Dirty Rich Cinderella Story: Ever After: Lori & Cole

by Lisa Renee Jones

  “I do not want you putting yourself on the line with this man,” I say. “No. Absolutely not.”

  “Actually,” Royce says. “It might protect her and everyone else in this room. Why would he reject a press conference and positive press when he wants reelection?”

  Lori turns to me and grabs my arms. “I’ll close him. I can do this.”

  I look skyward and force myself to be reasonable. She’s right. Royce is right. “I’ll go with you. He needs to hear from me that I’m backing off.”

  “No,” she says. “I’ll close. I’m not his adversary. You are. I can do this. I need to do this alone.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Cole

  She wants to go to see the DA on her own.

  That’s not going to happen, but I’m not having that battle with my wife at Cat and Reese’s house, with them standing across the island from us and Royce Walker staring at us. I focus on him now. “If we back out of this, we need to know you’re really bringing this man down.”

  “A DA looking out for himself and hurting innocent people in the process is not someone that sits well with my team. All of my people have, and do, risk their lives to save innocent people. He’s devious, but I have people on my team that have taken down warlords that would make that man cry. We’ll get him, but the idea here is to do it without him taking down you and your team first.”

  “That would be a plan I approve of,” Reese says, glancing at Cat. “Keep the book you’re writing about the murders that started this off the grid.”

  “Whatever you need,” Royce says. “Tell me.”

  “I’d like to go to North Carolina where the real killer was arrested and interview people down there,” Cat says. “Is there any reason I can’t do that?”

  “As long as you focus on the killer and the process of catching him and leave this DA out of the picture,” Royce says, “you should be fine.”

  Cat glances at Lori. “Want to go to North Carolina with me?”

  “After I know Ashley is safe,” Lori says. “If she ends up in some sort of witness protection, Cole will need me here.”

  Cole will need me here, I repeat in my mind. I always fucking need her, and the closer the better, which is just another reason she and I need to talk about the DA.

  “Is that where this is headed?” Lori asks, directing her attention to Royce. “To Ashley landing in witness protection?”

  “I can’t answer that question,” he replies. “Not because I don’t want to or have been silenced, but because the Feds aren’t talking right now. They want to hear her story first. And yes, they said that.”

  “Do they think she’s guilty of something?” Cat asks.

  “My read is that they think she knows something they need to know,” he says. “That doesn’t spell guilt. She may not even know she knows it. Or maybe she does and she’s protecting him.”

  “I don’t get that read,” Lori says. “She’s angry, hurt and confused.”

  “I’ll talk to her tomorrow,” I say. “I’ll make sure she’s not holding back, under client-attorney privilege, which I’ll formalize.”

  Royce’s phone buzzes with a text message and he glances at it and us. “I need to run, but let me return to the DA for a moment. I believe Reid Maxwell can be an asset. The financial backers behind this DA are at the root of his power. Reid manages the kind of corporate power that can make or break a man. I’m going to be talking with him in detail.”

  “As am I,” I say. “I’ve told Reid to go at this DA for the settlement. On that, I won’t waver. This is for the families of the victims. And while we’ll assure the DA we’re backing off otherwise, the lawsuit is staying in place.”

  Everyone agrees and once Royce departs, I waste no time saying our goodbyes. Even then, it’s far too long before Lori and I settle into the back of a hired car to take us home. Home. My home is with this woman. That’s damn surreal. I pull Lori close to me, my hand on her thigh, just beneath the hem of her skirt. It’s only then that I allow what I’m really feeling to surface and take hold. I’m angry. Lori should not have insisted on going alone to see the DA without talking to me.

  She covers it with her own and glances over at me. The minute her eyes meet mine, the flicker of a street light illuminates my face and she narrows her gaze on me. “You’re angry.”

  “We need to talk. We’ll probably fight.” I lower my voice. “Fight and fuck, remember? We never said we wouldn’t.”

  “Right,” she says tightly and tries to move away.

  I hold her steady. “You’re moving away in anticipation of the fight that hasn’t happened?”

  “I’m warming up for battle.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes. That’s right.”

  I cup her face and whisper. “I’ll warm you up.” I lean in and kiss her, my tongue doing a slow slide that has her panting into my mouth.

  “That’s unfair,” she whispers, eyeing the driver.

  I scoot us further behind the seat, and kiss her again, my hand sliding up her skirt to her panties, where I brush my fingers. She grabs my arm and mouths, “No,” right as I shove aside her panties and drag my finger along the slick seam of her body, pressing two fingers inside her.

  “Cole, damn it,” she hisses, as the driver calls out, “We’re here,” and the damn car pulls to our building.

  I force myself to remove my fingers, tugging her skirt down, and pressing my cheek to her cheek, my lips by her ear. “Let’s go fuck the fight out of our system.”

