Read Under His Control (For His Pleasure, Book 18) for Free Online Page B

toast. Sipped coffee.
    Kennedy tried to relax and be at ease, despite the fact that she’d been dreaming of this moment intensely. Despite the fact that this was the primary reason she’d initially come to live in New York.
    Of course, that had changed recently. Now she knew that she belonged in New York, regardless of what happened with Nicole.
    Riley had calmed down enough that Nicole was able to put her back in the stroller. She turned her attention to Kennedy again. “Can I trust you to stop pursuing this connection between us?” she asked.
    Kennedy sat back as if slapped. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”
    “The fact is, I’m not ready to deal with this…with you.” Nicole looked away, her expression one of deep discomfort. “Maybe if you’d approached me differently, I could have found a way to look at the silver lining. I always wanted a sister growing up.”
    “Me too.” Kennedy’s eyes were filling with tears and she didn’t want Nicole to see her weakness, so she looked away and willed herself to stop crying.
    “I wanted a sister, but this is something else. It’s changed the way I see my father and my family and, to be quite frank, I don’t know that I could ever trust you after the way you went about contacting me. It was so deceptive and just plain strange. I can’t believe that someone who would do what you did, could ever be the kind of person I’d want in my life.”
    Kennedy nodded slowly. “So you brought me to breakfast to tell me to stay out of your life.”
    Now Nicole did meet Kennedy’s gaze. “I thought I owed it to you to have this conversation in person.”
    Kennedy tilted her chin up, defiant. “Thank you for that courtesy.”
    “I’m a very direct, honest person,” Nicole said.
    “And I’m not?”
    “I didn’t say that,” Nicole replied.
    “No, but you implied it.” Kennedy shook her head. “I guess I should have expected this, and I suppose I deserve it. But I’d hoped for something else. I’d really hoped we could become friends.”
    At this, she thought she imagined that Nicole wavered a little bit. She seemed, for the first time, a bit uncertain. But then Nicole appeared to recover her sense of purpose.
    “Perhaps we could have become friends under different circumstances.”
    “I know, I know. It’s my fault that we’re under these circumstances.”
    “Let’s not go in circles,” Nicole said. “Will you honor my request? Will you leave me alone, leave Riley alone? And stay away from my husband?”
    Kennedy flinched. “I don’t have any interest in Red.”
    “I just want you to maintain a respectful distance from me and my family.”
    “Of course, I’ll honor that.”
    “Thank you,” Nicole said. She sighed, played with her coffee cup, spinning it first one direction and then another as she spoke. “Now, I wanted to talk to you about your work at the company.”
    “I’ve been fired. I’m very clear on that point,” Kennedy said. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of making a stink about it.”
    “You haven’t been fired.”
    Kennedy’s brow furrowed. “What?”
    “Maybe you will be fired. I don’t know. But I spoke to Red about it, and we both agreed that you shouldn’t be let go from your position at the company.”
    A surge of conflicting emotions threatened to overwhelm Kennedy. She took a deep breath and tried to make sense of things. “I don’t understand why you’re keeping me on.”
    “If you can maintain a respectful distance from Red and me and anyone else in my side of the family, then I don’t see why you should have to leave your job. But I’ll be honest—I’m not sure if you’re capable of doing that, or if you even want to. Since the entire reason you started working for us was to gain entry into our lives, it’s probably not the kind of job you’d do without that being part of the package. Or is it?” Nicole fixed Kennedy with a particularly intense gaze.
    Kennedy felt exposed, but she also