Staring out the window, I wonder where she is.

My Firefly finally flew away.

Part of me finds an inner joy in the knowledge that she was strong enough to save herself. The larger part of me, definitely my more selfish side, misses my soul mate.

I’ve watched the videos countless times. The security camera shows Sara Jane walking out of the office and through the lobby. Once she reached the garage, she took her car and disappeared No one has heard from her since, except her parents. Once.

It was clear they weren’t going to tell me her whereabouts, if they even knew where she was. I didn’t ask. I knew I’d go after her, but she left for a reason.

Over a month later I’m still in limbo. I can’t seem to let her go. Despite the chaos of working through the mess my father left behind, she consumes my days. My nights are lost to memories of her, and us. So many years spent living for the wrong reason when I had the right reason to live all along.

A knock draws my attention from the view to the door. Kate, a beautiful blonde assistant hired for the transition to replace Kimberly, stands in the doorway. Her skirt is tight. Her heels sky high. Her lips are red, drawing the bees to the honey. The thin belt that wraps around her emphasizes the curve of her waist. “The movers will be here shortly, Mr. Kingwood. The car is downstairs. It’s time for us to go.”

With my hands flat on the glass surface of my father’s desk, I stay seated in his chair a minute longer. Blood still covers the carpet, the evidence remaining when other signs of that night are gone, like Firefly. I stand. “Thank you, Kate.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

She thinks I’m that guy. The one who likes to play daddy to a pretty sugar baby. She thinks her flirting is subtle when it’s not. She thinks she has a shot when she has none.

A month ago that response would have been quicker, that thought immediate. These days I’m not so sure I should be closed off to attractive opportunities. My future with Sara Jane is unknown. Do I hold out hope that she’ll return just like the firefly she’s named after? Or do I move on?

I walk out of my father’s office and through the sea of empty cubicles, the silence of the executive offices, and the stilted air that lives long after his death. The employees have moved on with hefty severance deals and the bulk of the company is locked up in legal battles, everyone coming out of the woodwork wanting their share. One million here. Five million there. The remaining pieces of it sold below market. I don’t care. My wealth is beyond Kingwood Enterprises. The dirty dealings of Daddy Dearest will eventually be put to rest. In the elevator, she undoes her top button and runs the tips of her fingers along her collarbone. “What if we grabbed a drink together?”

Blatant.

I lean against the opposite wall, angling my head as her fingers slide farther down until another button comes undone. “What would happen if we did?”

The question confuses her at first, but she catches on quickly. Her smile is as pretty as her gray-green eyes. “I could take your mind off things for a while.” She moves closer and touches my shirt, her fingertips slipping between two buttons.

Taking hold of her hand, I still it and lower it away from me. “How?”

Not faltering under my disinterested gaze, she says, “We’d start with a drink, or two.” She does demure well, though I see right through her. “I don’t live that far from here. I have a stocked bar.”

“What if we skipped the foreplay, and I fucked you right here in the elevator? Is that what you want?” Kate stands there staring at me with her red lips parted, but then she licks them slowly, trying to keep my attention. Her desperation for me makes the elevator hotter than it was a few floors up. When she reaches for the emergency stop button, I catch her wrist. “It was a question, not an offer.”

Her chest heaves, and she breathes out, “Yes. I’d let you fuck me right now in this elevator.”

I hold her gaze, but she’ll never replace what I had, what I tasted, what I felt when I was with Sara Jane. I’m fucked. The effect she had on my life still persists, still affecting every aspect, even ones she shouldn’t any longer. She left. She left me.

Backing across the elevator as if the devil himself knew playing with fire would get him burned, I look at this woman who is willing to give me anything, even her dignity, in exchange for a small piece of my fortune. I know that’s what she’s after. Sara Jane would have never lowered herself for wealth. Hell, she would barely let me buy her dinner.

Kate’s breathing is heard, even with distance, her fingers moving against the buttons of her shirt like she doesn’t know whether to take it off or button up. I’m about to tell her what she should do when the door opens, the ding heard loudly above. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not single.” I walk out of this hotbox.

“I heard your girlfriend left you.”

My feet stop, the arrow she shoots right on target. Yes, my girlfriend left me. Those are the facts I’m having to face. She took my heart, my love, and my soul with her. I turn around and see hope in her eyes, as if her low blow will change my mind. “I misspoke. I’m not available.” I turn back and head for the waiting car. Climbing inside, I slam the door closed and nod to the driver to leave.

The sun has set and the lights outside are flashing through the dark-tinted windows that hide me inside. The media has been incessant in getting the story of my father’s death. As the head of a billion-dollar company, you don’t get to commit suicide without piquing the interest of many people. I hate the attention his death has brought, dragging my mother’s death back into the spotlight with him. And the worst thing is he took away my chance at justice for her murder. Even in death, he took away what had driven me for so long.

My life is now lived under a microscope. As much as it hurts that she left, it’s times like these that I’m glad Sara Jane got out. Taking my phone from my pocket, I call Cruise to check in.

“King.”

I don’t have time for conversation, so I get to the point. “Update me.”

