Free Deepest Kiss (Stark Trilogy #3.10/Stark Ever After #6) by J. Kenner

startles both Damien and me, and he pulls his hand back as I reflexively yank my skirt down.
    Damien catches my eye for a millisecond before jamming his hand onto the intercom button. “Edward, what the hell is going on?”
    There’s no response, and Damien curses. Then curses again when he realizes that the volume is turned all the way down. “Say again?”
    “I said, we’ve arrived, Mr. Stark.”
    “Arrived?” He glances out the window, and I follow his gaze.
We’re back at the Stark Century Hotel.
    I meet Damien’s eyes and shrug with confusion.
    I can tell he’s about to demand an explanation when Edward says, “Shall I open the door for Mr. Sykes?”
    It clearly takes a supreme effort for Damien to maintain control, but he does. “No. I’ll open it.” He shuts down the intercom, then looks at me. “He must have told us he was turning around, and neither one of us heard the intercom beep.”
    “My head was elsewhere,” I admit, then scowl. “Dallas owes me. Big-time.”
    Damien laughs. “He owes us both. Shall I tell him as much?”
    I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you dare.”
    Damien opens the door, and Dallas climbs in, and from the way he looks at both of us, I’m certain he knows exactly what he’s interrupted. I feel the blush rising on my cheeks and force myself to ignore it as Damien demands, “What the hell, Dallas?”
    “Sorry,” he says. “I couldn’t say any of this with the others around so I called Edward back.”
    For an instant, I wonder how he managed that, then realize that he’s worked enough with Damien and Stark International that he was surely given access to the limo—and to Edward’s cell number so that he can contact the driver.
    “What’s going on?” Damien asks, voicing the bigger question.
    “It’s about Frank.” Even though Damien asked the question, Dallas is looking at me. “This is going to sound crazy, but he’s the guy who was watching you on the island.”
    A cold chill races up my spine, and I try to find words but only manage a gasp. Damien is not nearly as tongue-tied.
    “What the fuck are you talking about?”
    “Exactly that,” Dallas says. “He’s the man who spooked Nikki.”
    “Are you sure?” I ask, but I can see from his expression that he is. “But why?” I look between the two men. “Maybe he just wanted to meet me before our appointment and then didn’t have the nerve?”
    The explanation sounds ridiculous even as I say it, but I like Frank and don’t want to consider the possibility that there’s anything nefarious going on.
    Beside me, Damien’s body has gone rigid, and his tone is just as tight. Whatever Frank is up to, I know he’s going to find out.
    “Do you want to go in and confront him?” Dallas asks, but Damien shakes his head.
    “No. I want to think. And I want to get a little more information on Frank Dunlop.”
    “Let me know if I can help,” Dallas says, which strikes me as funny. After all, the man runs a department store. How detailed can his employee background checks possibly be?
    “Too bad the device you pitched this morning isn’t already in prototype,” Damien says.
    “There are other ways to investigate people,” Dallas replies.
    “Very true. I’ll get Ryan on it in the morning.”
    I hug myself. I have no idea what device they’re talking about—and I want answers, too—but I still can’t help but feel that all of this is a misunderstanding. I mean, I
like
this man.
    “Damien—”
    He cuts me off with a tight shake of his head. “No.”
    “But—”
    “I know what you’re going to say, and yes, this may turn out to be nothing. But I’m not risking you. Not even for a second.”
    I nod. I know how futile arguing would be. More than that, I know he’s right. I’ve been burned—and badly—by people I liked before. People like Sofia, who’d drawn me in to her elaborate ruse, made me trust her, and then just about destroyed me.
    So, no, I’m not arguing. But that doesn’t mean