I wanted to put my fist through Mad-Dog’s toothy grin.
“It’s time to leave, Katie,” I growled.
“Good idea. Have a nice life, Aaron.”
“You’re coming with me, Katie.” I stood and waited.
“No, I’m not. Braden is coming for me, and I suggest you not be here when he arrives,” she snarled.
I placed my hands on the table and leaned to face her. “No, he’s not. He sent me.”
“Liar—he would never!” Katie spit out.
I feigned a pout. “Sorry, kitten. He said that I made the mess, and it was my responsibility to clean it up.” I stood up straight. “So let’s go.” My tone was demanding, authoritative.
Katie flew off her chair, knocking it backward. “Traitors!” she screamed and headed toward the exit.
I grabbed her arm. “Not this time, kitten. You don't get to storm off again.”
“I going to go pee, Aaron. Try and stop me,” she said, and she stomped off.
I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated. This wasn’t going as easy as I had hoped. I hadn’t had a chance to explain that it had all been a big misunderstanding and that I was not engaged. I wasn't playing with her emotions. I loved her.
“Fuck,” Amy exclaimed. “That’s not the way to the bathroom.” She pointed, referring to the direction Katie took.
I headed in the same direction and reached the door just as it was closing. I darted outside and stopped Katie before she could get too far. “Nice try, kitten, but we are going to clear this up—but not until you’re sober.”
“Well, look here, maybe you are interested in angry breakup sex in an alley after all. Is that what you want, Aaron, to give me a perfect score?” Katie backed up against the wall.
I lost my temper. “Maybe you’d rather your new friend in there oblige you, Katie. Did you purr in his ear, kitten? Did you soak your panties for your rock god?”
She tugged my hand between her thighs, my expression undeniable.
Katie snarked, “That’s right. I sat next to a rock god for half the day. And not just any rock god—the rock god that women wet their underwear for with just one look. The rock god that’s known for taking care of the ladies, especially hurt and wronged ladies. But me? Not one blush, not one heart palpitation, and no wet panties. Are you satisfied now, Aaron? Because of you, I can’t even get aroused by a fucking rock god.” Tears started streaming down her cheeks and she pounded on my chest.
“Did you think if I fell in love with you, I would continue to be your mistress, Aaron?”
I felt like a heel. I let my jealousy take over—again. This was the second time I lost control over her flirting with another man. Only, she wasn't the one flirting. If I really thought about it, none of them were flirting. They were just drinking.
“I’m sorry, kitten. You need to let me take you home so we can clear up this misunderstanding, starting with the fact that I am not engaged to Beth. I never was, but I need to explain why she thought we were. Will you let me do that… please?”
“Braden’s really not coming?” She whimpered.
“No, he’s not. How else could I have found you?” I held her close to my chest trying to comfort her, trying to get her to trust me enough to get her back to my apartment. I could feel her rigid body begin to relax against me. Her mind might be telling her I was the enemy, but her body was telling her otherwise.
Holding her close with one hand, I used the other to reach for my phone. A cab arrived in the back alley within minutes, and she willingly went with me. Maybe she was too tired to fight—or too drunk. I didn't care which it was.
We arrived at my apartment, and like the night before, I carried her to my private elevator and into the penthouse. I laid her on the bed and returned with a bottle of water. “Drink this. It will help with the hangover.” She took the water and gulped it down. I tucked her into the bed, and she closed her eyes. The last words on her lips tore through my soul.
“I hate you.”
I closed the drapes and watched as she fell asleep.
So much for a lovely day in the park. She was going to sleep the better part of the afternoon, and when she did wake up, with what she drank, she was not going to feel like doing anything other than curl up in a dark quiet room.
I needed to make sure she would sit and listen to me. If her brother was right, she would run the minute she got the chance.
Was I brave enough to take her brother's advice on how to handle her when she got up, or would my actions make her never trust me again?
I kept myself busy with work. I needed to explain to my second-in-command that there would be no merger. It was late afternoon when I heard the most frightful scream coming from the bedroom. I ran to find Katie standing near the bed, wrapped in the sheet.
Glaring me down, she screamed, “Where are my clothes and my phone?”
“Calm down, kitten. I couldn’t have you running off again before we talked. You will get them back after I’m sure you’re not going to do something stupid.”
She looked furious and was skulking around the room.
“You won't find them in here, kitten,” I teased.
“I’m looking for something to throw at you,” she fumed.
“I hid all sharp objects and anything you could hurt me with,” I snickered.
“Are you fucking serious? I’m your hostage, and you're not the least bit worried about what my brothers are going to do to you when they find out?”
I deflated her confidence. “Who do you think told me how to deal with an irrational woman?”
“Braden might have become a traitor, but I have two other brothers who might not be as understanding or able to be blackmailed. What exactly did you blackmail Braden with?”
I was beginning to see the playful Katie returning, but I had to be careful not to push too far. “I didn't have to blackmail Braden or any of your brothers. I just explained what happened. The only regret I have is that I should have explained it to you first. Will you let me explain, Katie?”
