Before he could answer, the doorbell buzzed. Who the heck could that be? She walked to the door.
“Check who it is before you open it,” James ordered.
She sighed. “Fine.” She glanced through the peephole, the only nod to security the building had, and did a double take.
“Who is it?” James demanded.
She gave him an impatient look then opened the door without answering. This wasn’t his house, and she wasn’t his to boss around, much as he seemed to think he had the right.
“Hi, Sloan.”
Funny thing was, it wasn’t her that spoke. And after a brief glance, Sloan didn’t even look her way. She should have felt a bit annoyed, considering they were both in her apartment and weren’t paying her the slightest bit of attention. But the way they stared at each other, as though there was a whole lot being said in just a look, stole all her attention. She looked from one to the other. What’s going on here?
“James. What are you doing here?” Sloan scowled then broke their strange staring contest by looking down at her. “What are you doing with Kinley? Did you search her out because of me?”
“Why would he do that?” Kinley asked.
Sloan stepped in then shut the door behind him. “Because that’s the sort of thing he does. He manipulates and uses people to get what he wants. If you wanted to talk to me, James, you could have just picked up the phone.”
“Oh, so you’re answering my calls then? You haven’t answered any in the last four years, why would now be any different?” There was a bitter note to James’s voice. She stared from one to the other. What was going on here?
Sloan’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything, instead he ran his gaze over her. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she said, although she felt a little off-balance. The animosity sparking off Sloan was almost frightening in its intensity and James had grown as cold as she’d ever seen him. Completely closed off. She felt like she’d entered a minefield, in the dark, with no map or light to guide her.
“How do the two of you know each other?”
“I don’t know what he’s told you,” Sloan said. “Or even how he found you, but don’t believe a word of it. He’s a liar. Whatever he said he’s using you to get to me.”
He seemed to believe that, and yet . . . James had no idea she was dating Sloan. He’d thought Gary was her boyfriend. He couldn’t have been lying, could he? Why would he? Why would he use her to get to Sloan? And how would that have worked, considering she hadn’t seen or spoken to Sloan in weeks?
“James isn’t using me to get to you,” she said firmly.
James gave her a look of surprise. He obviously hadn’t expected her to speak up for him. She wondered why he wasn’t defending himself. He usually had no problems putting people in their place. But there was something about the way he looked at Sloan that told her he felt something deeply. And they obviously had a history.
“You might think that—”
“I know that,” she interjected. “Why would he use me to get to you when you aren’t even talking to me? How would he have any idea we know each other?”
“Because when James wants something nothing stands in his way. And he doesn’t care who he hurts.”
Obviously, at one stage, Sloan had been one of those people hurt by James. She glanced over at James. He was harder to read, but she could see the tense way he held himself. Perhaps Sloan hadn’t been the only one hurt.
“I’m not sure what’s going on here, but James had no idea I was dating you.” Was being the operative word. “He thought I was dating Gary.”
“Gary? That loser?”
“Yeah.”
“Like you’d ever look at him.”
Just the thought made her shudder.
“So, what is he doing here then? In your apartment?” Sloan asked suspiciously.
“Um, well . . .” she guessed the best answer was an honest one. “He’s my new boss.”
“What?” Sloan pierced her with those dark brown eyes. “Your boss?”