Chapter Twenty-Three
Cole
Icarry Lori into the bedroom and set her down on the bed, and as much as I’d like to make love to her, now is not that time. We need to talk and she needs to come down from tonight’s high, not be taken on another one. “Are you hungry?” I ask, standing in front of her.
“Actually yes. Starving.”
“How about Chinese?” I suggest.
“I’d love that, but can we hold off for a few?” she asks. “I just want to sit in a hot bath and get my thoughts together.”
I stroke her cheek. “Of course. I’ll give you some space to unwind. We can talk over dinner.”
She catches my hand and kisses it before her eyes go wide. “Oh, God. Is this on the news? Will my mother hear about it and freak out? I don’t want her stressed. I never even told her about Roger. We had it so hush-hush and she was in the Hamptons at the time. Now, what if it’s not?”
“I’ll call her to be sure and reassure her you’re fine. If she seems worried, you can call her after your bath.”
Her body softens, tension easing from her muscles. “Thank you, Cole.”
“Go take your bath.” I step back to allow her room to get up and she pushes to her toes, kisses my cheek and heads off.
I turn and watch her enter the bathroom, amazed at how strong she is. I’d really believed that she was hiding from a meltdown over Roger, but I’m not so sure anymore. Sure, she cried tonight, but over his pain, not her fear, and her response to all of this was—she has to do more. That’s what she needs and realizing this helps me shove my own demons back in the box. I cannot love a woman and keep her by my side as I want to for the rest of my life if I suffocate her, if I keep her from her version of more.
I walk down the stairs, forcing myself to give her space. She deserves time to process what she feels, not what I feel. Once I’m well out of her hearing range, I dial Reid. “Any updates on anything?” I ask as he’s promised to make phone calls and get to the bottom of the mess.
“Still working on it and I have a stockholders’ meeting for a takeover I just managed in the morning. I’ll come to your office when I’m done.”
“Any idea when?” I ask, sitting down on the coffee table.
“After lunch. And that’s a better option anyway. We all need cool heads and more information before we make our next move. I would have told you that earlier, but I didn’t want to set Lori off in any way.”
“Right,” I say. “You’re right. Call me when you head our direction.”
“Will do,” he confirms and disconnects. I immediately dial Royce Walker. “Where is Roger now?”
“In jail,” he says. “He was evaluated. They declared him sane. He violated the restraining order.”
I press fingers to the bridge of my nose. “Who’s his attorney?”
“Marks. Donovan Marks. Do you know him?”
“I do not. Do you have his number?”
“I’ll text it to you, but I need to know your plan here.”
“Happy wife, happy life,” I say.
He laughs. “Don’t I know it.”
“Which is why,” I continue, “I’m going to find out how to protect her and help Roger. I need to know if he gets out, even if I have to pay your team to sit at the jail around the clock this time.”
“We’ll handle it,” he assures me. “I hate to bring this up, but the FBI still wants that interview with Ashley and soon.”
“It needs to be Wednesday. I need to deal with Roger and the DA tomorrow.”
“I’ll set it up,” he says. “Same time and place?”
“Yes. That works. Where is Ashley?”
“Smith took her home.”
We disconnect and I text Ashley: We’re home. We’re safe. We rescheduled your interview for Wednesday night. Are you okay?
She replies instantly: Yes. And thank God all is well. Just take care of Lori. I’ll see you tomorrow.
My phone buzzes with a text. I hit the number to auto-dial it and the man I assume to be Donovan Marks answers. “Marks.”
“This is Cole Brooks.”
“I won’t ask how you got my number. My client apologized to your wife. He meant her no harm.”
“While my wife believes that,” I concede, “I’m not as forgiving. I saw what he was like the day he attacked her and it was brutal. Get him to accept a mandatory ninety-day hospital confinement and I’ll drop the charges.”
“The hospital assures us he’s stable.”
“How many stable people have you seen commit violent acts? Because my list is long.”
“He will have financial concerns,” he replies, sidestepping a direct answer.
“Bigger ones when I put my best foot forward and lock him away for a few hard years.”
He’s silent for several beats. “I’ll talk to him.”
“You now have my number.” I disconnect, hoping like hell I’ve solved the Roger problem.
With my wife on my mind, I walk into the kitchen, pour her a glass of wine and head up the stairs. I find her neck deep in bubbles, her hair piled on top of her head. “How’s the bath?” I ask, closing the space between us, and setting the wine down on the ledge surrounding the tub.
“Heaven,” she says. “I already feel better. I swear I had this chill that just went to the bone.” She reaches for the wine. “Thank you.” She sips. “I know you have updates on Roger. Tell me.”
I sit on the ledge. “He’s in jail.”
She sets the glass down on the other side of the tub. “I knew he would be. I hate that he is. I truly believe that man just lost his mind with grief.”
“You aren’t remembering his face and eyes in that bathroom,” I say. “You can’t or you’d know he’s not someone we can dismiss.”