“There’s action in the lower fourth. Chad thinks it’s the same guys who lead us to April, but I’m not sure. Could be the other guys.”

“The ones who kicked our asses?” I ask, followed by a chuckle that’s anything but amused.

“The very ones.”

“I wouldn’t mind meeting them in a dark alley again.”

“This time we’ll be prepared.”

“Set it up.”

“Already done.” He breaks character to ask, “How are you holding up?”

“The office is officially closed. I just left for the last time.” Looking at my watch, I sigh. “I have dinner with the transition team. As soon as it’s over, I’ll message you for the location.”

“I’ll be ready. And King?”

“Yeah.”

“No word today.”

“Me either.”

I hang up just as my car pulls up to the manor. It’s too quiet, the employees already gone or retired for the evening. It’s always too quiet now. I head up to my quarters, aware of the fact that what used to be my haven is now more like a tomb. The rest of the house is haunted with my father’s sins, but my bedroom is only haunted by Sara Jane.

My pockets are emptied on the silver tray on the coffee table and I flop down on the couch, exhausted. She would laugh at the tray and probably crack a joke asking where my matching spoon is. I lie back and close my eyes with a smile on my face . . .

Sara Jane smiles and my world is brighter for it. Leaning against my bike, I uncross my arms. I want to be ready for her when she reaches me.

Damn if her cheeks aren’t turning a deeper shade of pink as she approaches. My sweet girl. “Did you get it?”

She finally reaches me, her smile even bigger despite the rolling of the eyes. “You’re worse than my parents.”

“Hand it over.” She hands me the envelope. I open it and scan down. All A’s. “You’re so fucking smart.”

“Remember our bet?” she asks, her hand going to her hip.

I remember, but I think I might tease her just like I did by setting the bait that she bit hard. “What bet was that?”

“Oh noooo. You don’t get out of it. If I made straight A’s, you were taking me to your house.”

House . . . “About that—”

She pokes me in the chest. “A deal is a deal, Alexander.”

Grabbing her wrist, I stop her relentless poking and pull her closer for a kiss. “I’ll follow through.” I give her a wink. “I always do.”

We’ve been through a lot. She’s seen the side of me I’ve tried to hide, the side I was forced to share to hold on to her. And she’s still here despite how badly a night partying with my old schoolmates went. I vowed to myself to make it up to her. She wouldn’t say I needed to, but I do.

I went to talk to Cruise out back that night and came inside to find Lanie Monroe and her posse cornering Sara Jane. They couldn’t accept that it wasn’t that I didn’t want a girlfriend. It was that I didn’t want them.

I’m shit though. My father always told me I was, and I pushed her so far that I thought she would run, proving me right. She didn’t.

She stayed.

I just wonder if she’ll stay after coming to my house. She survived a dinner with my father once. That she stuck with me afterward says a lot, but I also managed to keep her away since. I get her wanting to find her place in my life. She just doesn’t realize the place she already fills. What place do I fill in her life?

“Do you ever talk to anyone from your high school?”

“Sure. Shelly and Chad.”

“Any guys I should be aware of?”

She laughs. “No. Why? Are you jealous?”

“Yes. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m a jealous fucker.” I hand her a helmet. “And when it comes to you, I’m not changing. Come on. Time to pay my debt.”

Riding back to the manor, I drive slower than usual, take the curves in the road a little more carefully. I always do when she’s riding with me. For someone who never liked me riding a bike, she urges me to go faster. I think she gets it now. Risking my life is one thing. Risking hers is a whole other.

I stop at the gate and punch in the code. She asks, “You have a code?”

“It opens the gate.”

“You have a gate? How big is this house?”

“It’s called Kingwood Manor.”

Her chest presses and releases against my back when she sighs. “You live in a manor? Like a mansion isn’t big enough?”

“No. Mansions are smaller.” I pull to the other side of the gate. You can’t see the manor from here, so I take the opportunity to warn her. “It’s big. Really fucking big. I hate it.”

With her head resting on my back, her arms around my middle, she always reads me so well. “You don’t have to hold on to so much anger anymore. I love you, Alexander. I’m here for you. No one else.”

Looking at the long drive ahead that leads to Kingwood Manor, I held this part of my life back wanting to hold on to what we have so hard that I failed to recognize that she’d love me even if I lived in rubble. “You know, Firefly, one day I’m going to do right by you. You deserve it. If anyone deserves happiness, it’s you.”

“What you don’t see is you’ve already made me happy.”

I lift her hand and kiss it before saying, “Hold on tight.”

The mansion comes into view just over the hill and her hold tightens around me. I pull up out front. She swings her leg over and stands there, looking up with Kingwood Manor looming over us. “It’s . . . I’ve never seen anything like this. Not in real life. It looks right out of a travel guide for Europe.”

“It was in my mother’s family. My father liked it the moment he saw it. My mother used to say it was haunted.”

She looks at me wide-eyed. “Is it?”

Chuckling, I set her helmet on the bike. “Not by the dead.”

Walking toward the house, she stays a step behind me. “Sometimes you talk like you’re older.”

