Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 343

Chapter 343

She was glowing, honestly glowing, the way a woman glows when she is happy and well loved, and I was genuinely glad for her. I had convinced myself I was putting the Kingsley mess behind me, one day at a time. Today had shown me what a lie that was.

Celeste had told me this morning that she would not be in. Her mother was not feeling well, and she wanted to spend the day with her. The lab was full, packed with the new scientists Celeste had brought in to lighten my load and speed up the research, but without her in the building I felt like a stranger in my own home. I had retreated to my office, closed the door, and let the memories pour in, one after another, until I could barely breathe.

I wanted to talk to someone. Celeste was the only person I trusted now, and she already had enough on her plate without me dragging my mess into her mother’s sickroom.

Then I felt it. A sudden, startling warmth between my legs, my panties wet against my skin, and I went still at my

desk.

I walked quickly to my accommodation, locked the bathroom door behind me, and checked. There it was, faint and pink, staining the cotton. Not the usual color of my period. And I was not due for three more days.

I stared at the stain for a long moment. My cycle had always been punctual to the point of being boring. It arrived all at once on the first day, stayed for three, then packed up and left. This was not that. This was a spotting I could not explain.

Maybe it was different this time. Stress did strange things to a body.

I shook it off, wiped, changed into fresh panties, and washed the stained pair in the sink until the water ran clear. Then I straightened my skirt, squared my shoulders, and walked back toward my office.

When I reached the door, my heart stopped.

Kingsley Duke was standing beside it.

He looked nothing like the man I had met. Nothing. The news five days ago had announced that the heir of the Duke family had recovered their stolen fortune, and Celeste had told me Sparrow would help him, and she had been right. Kingsley stood there now in clothes that probably cost more than my annual salary, carrying himself with the easy authority of a man who had been born into a boardroom, and he was even more handsome than I remembered, which felt deeply and personally unfair.

I swallowed. The pain in my chest was sharper than I expected, sharper than I wanted it to be.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Duke?”

He turned, and the relief on his face was so plain it almost made me angry. Down the corridor, a cluster of staff huddled together, staring at him with open admiration and whispering behind their hands. They had been crazy about him when he did not have a penny to his name, and I had been no different back then. God only knew how much crazier they were now that he was a big shot.

“I need to talk to you, Pat.” His voice was soft, and it sounded sincere, and I could not have cared less. “Please. Just give me some of your time.”

I walked past him, pushed open my door, and stepped inside. He followed, close enough that I caught his cologne, and I hated that I noticed it.

Inside my office, I leaned back against my desk and folded my arms.

“Say whatever you want to say.” My chin lifted, and I let the words fall with all the warmth of a slammed door.”

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And then get out.”

To my shock, Kingsley went down on his knees.

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He remained on his knees, and for a long while he did not look at me at all. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor between us, and when he finally spoke, his voice came out low and rough, the voice of a man who had rehearsed this speech a hundred times in his own head and still could not make it sound the way he wanted.

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