We cut right into another hallway and voices sound ahead and to the right, which is where we travel. Just before we clear the archway leading to the living area where the party is taking place, I lean in close to Carrie and whisper, “Food, drink, cake, my bed.”
She gives me one of her beautiful smiles, and a moment later we’re in a room wrapped in windows with a high ceiling that encases a good twenty people, more no doubt, just beyond the open patio door. Gabe is instantly engaged with some blonde while I scan the crowd filled with familiar faces, but Cat and Reese are nowhere to be found. “Let’s look for my sister,” I say, taking Carrie’s hand and leading her forward, only to have us run smack into Lauren, Royce’s wife, and one of Cat’s closest friends.
“Reid,” she says with obvious shock. “You’re here.”
“I am here,” I say. “And so is Carrie.” I introduce the two women, hoping to talk to Royce as well, with no luck.
“Royce has his hands full at the moment,” Lauren comments. “I doubt he’ll make it tonight.” She gives me a coy look. “Cat will be happy that you came. She and Reese just walked to the kitchen right behind us, if you were trying to find her. They didn’t see you.”
“We’ll go find her there,” I say, giving her a nod, and guiding Carrie in that direction.
We enter the room to find my sister, looking as blonde and beautiful as ever, standing next to Reese behind the granite island, a chocolate cake in front of them. “I say we cut it now,” Cat says. “Don’t you want cake?”
“I’d rather have you,” he says, at the same moment he looks up to find us entering. He clears his throat, alerting Cat to our company. “Reid,” he greets.
“Reid?” Cat asks, blinking as if she can’t believe she really sees me.
I urge Carrie forward again, my hand on her back as we step to the island. I’m across from Cat, and Carrie is across from Reese, who I look at now. “Happy birthday, man.”
“Thanks,” Reese says. “Glad to have you here and with a date.”
“This is—” I begin but Cat cuts me off.
“Carrie West,” she supplies.
“I told them about Carrie,” Gabe says, entering the kitchen and walking to the fridge.
“I’m a huge fan, Cat,” Carrie says. “And Reese. I’m following your case through her column. I missed today’s.”
Cat and Reese look at each other and laugh. “Today was—loaded. I don’t like the DA any more than Reid does.”
“What about the DA?”
Cole walks into the room and joins us at the endcap. “He’s a piece of shit,” I say, and then quickly introduce Carrie. “Cole, meet Carrie West. Carrie, this is Cole Brooks, Reese’s partner. His wife, Lori, works at the firm as well. Cole’s the one—”
“Who sued the DA and gave up the settlement. Congratulations on the settlement.”
“Thanks,” he says. “News conference Monday.”
“And I can’t wait to write about it,” Cat says as Lori, a pretty brunette, joins us.
“Reid,” she says, stepping to Cole’s side. “Thank you for kicking the DA’s ass.”
From there, we fall into conversation and Cat and Carrie end up on the opposite side of the island talking while Reese, Cole, and Lori stand with me, talking about the press conference. Somewhere in the process, I grab a whiskey sour from the bar, and Carrie ends up with a glass of champagne. We both munch on some sort of taco a waiter brings us, and while we both chat with other people at a distance, we catch each other’s eyes. I have never been as present with another person in my life.
“What about the cake?” Cat says. “We need to cut the cake.”
Cole is wrangled into carrying it to the living room to a special table that’s set up and everyone gathers around. “Birthday wish!” everyone shouts.
“That Cat gives me her birthday surprise she’s been teasing me with for weeks,” Reese says.
“After the party,” Cat says, linking her arm with his. “When we’re alone.”
“Everyone leave,” Reese calls out. “Party over. No, no, just kidding. Kind of. Everyone eat cake. My wife is going to give me my gift now. Lauren!” He grabs her where she stands next to him and places her in front of the cake. “Give the people cake.” He then scoops up my sister and starts walking.
Carrie laughs. “They seem very much in love.” Her eyes meet mine as they have so many times tonight, but never with the fierce awareness that pulls us together at this very moment.
Love.
Marriage.
Those two words are in the air between us and I cannot say that I have ever had them in the air with anyone else. And I know, I know in that moment that if I don’t stop this now, I’ll fall in love with Carrie. I know all the reasons that’s wrong and can’t work, and yet, I don’t want to stop.
I pull her to me. “Carrie—”
“Cake?”
We look up to have a waiter hand us each a plate. I stroke Carrie’s hair behind her ear. “Later.”
“Later,” she whispers.
We both accept a plate, and neither of us are shy about digging in. “I love Cat,” Carrie says. “And Lori, too, but Cat, just—we connect. Really connect.”
