by E. L. Todd
“This has been so hard for me, and it’s just less painful if I don’t see you guys anymore. When he told me you were getting married, I realized how much it would hurt if I weren’t there. Not just hurt you, but hurt me too. I’m sorry that I overreacted so much…I just haven’t been thinking clearly.”
My eyes started to water because I finally felt at peace again, finally had my best friend back. “You didn’t overreact. You’re really hurt right now, and when we’re hurt, we respond emotionally. It’s fine.”
“I know I put you in the middle, and I’m sorry for that. There really was no right answer for you, and I understand that.”
“It means the world to me to hear you say that.”
“You’re a good person, Carson. I know you would never stab anyone in the back on purpose. I know you would never be anything less than loyal if you had the choice. It was a complicated situation.”
The smart and pragmatic woman I knew was finally coming back. “We all really miss you. It’d be nice if we all got together, maybe have a game night.”
“Yeah, that does sound good. I’ve been really lonely.”
Even when I was at my happiest, I was still sad, the loss of my friend leaving a void in my heart that Dax could never fill. “I haven’t been lonely, but I’ve been sad. Life is just not the same without you.”
A half smile entered her lips.
“How about this weekend? You can come to our place and see it.”
She dropped her gaze and stared at the table for a while, suddenly turning morose. “I miss all of you guys, but I still don’t know how I’m gonna be able to sit there and watch the two of them be happy. Not sure if I’m ever going to be okay with it, if I’m gonna be honest.”
“Charlie and Denise would never put that in your face. They’ll act like friends and nothing more. We can all still hang out the way we used to, and maybe in time, when you’re feeling better, things can change.” I knew Charlie and Denise wouldn’t mind keeping their affection nonexistent if it would make Kat more comfortable.
She gave a slight nod. “Okay. I’ll try.”
The second the elevator doors opened, I sprinted into the penthouse and found Dax sitting on the couch in his sweatpants. “Oh my god, you won’t believe what happened today!” I jumped onto the couch and landed on top of him, my thighs straddling his hips and my arms wrapping around his neck.
After he flinched in surprise, he released a chuckle and brought me closer. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Kat called me! We went out for a drink and made up!”
His eyes softened like that truly made him happy. His hand squeezed me a little tighter, and a gentle smile came onto his lips. “That’s really great news. I’m happy to hear that.”
“I guess Charlie talked to her and told her we were getting married. She said it would make her sad if she weren’t a part of my special day.”
He grabbed my hands and held them together between his. “To be honest, I was getting really frustrated with her. But hearing this tells me that she’s a real friend, that she loves you.”
I nodded. “She does.”
“How about we have her over so she can see your new place? Maybe play a game or something?”
I pulled my hands away and gave him a playful smack on the chest. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. We’ll all be together again—like old times.”
22
Dax
I knocked on Renee’s office door before I let myself inside. “You got a minute?”
Her head was bent down, and she was signing some paperwork. “What is it?” She continued to give me the cold shoulder, still palpably pissed at me.
I shut the door and approached her desk, my hands in my pockets. “Carson is going to sign a prenup. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
She steadied her pen before she lifted her chin and looked at me. “You asked her?”
I nodded. “She agreed.”
The relief was unmistakable in her eyes, like my upcoming nuptials made her lose sleep at night. “I’m glad you finally came to your senses and remembered that this company is more than just yours.”
“I’m doing this prenup because it’s important to you. But for the record, if it were just me, I would never ask her.”
She dropped her pen and leaned back in her chair as she regarded me.
“I have no doubt that we’ll always be together. I have no doubt that even if it didn’t work out, she wouldn’t try to touch our company or our family’s legacy. I fucked up with Rose, but I didn’t fuck up with Carson. I’m only doing this for you, not because I don’t have faith in us. I just want that to be clear.”
She stared me for a while before she said, “I never doubted your love for that woman. And if she’s respectable, she won’t doubt it either even though you asked her to sign it.”
“She doesn’t.”
“Then she and I will get along just fine.” She grabbed her pen again. “I’ll draft up all the paperwork with our legal team, and then she’ll come in and sign everything. Is that okay?”
I nodded.
“I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
Living with Carson was easy.
We fell into a routine immediately. My alarm clock went off before hers, and in the beginning, she used to groan in protest, but then, she just got used to it and stopped waking up every time it went off. I did my workout in my personal gym before I got ready for work.
We usually left for the office around the same time, so I had my driver drop her off on the way.
In the past, she would throw a tantrum and insist on walking, but she didn’t do that at all. She just accepted it. She didn’t talk about my wealth much, but she didn’t make a fuss about it either. She knew it was a part of my life—plain and simple.
We never came home at the same time. Sometimes she stayed late at the office, and sometimes I did. Whenever she didn’t come home, I never texted her to ask where she was. If she was no longer working on big exposés like the pharmaceutical industry, then I knew she was perfectly safe. She was either working late or getting a drink with one of her friends. And I wasn’t the kind of man to keep tabs on her.