  I open the door and offer her my hand. She stares up at me, glowering with the promise I will be punished, which can only mean a little shouting and a lot of fucking. That works for me. She declines my hand and exits the car. I pull her to me, kissing her before my arm wraps around her shoulders and I tip the driver. We walk into the building and Lori doesn’t try to pull away, but I can feel her anger just as readily as I can feel her need. We enter the elevator and we are not alone. Not one but, a group of six join us, and I step to the back of the car, pulling Lori in front of me, settling her backside to my hips, the thick pulse of my erection pressed to her backside. My hands at her waist, inching upward, my thumbs stroking the sides of her breasts.

  She catches my hands and tries to turn, but I hold her firmly in place. We arrive on our floor with the car still packed. The minute I release her, she dashes forward. I snag her hand from behind, ensuring she doesn’t escape through the crush of bodies. Once we’re outside the car, I fold our arms at the elbows and put us in motion toward the door.

  We don’t speak and she doesn’t pull away but she’s going to. The minute she gets the chance, if she starts to dart away, or tries, I’ll catch her. We reach the door and I pull her in front of me, my body holding hers in place. I stick the key in the lock, and I turn it. Lori opens the door and rushes inside. I grab the key, lock the door, and pursue. She’s already disappeared around the corner. I peel away my jacket and then I’m on the hunt.

  I catch up with her just in time to find her entering the kitchen, putting the island between me and her. “Sex isn’t getting you out of this,” she promises. “We fight and fuck. The fight comes first.”

  “Tonight we fuck, fight, fuck.” I move toward her.

  She moves away. “No, Cole.”

  “Yes, Lori.”

  She darts around the counter and once again, I’m on the opposite side of her. “You know I’m going to grab you, and undress you, and fuck you, right? That’s happening.”

  “You don’t want me to talk to the DA alone. I am. That’s happening.”

  “Let’s negotiate naked.”

  “The only way I’m negotiating naked with you is on my knees with you halfway to completion.”

  I laugh. “Is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can live with that. Come over here.”

  “No.”

  I arch a brow. “What happened to you on your kn
ees and me halfway to completion?”

  “I’m going to see the DA alone.”

  I round the counter and this time when she tries to escape, I don’t let her. I snag her hand and pull her to me, trapping her between me and the island. “Talk first,” she says, her hands on my chest.

  “Sorry, sweetheart, but I’ve already been between your legs in that car. Talk after.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.” I turn her to face the island and drag her jacket off her shoulders, but when I would remove it, I tangle it around her arms, and then turn her to face me again. “You were saying?”

  “This changes nothing. I need to convince the DA—”

  I lean in and kiss her, a deep stroke of tongue before I say, “Nothing you say to the DA will matter if I don’t convince him I’m pussy-whipped and doing what you want.”

  She laughs. “Like anyone would believe that.”

  “Sweetheart, anyone that’s with us five minutes knows I’ll do anything for you.” I reach up and rip the buttons off her shirt.

  She gasps, and I swallow it with my mouth over hers before I repeat my words, “I would do anything for you.”

  “Then let me go alone.”

  “As long as I get to storm in and convince him you went on your own and then negotiate that settlement.”

  “That’s your plan?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.”

  I pull her bra down and tweak her nipples. “Do we agree?”

  “Yes,” she agrees.

  “Then either you’re going on top of the counter with your legs on my shoulders or you can go down on your knees and make me promise.”

  “I have no hands.”

  “Your point?”

  She bites her lip and says, “I want that promise.” She goes down on her knees.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Lori

  I wake pressed close to Cole and smile. This is my life now. I start every day with this man holding me. This is not someone else’s fairy tale. It’s mine and it’s real. “Morning,” Cole murmurs, kissing my forehead. “You’re awake.”

  I raise to my elbow to look at him, a light stubble of dark brown shadowing his jaw, his hair a rumpled, sexy mess. “And you’re wide awake.”

  “Not for long.”

  “You’re worried about the DA,” I say.

  “No. I woke up holding my wife, and decided to enjoy it before the alarm went off.”

  His cellphone rings on the nightstand. “Or my phone rang. And so, it’s already begun.” He reaches across me, kisses me hard and fast in the process, and then grabs his phone to glance at the screen. “Reid. I’ll put him on speaker.” Cole punches the answer button.

  “What the fuck, Cole?”

  “I guess you got my message,” he says, dryly pushing to a sitting position to rest against the headboard.

  “You want to go at the DA on the morning I tell you I have a stockholder meeting for an important project? No. You wait.”

  “Good morning, sunshine,” I say, sitting against the headboard next to Cole.

  “Sunshine, my ass,” Reid snaps. “You wait, Lori. We do this when it’s time and it’s not. I’ve left the DA squirming for a reason. I want him to come to me. I want him to wonder why I haven’t taken a piece of his ass. I’m close to getting you four times the deal you wanted. He cannot believe that you’re willing to back off. Not yet. You want to make nice with him, you do it after I finish making him suck his damn thumb.”

  “I take it you want us to wait,” Cole says dryly.

  “Finally, one of you gets the point,” Reid says.

  “I’m daring to challenge you on this,” I say. “I think if I go in there and tell him how much I just want this over, how much I want to make peace, he’ll be more likely to settle.”

  He’s silent a few moments. “I’ll think about it. After my meeting. Don’t screw this up in the meantime.” He hangs up. Cole and I look at each other.