I reach up and wipe chocolate from her lip and lick it from my finger the way I’m going to lick her tonight. She seems to read my thoughts, pink flushing her cheeks in one of her demure moments, which contrast the many bold. I’m hot and hard, and ready to get her out of here when Cat and Reese return and Gabe steps to our side.
“What do you think?” he asks. “Was the gift what we think it was?”
Reese is now standing behind Cat, arm around her hip, hand on her belly. “Look at his hand,” I say. “Yes. She is.”
“Pregnant?” Carrie asks.
We both look at her. “How did you guess that?” Gabe asks.
“A gut feeling,” Carrie says, “But the hand on her belly, on top of the fact that she refused champagne, also makes it a good guess.”
It’s right then that Cat catches our attention and motions us to the kitchen. “We’re about to confirm,” I say.
“Should I stay here?” Carrie asks, tugging my hand as Gabe moves on ahead.
“She’ll ask to see us alone if she wants to see us alone,” I say, turning to face her, “but Cat’s probably more comfortable telling you than me.”
Her hand settles on my chest. “She wants you in her life, Reid. Whatever went wrong, you just have to reach for her.”
“It’s—”
“Complicated. I know. Let’s go hear her news.” She links her arm with mine and my cellphone rings. I snake it from my pocket to find a client, who’s a hundred feet deep in legal issues, calling.
“Go on in,” I tell Carrie. “It’s a client I need to talk to.”
“How important is that call?” she asks. “This is not just some party. It’s your sister in there waiting and this could hold up her announcement.”
She’s right. I stick my phone back in my pocket. “You’re right. I’ll call him back.”
Approval warms her eyes and she pushes to her toes and kisses me. “You might not be the asshole I thought you were after all.”
I mold her close and those perfect curves press to mine, my lips near her ear. “Don’t go weaving fairytales unless they include me spanking you while you’re playing dress-up, preferably in something see-through. And handcuffs.”
“After tonight,” she says, “I might just trust you enough to let you, Reid Maxwell.”
Trust is exactly what I wanted to earn tonight, with the handcuffs as a bonus. “Now you’re just trying to make me drag you into the bathroom and fuck you.”
“That would be bad manners,” she says, tilting those full, kissable lips in my direction, and tempting me ten ways to Sunday.
“And?”
She laughs. “Maybe after another slice of cake.” She twists in my arms and tugs me forward, with me enjoying the view of her perfect ass in those jeans, while hoping like hell that t
rust is really where we’re headed. The kind of trust that will endure even the most wicked of storms.
I urge her ahead of me to enter the kitchen. Carrie steps to the endcap between Cat and Lori, and I’m just joining her when the unexpected, and unthinkable happens: my father, who never attends family events, walks into the room, inappropriately dressed in a three-piece ten-thousand-dollar suit.
“What’s she doing here?” he demands, claiming the endcap directly across from Carrie and staring her down. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Fifty
Reid
“Who are you?” Carrie asks, staring across the island at my father, because while my father has been obsessed about her father and anyone connected to him, Carrie’s been sheltered, even by me.
“Just like your daddy,” my father says. “Playing coy, but really a cobra.”
“Let’s go to the other room and talk, father,” I bite out, motioning toward the door.
“Father?” Carrie demands, whirling to face me, but I’m already rounding the island to stand beside my father. “Let’s go talk.” I can’t look at Carrie. I can’t invite conversation that will allow my father to flatten her and destroy me with her.
But my father won’t look at me. He’s looking at Carrie. “You aren’t welcome here. No West is welcome in a Maxwell house.”
“She’s welcome in this house,” Cat snaps, “but I’m a Summer now, and you’re giving me yet another reason to be proud of that fact.” Cat turns to Carrie. “Ignore him. This is our house, not his.”
“You’re welcome here now, and you have an invitation to return,” Reese adds and Cat whirls on my father again.
“Why did I invite you?” she demands. “Right. You never come. That’s why. Leave.”
I feel those words like a punch, like it’s what she feels about me, but right now, I have to deal with the beast that is my father. He turns to me, finally giving me his attention. “Did you bring her here?” His voice is pure accusation and hate.
In this moment, looking into my father’s hard eyes, I know that if I don’t convince him that her presence makes sense for his reasons, not mine, he’ll target her. He’ll go after her because he thinks I’m not. “Carrie and I work together,” I say. “We’re an investment, making money for both families.”
“Investment?” Carrie demands. “You brought me here to make me more committed to the investment? You really are an ass, Reid Maxwell.” She looks at Cat and Reese. “Thank you for the invitation and the lovely evening up until this point.” She eyes Cat. “You’re most definitely a Summer, not a Maxwell.”
