14. Kingston
KINGSTON
I brace a hand on either side of the espresso machine, willing it to brew faster. Behind me, Alex sits at the island, his mug full of the steaming elixir. Gabe and I stayed up way too late on the couch, chatting about this and that. Now my eyes feel like my eyelids are made of sandpaper.
I might go for a swim and work out some of the aches. Or maybe G wants to go for a run.
When my cup is finally ready, I turn toward Alex and approach the island. He glances up from his tablet.
“We never talked last night.”
He nods, dropping his gaze to his mug. “We were a bit distracted.”
“Understatement,” I smirk, then blow on my coffee.
He gives me a quick rundown of how he came home to see her at lunch and then headed uptown, only to find her ex with his hands all over her. I’m not normally the jealous type. Competitive, sure. But there’s a raging heat under my skin that I can only explain as fury that someone would touch her.
“She’s ours,” I grind out, and he nods.
“Oh, he knows that now.” Alex sits back, arms crossed over his broad chest. “Well, he knows that she’s not his.”
The heat cools. I relax and return to blowing on my coffee.
“He told me to watch her back. Apparently, you were right. He is in bed with Lucinda.” He glances toward the front of the house, obviously looking and listening for Katherine. “And Lucinda seems particularly interested in Katherine’s inheritance.”
My brows knit. “Why?”
Alex sits back. “He said that Lucinda wants to buy out Cort.”
“Good morning,” Katherine sing-songs as she glides into the kitchen.
I glance over my shoulder at her. She, unlike me, looks well rested. Her hair is pulled back in a sleek, low ponytail, and she’s wearing a dark green loungewear set that makes her hair look like a polished penny.
My Wildfire is as pretty as a picture, and I really need to get her into that green dress at some point.
“Morning,” I murmur, and she shoots me a you-gonna-be-okay look.
I lift my coffee cup at her.
“Morning, Beauty,” Alex says, scooting out a chair for her.
“What’s this about your mom being interested in your inheritance?”
“Dude!” Alex says.
I ignore him. “I thought that dropped when you turned twenty-five?”
She glances between us and sighs, then collapses into the bar chair, hands folded in her lap. I see her defenses rising, the thick wall she kept around herself for so long. It took ages to chip away at it. To get her to let me in.
“What are we talking about?” Gabe asks, drying his hair with a fluffy white towel as he strides into the room.
Katherine, Alex, and I stare at him. Wordless. I don’t want to be the one to bring up a man who caused him so much pain. After what he told me last night, I wouldn’t piss on Henry Chanler’s grave if it were on fire.
“My inheritance,” Katherine says, fingers closing over the edge of the counter. It’s like she’s steadying herself.
Gabe stops short, towel atop his head. He glances from her to Alex to me.
“Remember the guy from the auction?” Alex asks.
Gabe drops his hand, then twists the towel like it did him wrong. “The fucker who was bidding against us?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t like that guy.”
“I talked to him yesterday after he cornered Katherine at lunch.”
“What?” Katherine and Gabe say at the same time. She swivels toward Alex, and Gabe circles the island.
“He seems to think I need to be watching your back,” Alex says to her.
“You already do,” Gabe says.
Alex nods, glancing over Katherine’s head at his best friend. “I do, but he specifically thinks that Lucinda is after Katherine’s inheritance.”
The screen on Alex’s tablet lights up, a little notification appearing in the middle. He glances at it and sighs.
“I mean, she’s been on my case a lot recently, but that’s just how she is,” Katherine says.
“He seems to think your mother wants to buy out Cort but doesn’t have the money.”
“What? That’s crazy!” Katherine’s jaw drops.
Alex’s phone rings, and he curses. In front of him, the tablet lights up with a flurry of notifications. “You’ve gotta be kidding me?—”
“Take it,” Katherine urges. “This’ll keep.”
I’ve never seen a man look so torn. Only when she squeezes his forearm and gives him a nod and a smile does he answer the call with a terse “Speak.”
After pushing back his chair, he stalks off, his voice echoing through the house.
“Why would your mother do that?” I hedge.
Katherine shrugs and tosses up her hands. “She’s crazy?”