  “I think we need to do this sooner than later, before the DA makes a move that burns the firm.”

  “Agreed, but an extra day won’t matter,” he says. “Let’s give Reid room to breathe so that he can focus and talk objectively about our next move.”

  My cellphone rings now. I grab it to find my mother. “Hey, mom,” I answer quickly. “Is everything okay?”

  “Of course. I’m at work and I knew you’d be getting up to start your day. I just wanted to see if you’re okay. You haven’t called me since your attack.”

  “I’ll make coffee,” Cole whispers, standing up in all of his naked glory before he pulls on his pajama bottoms and heads for the door.

  “It wasn’t an attack, mom. He was grieving for his sister—it’s complicated. I got emotional because I felt his pain. That’s all.”

  “I see. I’m sure you did. Can you help him?”

  My stomach knots. “He tried to kill himself. He’s okay though and I can only hope that the good in this is that it helps ensure he gets real help.”

  “I suddenly really need to see my daughter. I know you’re very busy but can you and Reid do dinner with your mom and her very special man?”

  Her very special man. I still can’t get used to her with anyone but my father and yet, after the way my father left her to struggle, she deserves happiness. “When?”

  “Whenever you can. I’m off Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday but we can always go to breakfast if needed.”

  “Let me talk to Cole and I’ll let you know our schedule so we can coordinate with yours, but I’m looking forward to it.”

  “I want you to come to our place. I want you to see how good this man is to me.”

  I swallow hard. “Yes. I’d like that.”

  We say our goodbyes and disconnect right when Cole walks into the bedroom with two mugs. “Why are you frowning?”

  “My mother wants us to come see her new home and how well her man takes care of her.”

  He sits down and hands me a cup. “Again. Why are you frowning?”

  “I shouldn’t be. I want her to be happy, but…”

  “It’s stirring up feelings about your father.”

  “Yes. They were in love. I do know this. In the end, he wasn’t all he should have been to her, but they were in love. I suddenly feel sad that my father is just forgotten when a few months ago, that’s what I wanted.”

  “Maybe, just maybe, this means you’re starting to forgive your father for his mistakes. Therefore, he’s human again, not a monster who betrayed you.”

  I sip my coffee and consider this. “Do I want to forgive him, Cole? He gambled. He left us in debt. He left us desperate as my mother had a stroke.”

  Cole sets his cup down and then mine. “Yes. You do. He was not perfect, but you have always told me that until the end you believed you were loved. Gambling, like drinking, is an addiction. He needed help.”

  “Are you ever going to try to forgive your father?”

  “Never. He was,” he considers a moment, “like the DA. He didn’t have a problem. He was the problem. He was just a monster.” He looks skyward and then settles his hands on my arms. “I’m not him. I will never be him. I promise you, Lori. I will always love you, protect you, and put you first.”

  I’m not sure if he’s saying this for me because of how my father makes me feel, or for him, because of how his father makes him feel. Actually, I do. He’s saying it for us.

  Everything is for us now.

  ***

  Cole

  Lori and I walk to the coffee shop, and we’re waiting for our order when Roger’s attorney calls. “Under the circumstances,” he says. “My client agrees to six months in hospital treatment in exchange for you dropping the charges.”

  “Good. Put it in writing.”

  Lori grabs our coffees and hands me mine, waiting eagerly for news, which I share. “It feels like this is almost over, doesn’t it?” she asks, as we exit to the stree
t.

  “It feels like we’re getting there,” I agree.

  “Now we just need a new case,” she says as we arrive at the office, and step onto the elevator a good forty minutes early.

  I glance over at her. “Yes. We do.” And I find I really mean that. We’re ready. I’m ready.

  She rewards me with a beautiful smile and it’s a smile that I want to see for the rest of my life.

  We enter the executive offices to find Ashley already at her desk, hard at work. I watch her interact with Lori and it’s clear to me that she’s not good. She’s not feisty and snarky. Her eyes are bloodshot with dark circles beneath them. Even her dress is black, like she’s in mourning. Lori notices, too, giving me a look that we both understand. I need to talk to her. Lori heads to her office, and I eye Ashley. “Grab a dollar bill or whatever you have and come to my office.”

  She frowns and reaches for her purse. I enter my office and grab the contract I did up for Ashley before I left the house this morning. She joins me and I motion to the conference table where we sit across from one another. She holds up the dollar. “What is this for?”

  “Hand it to me.”

  She does so and I push the contract in front of her. “Sign that.”

  She scans it and looks at me. “Free services?”

  “Of course, free services. Sign.”

  She signs and offers it back to me. “Thank you, Cole.”

  “Thank me by talking to me.”

  “What do I say, Cole? The man I loved lied to me and now the FBI wants to talk to me.”

  “What haven’t you told me?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What haven’t you told me?” I repeat.

  “Nothing. That’s what hurts. I believed he was who he said he was.”

  “Which was what?”

  “Retired military. Contract security consulting, which is why he traveled a lot. You know this. I told you.”

  “And yet I never met him.”