She wasn’t the kind of woman who would allow it either.
She never asked where I was when I stayed at the office late. We both respected each other’s independence and commitment to our jobs, which was nice. We had our time together when we were both in the penthouse, and on those crazy days, it was enough.
I loved seeing her every single night, no matter what kind of day I had. Even if we didn’t say much, just having her there made me feel better. If I had to see Rose at the office, I only had to think about the woman waiting at home for me, and all my bitterness left.
Her friends claimed she was messy, but I didn’t see any signs of that. She never left dishes in the sink, she didn’t leave her clothes on the floor, and her vanity was always organized and tidy. Even if she weren’t, it wouldn’t have bothered me.
When I came home late that night, she was sitting on the couch in front of the TV with her laptop on her thighs. “Hey.” She immediately perked up when she saw me, her eyes lighting up in happiness. “Guess what?”
I approached the couch then bent over to kiss her, greeting her the same way I did every day, happy to see her the moment I walked through the door.
She softened at my kiss, like she looked forward to this moment as much as I did. “I got my wedding dress.”
“Yeah?”
She turned the computer around to show me what she’d picked out. “I ordered it online, and I’m going to get it fitted when it comes in.”
“Thought I wasn’t supposed to see the wedding dress before the big day?” I held up my hand over the screen to block it from view.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s a stupid superstition. I don’t buy that bullshit. We can have all the bad luck in the world and it’s not going to break us, so shut up and look.” She pushed my hand down s
o I could see the screen. “What do you think?”
It was low cut in the front and had a high slit along the leg. “Very sexy.” It wasn’t poufy, more of a cocktail dress, and casual. “It’ll look amazing on you.”
“And it’ll look amazing when it’s not on me too…” She waggled her eyebrows.
I chuckled then leaned down to kiss her again. “Yes.” I loved it when she flirted with me, when she had the confidence to present herself as the sexy woman that she was. She wasn’t arrogant about it, but not oblivious to it either.
I walked away and loosened my tie as I headed to the bedroom.
She turned back to her computer.
I went into the closet and stripped off my clothes and tossed them in the hamper so my housekeeper would take them to the dry cleaner tomorrow. I hated wearing a suit every single day. If it were up to me, I’d be in jeans and a t-shirt all the time, a hoodie in the winter months. When I turned around, I stilled when I noticed her bent over on the bed, looking back at me in just her panties.
“Fuck, I really like this living together thing.” I came back to her and dropped my boxers, my cock getting hard instantly because that beautiful ass looked absolutely delicious. I kneeled at the foot of the bed and pressed my face between her cheeks, kissing that sexy pussy.
She moaned at my touch and turned her body so she could fist my hair. “Me too.”
Renee came by my office. “I talked to our legal team, and everything is in order.”
I was scrolling through my phone, looking at the sexy pictures Carson had sent me unexpectedly. I quickly locked the screen and turned to her. “Sorry?”
“I’ve got all the paperwork for Carson to sign. You think we can schedule a meeting with her tomorrow afternoon?”
“Does she need to sign this right now?” I turned in my chair to examine her.
“It’s a prenup, Dax. It needs to be done before nuptials. And don’t you want to get this shitty paperwork done ahead of time, that way it’s not weighing on you during your actual wedding? You’ve only got two weeks left, and that’s not even a hard date. She might wake up one day and want to do it then.”
I guess that all made sense. “Fine. I’ll schedule it with her.”
“Good.”
After work, we met at a deli to have a dinner of sandwiches.
She had a turkey sandwich, holding it one hand and sticking her other hand into the chip bag to grab a few before placing them in her mouth.
“Who’s handling the pharma article now?” I asked as I sat across from her. I loved that we spoke to each other as good friends, just the way she did with Charlie, but we had a whole other element to our relationship that we enjoyed behind closed doors. It was a perfect balance. We had the emotional foundation, but we also wanted to fuck each other’s brains out.
That was the secret to a happy relationship, if you asked me.
“My friend Arthur,” she said between bites. “I warned him about Simon, so hopefully he took it seriously.”
I didn’t know Simon personally, but I recognized his face because I saw him at events sometimes. But now, I’d always steer clear of him—not out of fear, but because I didn’t like shady people.
“Somehow, he knew I wasn’t on the assignment anymore. I got into a taxi, and he was waiting for me… Creepy.”
I stopped eating. “What?”
“He said I made the right decision to step down because he didn’t want to kill me.” She rolled her eyes. “Pompous ass. He’ll get what’s coming to him…eventually.”
Now, I was even more grateful she’d changed departments at the paper. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
“Yeah, he’s a bit dramatic.”
“Carson.” I didn’t think this was funny.
“It’s over now, so it doesn’t matter. I’m out of the game.” She pulled her hand out of the bag and sighed.
