Pride & Pleasure (The KNIGHT Brothers Book 1) (7 page)

“How about you? Have you ever been in love?”

“Nice changing the subject.” Her heart kicked up. She wanted to lie, wanted to pretend that she was worldly and mature, instead of feeling like the lamb being led to slaughter. “No, I haven’t, Victor.”

“It’s interesting that you have such a decisive opinion about something you’ve never experienced.”

“Isn’t one of your rules…keep an open mind?”

“Touché, madam. Now, have you traveled? I imagine you’ve been all over the world playing your music.”

“No. I’ve never even been outside of the country.” Were they back to off-the-cuff conversation?

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” he said. “Certainly you have a place you’d like to visit.”

“Paris. Tuscany. Bora Bora. I am a dreamer.” She smiled.

“Those places are magnificent. However, I see you more as Pula, Croatia. Full of culture for daytime exploring and the nightlife is hot and exotic, insanely magnificent. A place like Pula definitely brings out a person’s true inner self.”

Her thighs throbbed and she shifted. “My name and hot and exotic have never been used in the same sentence.”

He cocked his head as his long index finger moved over the edge of the table, then slowly made a figure-eight shape. Her nipples budded, thinking how wonderful his hands would be touching her, exploring her. The temperature rose and sweat beaded between her breasts. Using descriptive words like exotic, hot, and magnificent made her adrenaline pump faster.

Max stepped into the room, drowning the heated moment like an ice cold shower. “Dessert, sir?”

“Later, Max. For now, I have something to show Miss Pine.” Victor pushed back his chair and came around to help her up, which she found very considerate from a man who she couldn’t quite figure out if he was a gentleman or not.

He held out the crook of his arm, which she took and he led her out of the dining room. Her curiosity piqued as they headed for the staircase, tingles shot down her spine, nestling like a massage in her bottom. Where was he taking her? Had she missed something? They’d only been talking, and now here they were, heading upstairs. Being that she’d never been in a situation like this, she had no clue if she’d given him the wrong message. She stopped on the first rung and tugged her hand free from his arm. “Uhh…I…did I give you the wrong impression?” Her cheeks flamed.

One thick brow lifted. “Wrong impression?”

“I-I won’t sleep with you,” she muttered. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might break a rib.

A smile danced at the corner of his mouth. “I understand, and neither am I asking you to.” His eyes lit up. “I’m not taking you to my bedroom, Avary. I’m only taking you to meet my sister. After all, this is why you came.”

Her mind was reeling. She’d embarrassed herself and wanted to flee back to the safety of her bedroom, but that would only drive the nail in deeper. Straightening her spine, she cleared her throat. “That would be great. Does she want to meet me?”

“Of course. I told you that she’s a huge fan of your music.” He once again offered his arm and she accepted it as they started up the stairs, side by side.

“She didn’t wish to eat dinner with us?”

“I’m sure she would have if at all possible.”

Her inquisitiveness magnified, but she didn’t ask any more questions. She just concentrated on how much heat radiated off his body, seeping through her thin dress and erupting an avalanche of sensations along her flesh and inside of her bloodstream. She’d never been affected by a man this way, not even her high school crush. She didn’t want to humiliate herself, which meant she had to keep a tight rein on her thoughts and feelings.

“Here we are.” He stopped at a closed door on the opposite end of the hall from where her suite was located.

She nervously moistened her lips. His gaze fell to that spot and she could have sworn she heard him suck in a deep breath. “I’m nervous,” she admitted.

A half-smile carved his lips. “No need to be. She’s much kinder and welcoming than I am.” His gaze twinkled.

“Or maybe she gives better first impressions?”

“Does that mean I might be changing your impression of me?” he asked softly.

“Let’s take it minute by minute.” She couldn’t hold back the smile that needed freedom.

“Let’s do this, shall we?” He pushed open the door and they stepped into a dimly lit suite.

