Page 92 of Ashes

“Tell me anyway.”

“I don’t want to get your hopes up, but Valentina thinks she found a pattern in some of the real estate contracts Barrera signed while your father was investigating him, but she needs a bit more time to figure out what it all means.”

“What did she find?”

“She thinks the electronic files contain crypto keys and that could have been how the communication was established with whoever set the fire since those contracts are accessible to the public. If we’re able to decrypt the keys?—”

“We’ll find the source,” I finished for him.

“Exactly. We’ll get him,” Kai reassured me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I sure hope so.

We caught each other up on work and finished eating. Once we were done, Kai got up and brought the dirty dishes to the sink. Since I cooked, he was on cleaning duty.

“Since we talked about my love life, what’s new with yours?” I asked, spinning my chair to face him.

“Why the sudden interest?” Kai asked without looking at me.

“Well, youdidask about mine.”

He finished loading the plates into the dishwasher before turning to face me. He leaned into the border of the sink and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Fair enough, but there’s nothing new on that front,” he said, but his face gave him away.

I narrowed my eyes. “You forget I know you. If you’re hiding something, then it must be good,” I said, teasing him.

Kai usually loved to talk, especially about himself, and tended to overshare, so to see him so quiet and deflecting only made me want to dig more because that meant someone was making him feel off-balance.

Since he wasn’t giving in, I added, “Who is it?”

He let out a long sigh, conceding. “There is someone, but it will never go anywhere.”

I gave him a look. Kai could get anyone he wanted. “Why not?” I asked.

“She doesn’t feel the same way,” he confessed, his shoulders dropping.

My brows furrowed. “She told you that?”

“No, she didn’t but?—”

“Well, if she hasn’t told you, then you can’t know,” I said before he finished his thought.

“Trust me, she doesn’t need to tell me. And it would complicate things.”

Complicate things.I wondered who this person was for him to say this. I wanted to push him about it more, but he cut me off before I could ask another question.

“I have some work to get done in preparation for this week. I’ll see you later,” he said before leaving the kitchen and heading toward his and Valentina’s wing.

Guess I’ll have to dig further another time.

I grabbed my laptop from my office and headed for my bedroom, deciding to get ahead of this week since I had the rest of the day free.

I stepped into my room and my eyes immediately caught on the rumpled sheets on my bed. The sight flooded my mind with flashbacks of Sienna’s gorgeous body on top of mine.

Not to mention the screams of pleasure she made still echoing inside my brain.

I groaned and changed the sheets, throwing the others into the washing machine before I settled on top of my bed.