His daughter slipped into her businesswoman mode, one most people had no idea existed.
"They need to rerun their figures. You could make twice that profit if you go with a smaller trucking company. That particular product doesn't move in enough quantity to excuse making room for it in a larger warehouse."
"That's not what figures are coming out to," he informed her.
She shrugged, confidence curving her body, her expression. "I sent you my own observations via e-mail this morning. You can go over them, see what you think from there."
"Why don't you get your butt back in your office and tell them yourself?" he growled, returning to another disagreement they shared. "You weren't meant to consult, damn it."
"Not yet."
"Why not?"
"I'm not ready."
Celia watched, hid her smile, and kept her own opinion, her desires, to herself. There was something about Kia, and with a woman's intuition she knew it concerned a man, and her daughter's strength.
There were a lot of things Kia hadn't been ready for in the past two years, but Celia had a feeling that soon her daughter would find her boundaries. When she did, God help her father and any other man who would want to stand before her to protect her.
They had done that. Sheltered her where they could. She was coming out of her shelter. And Celia was cheering her on, albeit silently, every step of the way.
Chapter 12
She wore black. A black silk evening gown with a single strap over one shoulder that bared the upper curves of her br**sts. It flowed along her body like midnight, cascading along her legs to sweep the floor behind her.
A black silk-lined cape was taken from her shoulders by the doorman and checked in, along with her little black purse.
Her champagne-blond hair was pulled back in the front and held by combs dripping with diamonds and opals. They sparkled in her shoulder-length tresses.
Chase couldn't keep his eyes off her. She looked like a princess. So beautiful she made his chest ache with the need to touch her, to assure himself she was real.
No sooner had she turned back to the room than her gaze connected with his. Her somber blue eyes were filled with shadows, her expression solemn before her parents moved toward her and she forced a smile.
It looked as natural as a sunrise, but Chase knew there was nothing natural about the curve of her lips. That smile didn't reach her eyes, it didn't relax the curves of her body as she kissed her parents' cheeks.
Surprisingly, Timothy Rutherford frowned, his gaze latching on to Chase's as though disappointed in him somehow.
Society sucked, Chase decided. He'd fielded so many damned questions about his nonexistent relationship with Kia that he was already gritting his teeth. And to add insult to injury, the men were positively gleeful at the thought that Chase wasn't claiming her.
He tapped his fingers against the tablecloth of the table where he, Cameron, and Jaci sat. Falladay Investigations, though their only client was Sinclair properties, donated heavily to the event the Edge-woods put together each year.
The benefit ball aided the women and children's shelter the Edge-woods had taken under their wing ten years before when their daughter had died at the hands of her abusive husband.
"I love that dress Kia's wearing." Jaci sighed. "It's an exclusive, too."
Chase glanced over at her, almost missing her smug smile. She was picking on him; he could feel it. She had been doing it for days.
He lifted his drink and sipped from it, his eyes following Kia's progress when he noticed Jaci rise from the table and join Courtney.
That was never a good sign. Courtney and Jaci together were damned dangerous. And within minutes, they were at Kia's side.
He brooded as Kia stared at them in surprise. A little frown edged at her brow, and for a moment she looked confused.
Jaci laughed and tugged at her arm, finally managing to draw her away from the older couples she was standing among and pulling her over to another table.
He bit back his groan. Hell. This was a nightmare. If those women managed to corrupt Kia, she would never be the same again.
There were eight of them now. It had begun with that little witch Tally Rafferty. She had pulled together the women she knew were married to the club members and friends of her lovers, Lucian and Devril Conover. They had formed a friendship, a sisterhood, that had become terrifying to the men in their lives.
And now they were befriending Kia.
He had an overwhelming urge to jerk her from their grasp and hide her from them forever. Not that there was anything bad about any of them. They were the kindest women Chase had ever met. Good-hearted, sweet, loving, and devious as hell.
He leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes on them. Kia seemed a little off balance, as though she wasn't quite certain what she was doing there with the other women. She was talking, smiling, but he caught the nervous little looks, the uncertainty.
Damn Drew Stanton and the women who had made her so uncertain of her own appeal, her ability to choose and make friends. Her lack of confidence in herself as a woman.
Though, he admitted, even in the short time he had been allowed in her bed, that confidence had grown. Grown so much that she had thrown him right out of that bed.
His jaw clenched at the thought of her demand.
Return alone or don't come back at all.
He had stayed away from her. He'd told himself it was better that way. He had known all along that Kia wasn't made for the type of relationship he needed.
No emotion. Those were his rules. He didn't want to hurt a woman's tender heart, didn't want to build false illusions, so he kept things as simple as possible. It was better that way. Safer that way.
He'd broken that rule only a few times, and each time he had regretted it.
Until Kia.
With Kia, there were regrets, but being in her bed wasn't one of them.
"She's a beautiful woman," Khalid commented from where he sat across from him, his gaze on Kia as well. "Such a woman should not be alone each night."
Chase's gaze shifted to the other man. He was watching Kia with an edge of regret as well. Surprising for the man who never became attached to a woman. That was Khalid's rule, to love them all equally. But there was something about Kia that made the other man quieter, more reflective.
That knowledge had Chase's stomach churning with anger.
"What's your problem?" he muttered. "There are a lot of women alone here."