Chapter 25
As I came down gradually, silence descended over the basement like a protective fog that shielded us from the outside world. Every few seconds, a long, satisfied exhale would dent it.
But not break it.
We lay wrapped up in sweat and each other, loathe to fracture this moment, until Katherine let out a muffled screech, and the real world came pounding on our fortress.
Gage pressed his lips to mine for one last stolen kiss, then he slipped from the bed and reached for his pants.
I sat up, hair falling into my eyes as he buttoned his slacks.
He fetched my dress, and I didn’t dare look at Katherine until I stood on solid ground again, fully clothed, even if my husband’s cum dripped down my thighs underneath my skirt.
A sheen of hostility cast her face in red, and she’d balled her hands into fists so tight that they were nearly colorless. Doubt sank into my gut. Fucking my husband in front of her had been the best payback ever, but I worried we’d achieved little more than the sharpening of her claws.
Gage removed the gag from her drooling mouth.
“I’ll have you arrested for this!” she shrieked.
“No, you won’t.” He freed her ankles and wrists before crossing to the nightstand next to the bed, where he kept smaller items like lube and nipple clamps inside the drawer. He withdrew a set of documents and thrust them into her shaking hands.
“What’s this?”
“You’ve been served.”
“What?” Pursing her lips, she shuffled through the papers. “What the hell is this?”
“Can’t you read? It’s a restraining order. You’re not allowed within 500 feet of Kayla or our children. And since she’s an employee of Channing Enterprises, with duties that may take her to any of the company’s offices, you no longer work for me.”
“On what grounds?”
He advanced on her until her back hit the wall. The papers fluttered to the floor around them in a disarrayed mess. I didn’t like him anywhere near her, but I found a small amount of justice in the maneuver because she’d done the same thing to me a couple of days ago.
Only she’d put her hands on me. Gage didn’t need to touch her to intimidate—not when the tense set of his jaw and the broadness of his shoulders did the job for him.
“You threatened my wife and unborn child,” he said, placing his left palm flat on the wall next to Katherine’s head. “You barged into my home while drunk and put your fucking hands on my wife.”
“I wasn’t drunk, and I didn’t touch her.”
“Don’t bother trying to lie about this. Kayla recorded your conversation, including your threats.
” He leaned forward, invading her space to the max, but he still refrained from touching her.
“You can bet your ass I’ll use it in court.
If I had any reservations about going for full custody before, I don’t now. ”
She shook her head, eyes glistening with tears. “You can’t take my son from me.”
“I didn’t want to go this route, but you’ve caused nothing but trouble.”
She dropped to her knees and grasped his pant legs. “I’ll leave your wife alone. I promise. Please don’t take my son from me!”
He moved out of reach, and she tipped forward, palms flat on the floor in the midst of strewn papers.
“Nothing you say will change my mind,” he said. “Now get the fuck up and get out of my house.” He bent and gathered the documents.
As Katherine rose to her feet, her expression hardened, and I expected her to go off on a tirade. Instead, she started laughing—a deep and smug sound that emanated from her belly. It was manic and disturbing on so many levels.
“You’re as gullible as your wife.” She yanked the documents from his hands. “I honestly don’t know why I wasted so many years on you.”
“The feeling’s mutual. Now get the fuck out and don’t come back. I won’t allow you to fuck up my marriage anymore, and as for Conner, I’ll do what I have to do to protect him from you.”
Her lips curved in pure viscousness. “He’s not your son.”
“Excuse me?”
She shrugged. “You’re not the father.”
“Of course I am!” Gage roared. “I have the paternity test to prove it.”
She let out another laugh. “I wanted it to be you, but it’s not, and you’ve made it clear tonight that it won’t ever be.”
“Why are you pulling this shit now?” His voice bellowed through the basement.
“Because you left me no choice! I wanted you to be the father, but I’ll be damned if I let you take my son from me.”
Gage clenched his teeth, but before he could unleash his anger, I entwined my fingers with his. Katherine had blindsided him with this, possibly to provoke him into doing something he’d regret.
He inhaled then let the breath out five seconds later. “We did a paternity test,” he reminded her, his tone calmer than she deserved.
She shrugged. “You share DNA with the father, so that test gave a false positive. But Conner’s not yours. It’s impossible, based on the date of conception.”
“Who is Conner’s father then?” The question echoed off the walls, but he already knew the answer, same as I.
“Ian.” She lowered her head, fingers thumbing the restraining order. “I slept with him a few weeks after you broke up with me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Or hell! Why didn’t you tell Ian? You fucked with Conner’s head for years.”
“Because I wanted you back!” she shouted. “If you’d known I’d gotten knocked up by your brother…? C’mon, Gage. We both know you would have never spoken to me again.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
“Ain’t that poetic justice.” She folded the papers and gripped them in both hands.
“I have more in common with Liz that you ever knew. Your brother knocked us both up.” She headed for the stairs, and Gage worked his jaw, watching in a state of anger and shock and disbelief as she climbed to the top.
“I guess that makes you his problem then!”
The door slammed shut, leaving us in the wreckage of a plan that had backfired horribly. Gage pushed his hands through his hair, breathing hard, but when his eyes met mine, that was my undoing. I crossed to him, but he slid to the floor before I could touch him.
“He’s not my son.”
Falling to my knees in front of him, I wedged between his legs and grabbed his face.
His eyes glassed over with tears, and one slipped free, hanging on his lashes before dripping down his cheek.
I brushed it away, wishing I could wipe away the devastation I saw in the slump of his shoulders and the sheen of his eyes.
“He’s not my son,” he repeated as if saying it again would make it sink in. “But I love him like my own.”
“I know.” I had no words to take away his pain, so I wound my arms around him and held on. Getting through this seemed impossible just then, but we were stronger together, and I knew we’d find a way to overcome Katherine’s final curveball.