“I call it the curse of being an only child. I was stuck around adults all the time.”

“Do you wish you had a sibling?”

Stopping on the steps, I wait for her. “No. I’d not wish this life on anyone.”

“When you say things like that it hurts my heart. I’ll do anything I can to help you. Just tell me how.”

Wrapping her in my arms, I close my eyes. “You’re in my life. That’s all I need.” She’s about to say something, but stops herself and relaxes in my arms. When we part, I take her hand. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

We walk inside. It’s quiet like always. Though I know there are at least three to five employees working right now, the staff stays hidden for the most part. My father just likes things done. He doesn’t want to see it being done. “Are you hungry?”

“Not right now,” she says. “It’s beautiful in here. Lighter than I expected after seeing the outside.”

“My mother liked light and sunshine. After she died, my father had curtains put up along the back wall. Sometimes they’re open, but for the most part they stay closed now.” I can see the sadness on her face as she looks at a photo of my mom on the table in the entryway.

“Show me your room.”

I lead her into the main room and up the stairs to the second story on the south wing. Down the wood-covered hall that leads to my quarters. She whispers, “Is your dad’s room down here too?”

“No. His quarters are in the north wing.”

. . . My eyes open to the loud sound of a knock. Shit. How long was I out? I ramble up, rubbing my eyes. I open the door and see one of the maids. “Your guests are waiting in the dining room.”

“Fuck.” Scrubbing my face, I forgot. “Dinner?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Please let them know and make sure they have drinks.”

“They do.”

“Thank you.”

She curtsies when she backs away, so I add, “Don’t do that. I’m not my father.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Just call me Alexander.”

“Yes, Alexander.”

The cycle’s not going to be broken in one night. I need to make changes, but I have other more pressing business to handle first. Like this dinner. I’m dreading it. But like everything else right now, it needs to be dealt with so I can focus on more important business. Like Sara Jane. God, I miss her.

I splash water on my face and change shirts before heading downstairs to the dining room. The transition team is here to close out some final details to sell Kingwood Enterprises. Nastas O’Hare and Connor Johnson are seated at the far end of the table with half-full highball glasses in front of them. I stop before entering. “My father used to sit at the head of this table—he made many deals here that made Kingwood the billion-dollar corporation it is today.”

Nastas’s smarmy smile and fake laugh do him no favors. “You’re a very rich man, Alex.”

“Mr. Kingwood,” I correct his disrespect. “I’m not my father, but remove yourself from that seat.”

He stands quickly and shuffles around the table. “We, umm, brought the paperwork for you to sign. This will close out two deals tonight. That leaves three other divisions, and we have offers to sort through for those.”

Connor tosses paperwork down on the shiny wood surface. “We don’t have to take much of your time, Mr. Kingwood.”

Sarcasm coats my name when it leaves his mouth. I should punch him the fuck out, but this is business of a different sort. I have no intention of following in my father’s footsteps; I need this company off my shoulders. I sit at the head of the table and start reading over the contract they’re presenting. I only make it to page two before the dots connect. “This says the liaisons will receive a three percent fee. Your money was paid upfront by my father.”

Shifty Eyes Johnson starts stuttering some excuse, “We, uh, were t-told. A deal was made. We c-can’t change-ge it.”

“What do you mean a deal was made? On whose behalf?”

Nastas tells him to shut up and takes the opportunity to state his lies as if they’re truths. “Your father owes us a stake in the sale of these two divisions. We deserve it.”

“My father would never pay twice. The deal was cleared and paid months ago. He didn’t become wealthy by being a fool with his money.”

I notice how tightly fisted Nastas’s hand is balled. “Your father owes us. Since he’s dead. You take on his debt.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Threatening is an ugly word. We want what’s owed. Nothing more.”

“What did you do for my father other than try to steal money from him?”

“You have led a very sheltered life, Mr. Kingwood. Your father didn’t become wealthy from playing by the rules. So before you take your father’s reputation and set it on a pedestal, you should be careful how you choose to move forward. There is a lot of dirt out there that can blow back on you. I suggest you sign the papers and move on with your life.”

I lost any semblance of patience when the threats were thrown in. “Or what?”

“Or you’ll regret going back on a deal that your daddy made while you were off fucking up your life.”

One threat on top of another. Fucker. “I don’t know what you have on my father, but as you mentioned, he’s dead.” Keeping my eyes locked on him, I see a bead of sweat track down his forehead. I stand. “You come into my house with some shitty deal trying to steal my money. Our business is concluded.”

I walk around the table to leave but stop when Nastas warns, “You’re making a mistake, Alex. Sign the deal.”

Alex. Fucker.

In seconds, I have him pinned by the neck against a wood-paneled wall where a painting my mother loved hangs. “Don’t you ever fucking threaten me. And if you ever utter my name again, even as you bow at my feet, I will hunt you down and fucking rip you to pieces.”

I watch as his face turns red, blood trapped by my hand. From behind me, I hear a quivering Connor, “We-we’re sorry, Mr. Kingwood.”

Dropping him to the ground, I turn my back and leave. My message has been delivered. Fuck them. No one will threaten me. No one.