Allison glanced at Kellan through the rearview mirror, her thoughts spiraling like smoke. His kissing skills had surprised her, though she hadn’t analyzed the moment beyond its intensity. The kiss had simply seemed fitting, an impulsive reaction to the charged atmosphere.
The DNA test had confirmed they weren’t blood relatives, but the strange attraction, the deep connection that stirred her soul, was undeniable. She wasn’t naive or inexperienced in matters of the heart. Far from it. She knew Kellan felt something too—it was in his eyes, in the warmth of his touch. What it was, however, remained elusive, like trying to catch fog. But getting close to him would certainly give her easier access to her grandmother.
“He’s got moves, I’ll give him that. But why is he wasting away in that wheelchair?” Allison murmured.
Kellan presented a cool, indifferent mask to the world, but that kiss—so full of passion, so skillfully delivered—exposed an undercurrent of fire he’d kept hidden. Remembering that fleeting kiss, full of raw, almost destructive energy, she realized they had nearly burned together. Beneath their calm exteriors lay a mutual madness about to explode. It was what made Kellan so irresistibly captivating: cool and collected on the outside, but dangerously unhinged on the inside.
“How could someone like that love ceramics?” The thought amused her; the idea of someone as intense as Kellan devoting himself to such a meticulous, quiet art form seemed almost comical.
When she got home, Rebecca greeted her with a glass of ice water and a curious face. “Allison, darling, how was class today? Any little monsters misbehaving?”
Before Allison could respond, Rebecca’s sharp eyes fell on Allison’s slightly swollen, glistening lips. With Allison’s striking red lips, the added blush only made her more seductive. Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “Let it go. Your lips don’t look like that for show. Who kissed you?”
Grabbing Allison’s arm, Rebecca’s smile widened. “Come on, what are you hiding?”
“Uh… mosquito bite,” Allison said, quickly touching her lips.
But Rebecca clearly wasn’t buying it, so Allison took a sip of water, smoothly shifting gears. “I taught a talented girl today. She only needed one demonstration and she nailed my technique perfectly. Her hands are steady like a surgeon’s, but she’s so wrapped up in her own little world it’s a shame. You know, art takes more than skill, it takes inspiration from life. If you’ve never really felt nature, no matter how well you recreate a landscape, it’s still just an imitation. Her work lacks soul, but I have a soft spot for her. She’s autistic, and that’s a difficult path to navigate. But we’ll take it slow.”
Rebecca, uninterested in the intricacies of pottery, raised an eyebrow. “So you went to the Lloyds’ today. Any progress?”
“You mean clues? Nothing that obvious. No one’s leaving breadcrumbs for me to follow.” Allison’s tone was casual, but then she dropped the bombshell. “But did you know Kellan wears a necklace?”
Rebecca blinked. “A necklace? No, I’ve never noticed.” Kellan always wore his collar buttoned all the way up, looking like something out of a business magazine. Who would think to look for a necklace in all that formality?
“The design matches the snake bracelet my mother left me,” Allison continued. “The craftsmanship is identical. She says it was her mother’s.” Rebecca’s eyes widened in genuine shock. She knew how long Allison had been following leads on that bracelet. Finding this connection at the Lloyd mansion was completely unexpected.
“You’re kidding. You two aren’t secretly brothers, right?”
Allison shook her head. “No. The DNA results came back clean. There’s no blood relation. Kellan is his mother’s biological son. Although his mother, Gianna Lloyd, died years ago, so she’s not my connection. That just leaves his grandmother, Kinslee. I have to meet her, no matter what it takes.”
Rebecca nodded slowly, understanding the gravity of Allison’s discovery. “You know I’m here if you need help.” As the conversation turned back to more serious matters, Rebecca seemed to realize that Allison had deftly dodged the original topic. Her smile returned, playful and sly.
“Allison, I think Mr. Lloyd has a soft spot for you. I’ve never seen him act like this with anyone else. And knowing you…” Rebecca leaned closer, her voice mocking. “Come on, be honest. Are you using him?”