Chapter 56
The tears in Cat’s eyes undo me. Cat isn’t a crier. For her to do so now is significant and it’s because of me. I push to my feet and cup her face, stroking tears from her eyes. “God, woman, I do not want to make you cry. Ever. Any emotions that create tears is not what I ever want you to feel.”
“I know that,” she says, her hands going to my face. “I’m not myself today. If I wasn’t in my current condition I’d handle it better.”
“You’re sick and I’m trying to fuck you. Fuck.” I back up and take her with me, lowering her to the couch again on her back and settling at her side.
She rolls to face me. “I want you to fuck me, Reese. I want to feel close to you right now. I need that, too, just like you.” She tangles her fingers in my hair. “So can we—”
“You were crying, Cat.” I say. “We do not need to do this.”
“I need it. Please ignore the tears. I’ve just never considered not being with you and—”
I roll her to her back, settling on top of her. “You’re considering not being with me?”
“No. No. I just had these few random thoughts that amounted to how badly you could hurt me. How badly you can hurt me.”
“You could hurt me just as badly. That’s part of love and marriage. We could, but we won’t because we love each other. Because we’re best friends. Because there is no reality where we aren’t us and us is our reality.”
“Kiss me, now,” she orders. “Kiss me now and—”
My mouth closes down on hers, and I swear she breathes out and into the kiss as if it’s a relief. As if for some reason, until this kiss, she still wasn’t sure we are okay and I don’t know how to make that right. I deepen the kiss trying to let her taste how much I love her, how true every word I’ve spoken to her is, and as much as I want to kiss her all over, to take my time, I know Cat. The unknown is driving her crazy. She needs me inside her the way I need inside her and then we need to fix this, together. I cup her backside and lift her, the thick ridge of my erection pressing into the wet heat of her body, and this time, I think we both breathe into our kiss. This time, we’re connected, our bodies intimately joined, in a way we both need.
For long seconds, our lips part and we just breathe together, a million emotions between us, before we are kissing again and this time we’re moving too, a slow sway that becomes urgent. We are touching and kissing, and every pump of my hips is a lift of hers. I can’t get deep enough or close enough. I can’t kiss her enough. I can’t get enough of Cat, but that is nothing new. I need her. I cannot lose her. I will not lose her and as if she understands, her leg hooks mine and she drags me tighter against her. I squeeze her breast and thrust hard, she pants, nails digging into my shoulders a moment before she’s spasming around me and that is all it takes. I tumble with her, shuddering into release, and it is over in a blink when I want an hour. I roll to my side and take Cat with me again.
“I’m going to tell everyone to leave. We need us this evening. I’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.”
“No, you’re not,” she says. “We have us. You have me. We need this dealt with and you know as well as I do, that you can’t wait for the bomb to drop. You have to grab it before it does. I’m fine. I needed this, us, this reconnect, but I’m okay now. I was really always okay. Let’s go figure out how to stop her from ruining your firm and career.”
“Cat,” I say, my hand on her hip, fingers flexing possessively.
“Reese,” she replies, pressing her palm to my cheek. “Let’s go deal with this together. That’s what we do. We do it together.”
“I love you.”
“And you don’t have to prove that just because some woman wants to blackmail you, but I love you, too.” She twists away from me and we both sit up on the edge of the couch.
She grabs her clothes and starts dressing in her sweats and T-shirt. I walk to the closet and pull on jeans and a T-shirt, along with a pair of boots. I re-enter the bedroom to find Cat back on the couch. I join her and sit down. “Don’t tell Dana,” she says turning to look at me. “There’s no reason to freak her out if you pay off Debbie. Dana’s life is on the line. She doesn’t need this now and it shows how selfish Debbie is that she would do this now.”
“Try manipulative,” I say. “She chose now, with the cameras rolling, to ensure I have to protect Dana and the firm.”
“You’re at your best under pressure,” Cat says. “Dana and Debbie won’t know that, but how much money are we talking and how can we be sure she won’t just keep asking for more?”
“All we can do is write a tight contract and make her agree.”
“And if she won’t?”
“She will,” I say. “She wants money. That’s what this is about. For all we know the real father is in on this and it’s one big scam. Ruining my reputation won’t get her money. It takes away my reason for giving her money.” I stand up and take Cat with me. “Let’s go get this over with so we can get back to us.”
She nods and we walk to the bedroom door and when I open it, I hear Cat suck in a breath. I pull her to me and kiss her. “We’ll make this fast.”
“Everyone is going to question if it’s true. Everyone but me. I hate that.”
“No, they’re not Cat. Everyone downstairs knows you rock my world. They know.” I kiss her. “You’ll feel it.” I take her hand and we start walking and soon we’re in the living room with Lori, Cole, Royce, and Savage waiting on us.
Lori rushes at Cat and hugs her. “That bitch,” she says before pulling back and holding her arms. “She doesn’t know this won’t work. Everyone knows how devoted Reese is to you. Everyone.”
“But we can’t let the firm take a hit,” Cat says. “We won’t. We have to pay her off.”
“But then what?” Cole challenges as Lori rejoins him, standing by his side. “She gets pregnant again and says it’s mine? We can’t cave and accept this.”
“I have a client on trial,” Reese says. “Her life and the life of every person we represent right now is on the line.”
“We’ll take the hit and back her the fuck off,” Cole argues. “We’ll let our clients know we can’t be extorted and that’s a good thing for them.”
I look at Royce. “What do we know?”
“We’ve talked to her,” Royce says. “And the result wasn’t surprising. She wants money.”
“Then give it to her,” I say. “As little as possible. Surely Cat screaming about her willingness to go public will help with that.”
“She has a number in mind,” Royce says.
“And the bitch is fucked in the head,” Savage says. “I say let me make her disappear. We’ll save the baby.”
There’s a small part of me that thinks he’s serious, but of course, he’s not. “I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that,” he says.
“That’s okay,” Savage assures me. “Cat heard me.”
“Stop, Savage,” Cat pleads, her voice soft but crisp. “Please.”
“How much?” I ask again.
“One million,” Royce replies and the room fills with a combination of gasps and curses.