Avary darted a quick glance around, then focused on the pale blue cloth dividing part of the room. The curtain moved, then slid open and a woman dressed in scrubs stepped out. “Mr. Knight, Miss Pine. Angelina has been anticipating your visit.”

“How does she know me?” Avary whispered to Victor.

“I forewarned her that we’d be up to see Angelina,” he whispered back. “Hello, Sandy. How is she doing this evening?”

“She was tired, but looking forward to having company. I think she’s tired of seeing this old mug of mine.” Sandy motioned for them to follow her and she pulled back the curtain the rest of the way.

Avary sucked in a breath, but quickly controlled herself. In the hospital bed, surrounded by IV and medical equipment, was a too-skinny woman with long red hair fanned out over a white pillow. Her eyes were closed.

Victor approached the side and touched her slender hand. “Angelina,” he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open and a small smile soon followed. “Vic.” Her voice rattled. “Have you brought my visitor?”

“Yes, indeed, I have.” He motioned for Avary to come closer. “Just as you had said, Ang. She looks much different in person.” He waved Avary even closer.

She swallowed against the constriction in her throat as she stepped next to the bed, a strong odor of medicine reaching her nostrils. Angelina had big green eyes and even the dark smears lining her lids and the milky shade of her transparent skin didn’t hide the fact that she was once a beautiful woman. The sheet was pulled high on her chest, but an odd looking gadget stuck out from the V of her shirt.

“Miss Avary Pine. I warned my brother that you are captivating…and those eyes. Bluer than the clean water off the dock.”

Avary’s cheeks burned. She lifted her gaze and met Victor’s. He smiled and stepped back, reading the chart hanging on the end of the bed. She brought her attention back to Angelina. “Thank you for asking me to come here. I do hope I will have the honor of playing for you.”

Angelina’s smile made it easy to ignore all of the tubes coming and going from her frail body. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t join you for dinner, but I’m resting up tonight so that I can manage making an appearance tomorrow evening at the dinner party. I wouldn’t miss your performance for anything, not even cancer.”

“I’m very honored that you admire my music, but I must say I’m quite surprised I still have a fan.”

Angelina laughed and it was melodic. Some of the paleness of her face was exchanged for a rosy hue. “You can’t get rid of me that easy, right Vic? He’s been expecting me to kick the bucket any day now.”

“Don’t be silly.” Victor replaced the chart and offered Angelina a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ll probably outlast us all.”

“The only chance of that is if an apocalypse occurs. Or maybe even a zombie apocalypse like in that show we watch every Saturday. Vic hates it, but he humors me.”

“Now that, I can’t deny.” Avary hadn’t realized he was standing so close behind her and she jumped at the sound of his voice. He chuckled and the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck made her tremble. “It’s always amazing the things you can talk me into. Even when we were little you came up with all of the mischievous plans, and the boys were always the ones who got into trouble.”

“My brothers were equally as naughty as I. It just so happened that I had skilled my sorrowful expression and how to manipulate myself out of trouble with a cleverly placed pout. As you can see, Victor never has learned the skill.” Angelina sighed. “Now, Victor, why don’t you pull that chair up for this lovely lady so that she and I can chat. Lord knows I hate being in this bed with no company to speak of.” She gave Victor a narrowed expression.

“You know I come as often as I can.” He grabbed the plastic chair, placed it next to the bed and patted it. Once Avary sat down, he bent and whispered in her ear, “You watch her. She’ll have you convinced that I’m actually a great guy.” He pulled away and a splash of cold air settled over Avary.

“Leave us alone, Vic.” Angelina pointed toward the door.

“Of course.” He kissed her cheek and took his exit.

Avary made a mental note not to stare at all of the tubes and wires, but it seemed that her gaze wanted to naturally fall on them.

“Quite daunting, aren’t they?”

Avary quickly jerked her chin toward Angelina, ready to deny the charge, but she knew the other woman didn’t need to hear any sugar coated answers. “Yes, they are.”

