Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
His voice is hard, and yet it radiates with emotion. He’s coming out of his skin, I realize now. He’s really worried, beyond just trying to be cautious. I press my hands to his face. “Let’s go talk to Royce, then you and I will talk.”
He covers my hands. “You understand that I—”
“I don’t need you to finish that sentence. I understand. I just—can we talk about this alone?”
He takes my hand and kisses it. “The sooner the better.” He laces his fingers with mine and we walk into the kitchen where everyone has gathered around the island. Lauren has set a bottle of pills on the counter with water. “Thank you,” I say, stepping to the spot across from her, while Reese stands across from Royce. Savage is at the endcap between Reese and Royce.
“What’s the assessment?” Reese asks.
Royce replies, “We have footage of Debbie with an attorney named Wilson Moore, who I believe is your competitor.”
“Hardly,” Reese replies. “He’s just not that good and I know this because—”
“You went to school with him,” Royce supplies. “We’re operating on the assumption that he’s looking to ruin you, and get a payoff. Is the baby his? Could be. Right now, we’re working through all of his electronic data, looking for proof. What we need you and Reid to do is buy time with Debbie. Keep her from going public before we can take them down. Even if Reid gets Debbie to blackmail you, something damning from Moore seals an arrest.”
“This is good news then in some ways, right?” I ask. “We know what we’re dealing with.”
“This doesn’t make Debbie any less crazy,” Savage says. “This just means that Moore knew how to manipulate that crazy.”
“I want Cat to get out of town,” Reese says. “Go to my family ranch and stay off the radar.”
“While I’d feel the same way,” Royce says. “I don’t want to make a sudden move that somehow triggers a retreat that would be temporary and keeps us from taking these two down. Give it twenty-four hours. If between us and Reid we have nothing, then yes. We’ll get her off the radar with protection.”
Reese’s jaw clenches and I can tell he’s not pleased. “What about the photo?”
“We’ll run it for prints,” Royce says, “but my gut is that it’s simply meant to pressure you into settling. Reid’s already told her you’ll settle. He just needs to drag this out and make them think they have a chance. That’s what I told him, but I also said that I’d confirm once I talked to you.”
“When was the last time you talked to Reid?” Reese asks before I can.
“Right before we got on the elevator. She’s still in his office.” He narrows his eyes on Reese and I have this sense that he gets how on edge Reese is and as a friend, he knows very well how abnormal that is. “Why don’t we let you two have some time to deal with this your way? Give me until five. I’ll stop back by, but I’ll call if we get a big breakthrough.”
Lauren rounds the island, hugs me, and Reese walks everyone to the door. I wait for him in the kitchen and when he doesn’t return timely, I exit to the living room to find him standing at the window, staring out over the city. I walk to him and squeeze between him and the window. “Talk to me.”
His fingers tangle into my hair. “Talking before fucking is overrated.” His mouth closes down on mine.
Chapter sixty-nine
Cat
We’re still in front of the window, and Reese isn’t just kissing me. He’s devouring me, his tongue licking into my mouth, one hand caressing my breast while the other drags my skirt up my hips. His hand cups my backside, fingers stroking along the seam, dipping low until he’s teasing my sex from behind. I moan into his mouth, our lips parting as he cups both cheeks and lifts me. My shoes don’t make the ride, and I wrap my legs around his waist.
He carries me to the couch and I lower my legs, sliding down his body, and he drags my dress over my head, tossing it as he shrugs out of his jacket. I reach for his tie and pull it away, my fingers already working his buttons and he impatiently pulls it over his head, tossing it aside. He cups my face. “You know what I need.”
“Yes,” I whisper because I know this man. I know when he’s about to explode when he is at a rare limit and needs me.
He kisses me and my hands slide down his zipper, over the hard ridge of his erection, stroking him even as I unzip him. His cellphone rings. I pull back. “Your phone.”
He tangles fingers in my hair. “Ask me if I care right now, Cat.”