Thank god for that. “I’m so glad you aren’t doing that anymore. I couldn’t get through every single day not knowing what might happen to you.”
Her eyes grew serious. “Yeah. I can’t risk my life anymore, not when I have someone who can’t live without me.”
She had no idea how true that really was. “I couldn’t, sweetheart. I really couldn’t.” I had something money couldn’t buy, and that something had made me want to live life to a new fullness.
“I had a good run and established a ruthless reputation, so I feel like I still accomplished everything I wanted.”
“You’re definitely ruthless.” I let the serious moment pass, let us turn casual once more. It didn’t make sense to stress about what could have happened when she was out of harm’s way. Now, we would live a boring life together…a good life.
She continued to eat. “So, I’m thinking everyone will come over on tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“And I told Charlie and Denise to be as platonic as possible. I know that’s not really fair to ask, but we’ve got to make Kat comfortable until she gets used to it. I think that’s reasonable.”
“She’ll get desensitized to it.”
“Exactly.” She finished half her sandwich then moved to her second half.
I didn’t want to bring up my next topic, but she already had been receptive in the past, so it should be fine. Just get it over with. “I was wondering if you could come to the office tomorrow to sign all the paperwork.”
“Paperwork for what?” she asked after she chewed her bite.
I didn’t want to say it out loud. “The prenup…”
“Oh, totally forgot about that.” She grabbed her phone and pulled up her calendar. “I have a thirty-minute break at two. You want to do it then?”
“That works.”
“Alright, I’ll be there.” She set her phone down and kept eating like nothing happened.
After tomorrow afternoon, it would be over, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it again. It would be in the past—and we could move on.
23
Carson
I sat beside Charlie in his cubicle and read through his article, making marks with my pen.
Charlie sat there and watched me, his eyebrow lifting with every note I made. “That’s not good.”
“Well, it’s not your best work.”
He sighed loudly. “You’re just picky.”
“Being picky is what makes us good reporters. You know I’m helping you.” I made another mark when my alarm went off on my phone. “Shit, I gotta go.” I set the paper and pen on his desk.
“Where are you off to?” Charlie asked.
“I’m going to Dax’s office to sign that prenup.” I rose and wheeled my chair out of the cubicle.
“So, we’re coming over later tonight?”
“Yep. And don’t stick your tongue down my sister’s throat.”
He grinned. “I’ll try.”
I grabbed my bag and left the office. Dax’s building wasn’t too far from mine, so I could get there quickly at a brisk walk. I rose to the top floor in the elevator, and the receptionist led me to a conference room instead of his office.
When I walked inside, I stilled at the sight in front of me.
There were at least ten guys sitting there in suits. “Oh, sorry. I must be in the wrong room.”
Dax stood from the table. “Sweetheart, you’re in the right place.”
I turned back around and took in the scene before me, all the suits with their paperwork in front of them. They all stared at me. No one greeted me. They sat at a long conference table, and on the opposite side was a single chair—for me.
I moved to the table and set my satchel down before I took a seat.
Dax sat back down.
I wasn’t intimidated by anyone or anything, but I hadn’t expected to step into such a hostile room, full of men I didn’t even know. I thought it would be just Dax and me and a notary. But this felt like a big business deal was about to go down.
The suit next to Dax spoke. “I’m Lincoln, Mr. Frawley’s lawyer. W
e just have some paperwork to sign. We’ll get started.”
One of the lawyers rose to his feet and brought me a stack of papers along with a pen.
I stilled then looked at all the papers that were obviously there for me to sign. “I have to sign all of these?” I’d assumed it would be just two pages, something I could easily look through, but there had to be thousands of pages here.
“Yes,” Lincoln answered. “Mr. Frawley has a lot of assets.”
I clicked the pen and pulled the paper close to me. It was a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, and I flipped through the pages, seeing endless words that never stopped. I looked through legal briefings all the time, and this was still overwhelming.
There wasn’t time to read anything, and I wasn’t carrying this shit home.
I felt bulldozed.
Did I need a lawyer for this?
It was the first time I felt uncomfortable…truly uncomfortable.
I just flipped to the markers on the papers and added my signature where it was required. I didn’t read a single sentence. I just finished the pile and moved it to the side and then received the next one. Like an assembly line, I made my way through one stack and received the next, and then the next…
By the end, I wanted to cry.
I felt like one of those innocent people corporations targeted, signing their life away without really understanding what they were doing. I didn’t feel like a person, but like an enemy. I felt like I’d been cornered, like I was prey and they were predators.
I felt…cheap.
I didn’t lift my chin to look at Dax.
I kept signing my life away, having no idea what exactly I’d signed, and just got through it.
When I stepped into the hallway to leave, Dax came after me. “Sweetheart—”
“I really have to pee. Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” He slid his hands into his pockets and stood there.
I rounded the corner, moved past the bathrooms, and got the hell out of there.