“Cancer scares most people. Hell, it scares me, but if this disease plans to kill me then I plan to live my life as I choose. Of course, Vic didn’t want the dinner party because he said it’s morbid to have a farewell dinner for friends.”

“A farewell dinner?”

“I’m under the impression that most of my friends won’t come and visit because they don’t have a clue what to say to a dying woman, or how to not feel sorry for me. So I’m going to make it easy for them. I’m going to have one last party in my honor. They all love parties. Honestly, I don’t want them to see me like this either. It’s not a pretty sight.” She chuckled. “I hope I haven’t made you uncomfortable.”

Avary shook her head. “No. I just didn’t have a clue that…well, I was coming for the reason that you stated.”

“I didn’t think my brother would tell you. If Vic gave you a hard time, it’s only because he refuses to get in touch with reality. I’m not getting any better. He’s frustrated of course that this time I decided not to do the chemo treatments.”

“This time?”

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer over two years ago. In fact, I was at the hospital at the same time you were. I wish you could have met Vic then, but he said you were sleeping when he brought the flowers.”

It took Avary a good ten seconds to wrap her brain around what the other woman had said. “Wait…Victor came to see me? To bring flowers? I’m sorry, but I’m not sure why.”

Angelina’s eyes glazed and then she smiled. “I’m afraid he took a bit of motivating to bring the flowers. I admit, I had a secret motive in sending him. The poor guy needed some escapism.”

“Then he brought the glass panda too.” Avary brought her fingers to her mouth, attempting to make sense of this.

“Oh, so he brought a gift. I must say, I’m pleased. The panda was all his own doing.”

“I must admit, it got me through a lot. Something so simple, yet important.”

Angelina chuckled which led to a bout of coughing. Nurse Sandy slipped past Avary and handed Angelina a small container. “Here’s your medicine, honey.”

She took the clear cup, shook the pills inside like they were a fancy cocktail, and swallowed them all at one time. The nurse held up a large plastic container, with the hospital logo on the side, and Angelina drank from the straw.  “Down the hatch,” she muttered. “Now, tell me. How has my brother behaved?” she asked once the nurse left the room. Avary wasn’t sure how honest to be. Angelina must have caught on. “No worries. I won’t tell him you told me.”

“The first impression left a lot to be desired, but he made up for it during dinner. I actually was surprised we had a nice conversation.”

One thin brow lifted above Angelina’s curious gaze. “Dinner? Great conversation? Then he’s on the right track.”

“The right track, you think?”

“Of being the perfect host.”

“I’m sure he was only doing it out of obligation.”

She shrugged. “I don’t think my brother has ever done anything that he’s not really wanted to do, even if he’ll tell you I forced him into a few things, like the flowers at the hospital.”

“Angelina, I’m a little shocked in hearing that he left me the panda. You see, maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve kept it all of this time. I’m not sure why, but it brought me a sense of peace.” Avary blinked back moisture.

The other woman grinned. “He’s like that you know. He hides away a lot of his emotions and kindness because he’s been hurt in the past.”

“I-I guess I thought he’d never been in love.”

Angelina shook her head. “No, he hasn’t. I’m referring to our mother passing and our father being emotionally absent. They were once very close, and after Rose died, things changed.”

Some of Victor’s aloofness made sense. “I’m sorry. That must have been tough for all of you.”

“He doesn’t much care for my friends, but I told him that if he doesn’t come to my dinner party with a smile on his face, I’m going to come back and haunt him. Just for reference, I want you sitting alongside me during dinner. You’re the guest of honor. One beautiful song is all I request.”

“I don’t mind playing the entire time.”

“I wouldn’t hear of it. When Vic told me you agreed to come, I felt instant relief. You know, I’ve been a fan since I went to see you at your first solo performance. I didn’t expect to get blown away by what I witnessed. You play with such talent.”