that’s his job. We’ll let him know when to pick you up in the morning and you can call him when you want to be driven home. At least until you get the hang of things,’ he added smoothly, rather than
You can’t go out of the flat without a guard
. ‘Sese, why don’t you get some idea of what Katherine wants you to shop for and I’ll see Justin out.’ Brushing Kate’s cheek with a kiss, he moved away and smiled at Justin. ‘Thanks for coming over.’

As the two men walked from the kitchen, Justin drolly said under his breath, ‘Is she legal?’

Kate wore sneakers, slouch pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, her hair unruly as usual, her green gaze luminous – the image of naïf vivid.

‘Fuck you,’ Dominic said, grinning.

‘Just asking. She looks fifteen and virtuous.’

‘Then I’ll expect you to protect her from the big, bad wolves at CX Capital.’

‘Jesus, that’ll be a full-time job. She’s gorgeous. Seriously, how the hell old is she?’

‘Twenty-two.’

‘And she’s keeping up with you?’

Dominic gave Justin a hard stare. ‘That’s none of your business or anyone else’s. Clear?’

Justin put up his hands. ‘Sorry.’

Dominic smiled. ‘No problem.’

*

Shortly after, Justin was pouring himself a drink at home and answering his wife’s questions about Dominic’s
new friend.
‘I think Katherine Hart is more than a piece of ass for him. More than a five-mil flat. Maybe even more than Dominic knows himself. I made the mistake of kidding him about his sex life with her and he bit my head off.’

‘My, my.’ Amanda looked up from her chair by the fire, Adam asleep in her arms, and smiled knowingly. ‘Dominic’s protecting her. How lovely, and completely out of character for him.’ She lifted one brow. ‘A wedding perhaps?’

‘Don’t get carried away,’ Justin cautioned, dropping into a chair opposite his wife. ‘I’m not sure Dominic’s the marrying kind.’

‘Julia managed.’

‘Exactly.
Managed
is the word. I think that’s why he agreed to marry her. He didn’t mind that she arranged his adventures. She didn’t manage anything else.’

‘Just so long as you don’t mind me managing your entire life,’ Amanda purred, blowing Justin a kiss.

‘Hey, that’s what I signed up for.’ He grinned. ‘Do your best.’

Which was exactly what Dominic had in mind as well.

With only two nights and a day before he had to leave for Rome, he wanted to make his time with Katherine the very best he could.

Which meant minimum interruptions, no staff, privacy.

The moment Sese left, Kate had slipped her arms around Dominic’s waist and whispered, ‘Thank you. I just want to be with you. Just us.’ She cast a swift glance round the kitchen. ‘I can probably cook something for you.’

Dominic laughed. ‘You can cook about as much as me – which is zip. I’ll have something brought from my house. It’s only a few blocks away. Decide what you want.’

‘Besides you?’

‘You got me, baby. That decision’s been made. And you know what? My chef can cook us whatever later. Food isn’t high on my list right now. You without clothes is on my list. You without clothes in a bed somewhere.’ He looked up. ‘Where’s the bedroom?’

She grinned. ‘Which one?’

‘We have a choice? Maybe both. Maybe I’ll chase you all over the flat and fuck you in every room. What do you think of that?’

‘You say the nicest things,’ she purred.

‘And you’re the reason why, baby. You’re my nice, my
reminder that life’s beautiful, my everything. Oh, God, baby, don’t cry.’ He gently pulled her close, held her against the warmth of his body. ‘Everything’s going to be good from now on. I promise.’