Chapter 27
Aaron
“Why would that woman say she was your fiancée if she wasn’t?” She wouldn’t make eye contact, keeping her eyes on the floor.
I was hopeful Katie was finally going to listen. “It’s a long story. Take a shower while I get you something to eat, and then I’ll explain everything.” I took a long deep breath. “Then we are going to talk about why you thought you were going to break my heart. We need to put everything out in the open, Katie. We need to come clean with all our baggage and see where we go from there.”
I walked out of the bedroom and returned before she had time to get into the shower, carrying a set of clothes that hung in the spare closet. The ones she left this morning after thinking I had not been honest with her. I handed her a birthday card. “Read this,” I ordered.
She took the card, opened it, and gasped. “The clothes were a birthday gift from my brothers, not from you?”
“Yes, now will you stop being so stubborn?” I walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. My lips burned as they brushed her skin, and she moaned. I tugged at the sheet until it fell to the floor and she stood naked before me. Her body was flushed and her breathing shallow. I reached between her thighs and cupped her moist heat.
“All day with a rock god and nothing. You barely touch me, and I’m ready to shatter. Please leave. I can’t do this right now.” She pulled away and went into the en suite and locked the door. It was the most heartbreaking sound I had ever heard. Her body responded to my touch, but her mind was not ready to forgive.
I promised her a gourmet meal and that was what she was going to get, only I wasn't the one cooking it. After spending the morning chasing her down and the afternoon letting her sleep off her ill-advised drinking game, I did not have the time to shop. I set the table with china and candlelight and set the mood with soothing music.
Katie emerged from the bedroom in her new clothes, her curls hanging long on
her shoulders. I wanted to run my hands through those curls. I wanted to touch her soft, fresh, innocent-looking face. To hold her petite body against me and feel her heat.
My little kitten had never looked more fuckable than she did at that moment.
First, we needed to clear the air. Then, if she still wanted me, I would take her until I passed out from exhaustion. For now, I needed to make her feel safe. I wanted her to understand that I would never hurt her—not in the way she believed I had.
I pulled out a chair from the dining table and she took a seat. I came from the kitchen and set a plate before her. Her wine glass was filled with water, and I placed an ice-cold pitcher beside her place setting.
“How is your head?” I was concerned. She wasn’t a drinker, and five shots could wreak havoc on her system.
“Remarkably well, considering what I consumed on an empty stomach.” She smiled and dug into her food. I had ordered in from one of my favorite restaurants, and they had not disappointed me. Lamb chops, medium rare, were accompanied by grilled asparagus and rice pilaf with almonds. She did not remark on the quality of the food but simply ate without comment.
“I’m sorry about how things happened.” I waited for her response but none came. We continued to eat in silence. What was she waiting for? Her silence was driving me nuts. “Would you like seconds?”
“No, thank you.” She wiped her mouth and put down her fork. “Is there dessert?” She smiled and her emerald eyes glowed.
“Of course there’s dessert. What kind of restaurant do you think this is?” I joked. I rose and removed our empty plates, returning from the kitchen with dessert and coffee. Each china dessert plate held a slice of cheesecake with strawberry sauce, garnished with a whole strawberry dipped in chocolate. I placed the food in front of her and took my seat. Again, we sat and ate in silence.
I never took my eyes off her through the entire meal. She concentrated on her food and avoided eye contact until the very end. I waited for her to make the next move. She refilled her wine glass with water.
She reached her hand across the table and put it on top of mine. “I think it’s time we talk.” She got up from her chair and headed to the living room where she took a seat on the couch. “Can you turn on the fireplace?”
“Sure, kitten, anything you want. Are you cold?” I wanted to be the one to warm her up, make her so hot she would purr and come for me, but for now I would have to settle for this.
“No, I’m not cold. I just like the fireplace.”
I took a seat on the couch.
She let out a deep sigh. “I think I might be too young for you, Aaron.”
“Katie, what are you talking about?” We had discussed our ages the first night we met. She was the one who had decided she wasn't too young. She couldn’t change the rules now.
“We don’t live by the same rules, and I’m not just talking about my inexperience with sex. I’m talking about how I reacted today. A more mature woman would have stayed, listened, not run off and expect her brothers to fix it.” She sounded cold and impassioned in her analysis of the situation.
“More mature like Beth, you mean? A woman who was willing to marry a man she did not love so she could improve her social status? Katie, any woman would have been hurt and upset.”
“Why did she say she was your fiancée?”
“I was having issues with a takeover. Beth’s father and I were going to merge our companies and expand our reach. Part of the deal was that I marry Beth to give her the social status she wanted. It would have been a marriage of convenience. She could throw all the parties she wanted, and I got to keep my call girls.” I watched Katie’s expression, not sure what I was looking for.
“See what I mean? I would never be the perfect trophy wife.” Katie shrugged.
“Katie, I didn't believe in love, or at least I didn't believe love was for me, so a marriage of convenience sounded like a good idea.”
“I hear a ‘but.’” Katie laughed.