I can’t tell if that’s a statement or a question. She stands and reaches across the island, snagging my mug. “I just need a sip.”
“It’s all yours.”
She takes a big sip, eyes closing, and then sits back in her chair. After a long moment, she nods and glances up at me. “I needed that.”
Alex’s footsteps echo across the floor, announcing his return. “I’ve gotta go. There was a break-in last night in Boston. One of my guys was caught in the crossfire?—”
Katherine’s out of her seat, mug forgotten. “Oh, Alex.” She slips her arms around his waist. Gabe’s right there with her, squeezing Alex’s shoulder.
“Go,” she urges.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She presses a hand over his heart, shaking her head. “Don’t even worry about us. We’ll be fine. Take care of your team.”
Cupping his cheek, she stretches up and pulls him down for a quick kiss. “Love you. Be careful.”
There’s a funny pang in the region of my heart.
He cups her cheeks between his hands, his skin in contrast to hers. “ You be careful.” He drops a kiss against her lips. “Love you.”
Alex nods at Gabe and me and then strides off. Katherine follows him to the door.
They’re to the I love yous already.
Huh.
I mean, I love Katherine. She worked her way under my skin years ago.
But this is different. Those whispered words speak of deeper feelings.
Once again, emotions roll through me that I have trouble naming.
All I know is I want that, for me and her.
I want to be able to say those words out loud, without fear or second-guessing myself or worrying about all the things that could go wrong.
Once Alex has gone and Katherine comes back for her coffee, I realize just how little Gabe has said about everything. I watch him watch her, trying in vain to figure out what he’s thinking.
“What a mess,” Katherine mumbles to her mug.
I turn back to the machine and start making a fresh cup. “Can I get you one, G?”
Gabe nods. “Thanks.”
“I hope his guy is okay,” Katherine says, sounding a thousand miles away.
Me too. Alex seemed genuinely concerned, which doesn’t surprise me. He’s a good guy. Honest to a fault. It’s easy to see why Gabe sticks to him like fly paper.
As soon as the espresso is ready, I pour it into two mugs. “You want a latte or straight up?”
“Better make it a latte,” he says. Then to Katherine, “Why would your mother need your inheritance to buy out Cort?”
There’s a long pause, and I swear I can feel Katherine rolling answers around in her brain like marbles. Finally, her coffee cup settles onto the counter.
“That’s a good question. If I had to wager, I’d say that she’s burned too many bridges. She and my grandfather both made deals that earned them enemies. I doubt she could raise the funds because of that.”
I hand Gabe his coffee and note the tic in his jaw.
“Her grandfather was a predator, but you already knew that,” I say softly.
“She honestly thinks you’d just give her the money?” he asks.
I slide in next to him and rest a reassuring hand on his back.
“Apparently,” she says.
“Why?”
He sounds utterly baffled. But then, he knows how families are.
His parents expected him to toe the line, fall into step behind his brothers, and do his chores without question.
The Chanlers aren’t that much different.
Except their farm is inside four stone walls with a fleet of tellers instead of cows.
“She thinks she molded me in her image and that I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
“Win?” I ask.
She gives a single nod, hands circling her mug. “I’m sure Grandfather wanted to buy out his partner. That’s just who he was. Controlling to a fault. But the Cort family stopped playing his games a long time ago. As far as I can tell, they’ve kept their noses clean.”
“But Henry didn’t.”
She stares at Gabe. He stares at his coffee. “Henry didn’t.”
“Shocker,” Gabe mutters.
She huffs a laugh.
“Why is she on your case now?” I ask. “Your birthday is in October.”
She rolls her eyes and pushes her chair back. Circling the island, she opens a half dozen cabinets until she finds a bowl. “Because my grandfather changed the stipulations of the trust.”
“What? When?” That’s the most Henry Chanler thing ever.
She shrugs, disappearing into the pantry and returning a moment later with a box of cereal.
Gabe inhales deeply. “What’s the new stipulation?”
She pours a heap of sugar-coated flakes, takes a deep breath and puts the box down. Only then does she turn and look at us. “I have to be married before my twenty-fifth birthday.”