“But Cole—”
“Hear me out. I am giving him the chance to get help. I called his attorney, but I’m going to create layers in this deal to protect you. And all of this when I really want him behind bars. I can’t want to help a man I believe would have hurt you. I’m not made that way, but I love you. And I’m doing it this way for you.”
She softens. “Thank you, Cole.”
I squat down next to her. “How are you? Not how do you think you need to be. How are you?”
“I’m okay, but I get this need to do something when I feel out of control. I need—”
“To do more.”
“Yes. We aren’t even really looking at cases right now. I need a case. Honestly, I think you do, too.”
She’s right and yet I feel the resistance inside me. This fear that I’m still digging us out of one hole and we’ll land in another.
“Let me order the food and we can talk.”
“That feels like resistance.”
“It feels like hunger to me and I just realized that I have not yet called your mother.” I kiss her cheek and grab my phone, walking into the bedroom and ordering the food, before dialing her mother.
“Cole,” she greets. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.”
“Then why are you calling me?”
“Lori and I had a run-in with a man that has caused us trouble as it relates to a case. It’s handled. No one was hurt, but she was afraid it would get on the news and be blown up.”
“If she’s okay, why isn’t she calling me?”
I walk to the bathroom. “She’s chin deep in bubbles in the tub.” I hold out the phone. “Shout a hello to your mother.”
“Hi, mom! I’m fine. I have bubbles and wine and Cole.”
And Cole.
God, I love this woman. I wink at her and place the phone back at my ear. “See. All is well.”
“Except she let you call me because we both know she’s more upset than she is letting on. You do know that, right?”
“I know she has her way of dealing with things,” I say. “We both have to give her room to do that.”
“Right. You’re right. You do know my girl. I want more details.”
“We’ll come see you this weekend,” I say.
“Sooner would be better, but I’ll accept that.” She pauses. “Hug her for me?”
“I will.” We say our goodbyes and I peak my head back in the bathroom. “I told her—”
“We’d come see her this weekend.” Her eyes soften. “I heard.”
My phone rings and I glance at the number. “Reese,” I tell her. “I’m sure he’s just checking on you. And I ordered the food ten minutes ago now.” I depart the bathroom and head back downstairs.
“Reid just sent me a text about tomorrow afternoon. I’m in court.”
“I’ll handle it and I’m still trying to reach Alexander Montgomery for the Houston changing of the guard. I’m going to try to get him here to us, so you can meet him no later than the weekend. If I can’t I’m staying case-free until I lock this and Houston down fully.” We chat for a few minutes and when we disconnect I think of Lori’s need to take a case. She’s ready on her own. It’s me that has to get fucking ready to let her be on her own. The doorbell rings, and I grab the food.
A few minutes later, Lori and I are on the bed, eating and talking. “You’re still not ready to take a case,” she says, returning to that hot topic.
“We’re bringing in a Houston partner. I need to handle that before I take on anything high-profile, outside of managing the associates’ cases.”
“But you left Houston to run the company here. Why bring in a partner?”
“Houston needs a fresh start to be a valuable asset, not a potential liability.”
“What about sending Ashley there? Can you at least keep an eye on things?”
“When she gets past this problem with the FBI and her ex, maybe. And that interview is now Wednesday, by the way.” I set my plate aside. “I’m going to need to go there and I’d like you to go with me. Then you will know the lay of the land if you ever need to step in.”
Her brow furrows. “You’d trust me to step in?”
“You might not be a seasoned lawyer, but you are loyal and smart, as well as my wife.”
“I will do whatever I need to do to support this firm.” She studies me a moment. “I need a case.”
“I do know that. I’m not trying to hold you back. I won’t hold you back.” I lean over and kiss her. “If the perfect case comes in, one that one or both of us are passionate about, you or me or both of us, will take it. I promise. Deal?”
“You say that but I feel the hesitation in you. I know you are trying to get a grip on your need to protect me and after tonight, it’s got to be rekindled. But after tonight, I need to say something to you.” She sets her food aside. “That wall you say I have?”
“You admit you have a wall?”
“Not consciously, but I was thinking about that on the ride over here and in the tub. I do have ways of protecting myself.”
“Like my mental box, I shoved the past in.”
“Yes. Pushing you away at first was part of that. That kept you from being able to hurt me like my father hurt me and my mother. I pushed everyone away but Cat, and she’s the reason I found you.” She waves that off. “The point is that if I stay away from the courtroom for much longer, I fear that Roger cripples me. I need to get back on the proverbial bicycle. When I said I need to do more, I meant I need to do more and I think you do too. We need to just do it. Take a case. Get past this. Stop letting it control us. We need to do that now.”
She’s opened that shut door. She’s really talked to me about her fears. She’s allowed herself to be completely vulnerable and what’s more, she’s right and so I say that. I pull her to me. “Yes. We both need this. It’s time to take another case and win.”