“But… Beth informed me that the deal now included an heir—an addition her father insisted on. He decided if an heir was in the mix, I would not try to buy him out later. Kind of an insurance policy. Keep it in the family and all that. Then I met you, and it became clear why I was stalling in taking this merger seriously. I couldn’t marry for convenience, and I should have told Beth and her father that three weeks ago, before I left New York.”
“Aaron, you don't want children?”
There it was, the question I had been asking myself since I met Katie.
“I… I had a vasectomy after my mother died. Cancer is in my genes, and I didn’t want to take the chance of passing that onto a child. But what kind of woman wants to marry a man who can't give her children?” I sat closer to Katie and took her hand. “Katie, if you want children, I am willing to have it reversed. For you, I am willing to take that chance.”
“I hear another ‘but’ coming.” Katie sighed.
“But, with the treatment I had during my leukaemia,” I paused, “I have a low sperm count. That’s why I didn’t do relationships.” I kissed Katie’s palm and smiled. “Especially with churchgoing choir girls. Those girls—they want the whole package.” I waited for her to respond, but she remained quiet.
“I love you, Katie,” I proclaimed, but still she said nothing.
I watched as she walked over to the window and stared at the city skyline. I stepped up behind her and wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head.
“Can you love me, Katie, even if I can’t give you the whole package?”
Chapter 28
Katie
It was my turn to come clean and unload my baggage—a secret I was sure was going to tear us apart until he had confessed his own shortcoming. I should have told him from the beginning, the minute I knew he was not going anywhere. We could have saved ourselves so much heartache.
I melted into him and never wanted him to let me go.
“Aaron, you are the whole package, at least for me.” I turned and looked into his sad amber eyes. I wanted to take away the sadness from them forever. I only ever wanted to see desire, lust, and love from those eyes.
“You said seeing me in church was divine intervention, and I think you were right. I think we are more right for each other than either of us understood at the time.” I brushed his unruly hair from his forehead. “When I turned eighteen, I was tested for the same strain of aggressive cancer that took my mother.” I took a deep breath. “I tested positive and fell in the top percentage of probability for developing it before I hit forty.”
“You’re afraid you’re going to die before forty, so you won’t let yourself live?” Aaron asked sympathetically.
“No, that’s not it. I… I had my ovaries removed so I wouldn’t die and leave my children without a mother. I chose my own life over children—biological ones at least.”
I buried my face into his chest. “Men don’t marry women who can’t give them an heir—not even churchgoing choir girls.”
I pulled away from his grip. “You at least still have the possibility of biological children if you want. I don't.” I started to walk away and he stopped me. “Aaron, no man is ever going to look at me the way Aleksander looks at Haley—the way he holds her, the way he hugs her from behind, caressing her belly with his children growing inside.” I felt a tear running down my cheek.
I lifted my hand to wipe it away, angry with myself for becoming emotional… again. Years of pain pushed to the back of my mind came flooding forward.
Aaron pulled me close and softly caressed my back. “Kitten, I look at you the way Aleksander looks at Haley, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she is carrying his children and everything to do with the fact that he loves her beyond words. The way I love you. The way I will always love you.”
Aaron picked me up and carried me to the couch and cradled me in his lap. “You pushed it away all these years, I know, because that’s what I did. You don't have to hide your pain fr
om me, kitten, any more than I need to hide mine from you.”
I sobbed in his arms and mourned a loss I should have dealt with long ago. A loss I could have dealt with had I had someone like Aaron to comfort me and share my pain. We had avoided relationships for the same reason, and that reason was bringing us closer than I believed we could become.
“Now can I call you my girlfriend, kitten?”
“Do you want to call me your girlfriend?”
“No, I would like to call you my fiancée.”
I looked up into his glowing amber eyes and saw the desire, the lust, the love—everything I wanted to see there. “Do you want to make love to me now?”
“I would like to take you for a walk through Central Park and window shop down Fifth Avenue. We have the rest of our lives for me to make love to you.”
“Can I wash my face first? And you might want to put on a dry shirt…” I laughed.
Aaron brushed his lips against my cheek. “You’d better hurry up before I change my mind about making love to you. I’m sorry you won’t get a perfect score on your drinking game, kitten. I never plan on having breakup sex with you. I never plan on breaking up with you.”
“Did I forget to mention that it also counts for makeup sex in an alley?” I giggled, took Aaron’s hand, and we walked out together.
Sunday morning, Aaron took me to church—his church. In the closet of the spare bedroom, he had stowed away proper church attire that fit me perfectly. I did not make attempts to chastise his efforts this time. I graciously accepted the clothes and his offer to take me to meet his mother’s friends—his extended family, as he called them.
I was going to get my happily ever after. My wolf in sheep’s clothing had turned out to be my Mr. Right.
I stood at the entrance of the church, hanging up my coat. Aaron came up from behind and wrapped his arms around me. I saw his expression in the hallway mirror and smiled. The look I had envied, the look I convinced myself I would never see, was there in Aaron's eyes—his warm beautiful amber eyes.
Bastard Heir (The Heirs Book 3) Page 17
