Chapter Twenty-Four #2
“Then I’ll answer his questions,” Cate said, and there was steel in her voice I hadn’t heard before. “Because I have nothing to hide.”
Anthony studied her for a long moment, then smiled.
“Good. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.
” He turned back to me. “Here’s my assessment: the marriage is going to be scrutinized, but it’s not insurmountable.
You’re both intelligent, articulate, and from what I can see, genuinely care about each other. That’s going to read in court.”
“What about Tonya’s case?” I asked.
“Weak. She abandoned Megan for three years, had no contact, and only filed for custody after remarrying. That’s not going to play well with a judge. But Richard Castellano is good enough to make it competitive.” He paused. “Which is why we need to be better.”
“What do you need from us?”
“Everything. I need to know every detail of your relationship with Tonya—how you met, why you divorced, what the custody arrangement was. I need to know about Megan’s medical history, her life at home with Cate, and her emotional state.
I need character witnesses who can testify to your fitness as a father.
” He looked at Cate. “And I need you two to sell this marriage. Convincingly.”
“We can do that,” I said.
“Can you?” Anthony’s gaze was sharp. “Because Richard Castellano is going to be looking for cracks. Any sign that this isn’t real, any hesitation, any inconsistency in your story, and he’ll exploit it.”
“We understand,” Cate said quietly.
Anthony nodded, then stood. “Alright. I’ll take the case.” He extended his hand to me. “But I need you to understand something, Dr. Lyon: I don’t lose. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win this case, and that means you need to trust me. Even when my methods seem... unconventional.”
I shook his hand. “Understood.”
He turned to Cate, and his expression softened again. “Mrs. Lyon, it was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for the coffee and the scones.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “I hope we’ll be seeing more of you.”
“You will. I’ll need to meet with both of you several more times before the hearing. And I’ll want to meet Megan as well, get a sense of her relationship with both of you.”
“Of course.”
I walked him to the door, and he paused on the threshold. “One more thing, Dr. Lyon.”
“Yes?”
“Your wife is remarkable.” His voice was low, meant only for me. “Smart, genuine, and clearly devoted to your daughter. Richard Castellano is going to try to tear her apart, but if she holds up the way I think she will, you’re going to win this case.”
“I know she’s remarkable,” I said, hearing the edge in my voice.
Anthony’s mouth curved. “Good. Then make sure everyone else knows it too.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll be in touch.”
I watched him walk to his motorcycle, swing his leg over, and roar out of the driveway.
When I turned around, Cate was standing in the hallway, arms crossed.
“He seemed nice,” she said carefully.
“He was looking at you.”
“He was vetting me. That’s his job.”
“He was looking at you,” I repeated, and heard how I sounded: possessive, irrational. “The way he smiled at you. The way he complimented your baking.”
“Gabriel.” She stepped closer. “He’s your lawyer. He’s supposed to assess whether we’re convincing as a couple.”
“He was assessing more than that.”
“Are you jealous?” There was something in her voice—surprise mixed with something else. Something pleased.
“Yes.”
The admission came out harder than I intended, and I watched her eyes widen.
“Of Anthony Gallagher? The fifty-something-year-old biker lawyer?”
“Of any man who looks at you the way he did.”
She stared at me for a long moment, then crossed the remaining distance between us. Her hands came up to my chest, fingers curling into my shirt.
“He’s not the one I married,” she said quietly.
“I know.”
“He’s not the one I’m sleeping with.”
“I know.”
“He’s not the one I—” She stopped, and I watched something flicker across her face. Something she wasn’t ready to say yet.
I pulled her against me, one hand sliding into her hair. “You’re mine, Cate.”
“I know.”
“I don’t care if it’s irrational. I don’t care if it’s too much. You’re my wife, and I don’t like other men looking at you like they’re imagining—”
She kissed me, cutting off the words.
When she pulled back, her eyes were bright. “For the record? I like it when you’re possessive.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” Her smile was small, almost shy. “It’s kind of hot.”
I kissed her again, slower this time, and felt some of the tension ease from my shoulders.
“He’s right, you know,” I murmured against her mouth. “You are remarkable.”
“Gabriel.”
“You are. The way you handled him, the way you answered his questions, you were perfect.”
“I was terrified.”
“You didn’t show it.”
“I stress-baked an entire batch of scones at six AM.”
“And they were excellent.” I pulled back to look at her. “Everyone’s going to see what I see in you, Cate. And I’m going to have to get used to that.”
“What do you see in me?”
The question was quiet, vulnerable, and I realized she genuinely didn’t know.
“Everything,” I said simply. “I see everything.”
Her breath caught, and for a moment we just stood there in the hallway, the afternoon light streaming through the windows, the sound of Megan singing to herself in the kitchen.
“We’re going to win this,” Cate said finally. “Aren’t we?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m not losing you.” I cupped her face, my thumb brushing across her cheekbone. “Either of you. Tonya can bring whatever lawyer she wants. It won’t change the fact that Megan belongs here. With us.”
“With us,” she repeated softly, and I watched her eyes go bright.
“With us,” I confirmed.
She kissed me again, and I let myself get lost in her, in this moment, in the impossible reality that she was my wife.
When we finally broke apart, she was smiling. “So. Anthony Gallagher.”
“Don’t.”
“He seemed very impressed with my baking.”
“Cate.”
“And my coffee. He said it was excellent.”
“I’m going to call him back and fire him.”
She laughed, the sound bright and genuine, and I felt something in my chest ease.
“Come on,” she said, taking my hand. “Megan wants to show you her drawing of our family. Apparently, we have a dragon now.”
“A dragon?”
“And a dog. She’s very insistent about the dog.”
I let her pull me toward the kitchen, toward my daughter and the life we were building together.
Anthony Gallagher was right about one thing: Cate was remarkable.
And I was going to make damn sure everyone knew it.
Even if it meant dealing with lawyers who looked at her like she were the most interesting thing in the room.
Because she was.
And she was mine.