She turns and darts out of the room, which is exactly what I want and need, but it’s gutting me to let her go for even a moment. My eyes lift and meet Cat’s fiery stare that tells a story. She’s angry with me. She thinks I used Carrie. She thinks that I am no better than my father. “It’s not what you think. I promise. I’ll explain.” I don’t wait for her reply. Fuck my father. I can’t let Carrie go. I’ll protect her. I’ll back him down.
I’m already walking, rushing in the direction where Carrie departed into the living area. “Reid!” my father calls out, but I ignore him. I got Carrie away from him. I got her out of the range of his nastiness that would have buried me and her with me. Now I need to explain myself. Now I need to make this right.
I exit the kitchen to scan the crowd and catch a glimpse of her turning the corner toward the door. I cut through a group of people, and all but run after her. She’s in the hallway halfway to the elevator when I exit the apartment. “Carrie! Wait.”
She disappears around the corner leading to the elevator banks. I break into a run. I bring her into view as she waits for an elevator. “Go away, Reid,” she hisses the moment she sees me. “We’re done.”
“No,” I say, stalking toward her.
She points at me. “Do not even try to come near me,” she warns, her voice quaking with emotion.
I hold up my hands in surrender. “Okay. Just hear me out. Our parents hate each other, Carrie. I was going to talk to you about it after the party, after you saw that we are not a part of that war. That’s what tonight was. I wanted you to know that we, that I, am not your enemy. My father is another story. He is.”
“In other words, you did his bidding. You did what you told me you didn’t do. You went after our company to go after my father.”
“No,” I say, closing one of the at least five steps between us. “I didn’t lie to you, Carrie. That is not what happened and when I realized you didn’t know about our fathers, I knew you’d say just that when I told you.”
“You just told your father that I was a business deal.”
“That’s not what I said. I said we were making money together. I spoke his language, the only one that can get him past his hate. The only way I could pull him back in the middle of that party, one which was supposed to be special for Cat, and good for us, Carrie.”
“Do you know how that made me feel?” She shoves a hand through her hair. “And poor Cat. Tonight was supposed to be special for her and Reese.” The elevator opens and I’m beside her, shackling her arm, her in an instant. “Carrie—”
“I thought we were—I don’t know what I thought we were—it doesn’t matter. I don’t trust you, Reid. I can’t be with you.”
“I could just as easily have thought that you were setting me up because I’m my father’s son, Carrie, but you aren’t your father and I’m not my father. We’re us. I want you and us. I swear to you, I was going to tell you about their war tonight.”
“War? It’s a war and you didn’t think you needed to tell me?”
“I thought your father would have. When I figured out you didn’t know—”
“You hid it from me? Why? To get me to perform with Grayson Bennett, who didn’t trust you?”
“Glad to see I caught you both.”
At the sound of my father’s voice, I grimace and whirl around, quick to put Carrie at my back, where I can protect her from his direct onslaught of verbal abuse. “You need to step away, father. Now.”
The elevator behind me dings and damn it to hell, I know Carrie is about to leave, and I have to let her go. I still can’t risk him twisting his war into mine. “You need to explain yourself and her,” my father bites out.
I step toward him and I can hear Carrie step into the car. “You need to back out of this,” I say.
“I told you—”
“I’m sick of you telling me how to do anything,” I say as the elevator door shuts behind me, the idea that Carrie is gone igniting my anger. “Back away from this,” I repeat.
“I told you to ruin West and that means his offspring, too.”
“I never told you I’d ruin West. I made sure the debt was settled and it is. A debt that has nothing to do with Carrie.”
“It has everything to do with her. That man came at me, and us, after my stroke. He tried to sweep the stocks in four of my investments and two of yours. There’s no mercy here. You are my son. You will do this. You will ruin him and his daughter.”
“If you go after Carrie or her company, you will regret it. I am your son and you taught me far too well. I will make you hate life and regret the day you hurt Carrie and mom, for that matter. Mom’s biggest fear? That I would become just like you and I’ll make that fear come true in order to hurt you. Walk away now, and I don’t mean back to Cat’s apartment. You hurt her tonight.” I punch the elevator button and a car opens instantly. I hold the door. “Leave.”
He snorts. “You’d ruin me? You really think you have that in you, boy?”
“We both know you don’t really doubt that I do. Sacramento, father,” I add of the secret he never wants revealed, a dirty deal he did that not even Gabe knows about. “I’ll use it.”
He charges at me and pokes a finger at my chest. “You dare to go there?”
“With a smile on my face and I don’t smile much.”
He huffs out a breath. “That would hurt the firm.” br />
“The firm is about me and Gabe now. Not you. I want you out.”
“I’m not retiring.”
“Sacramento.”
“I’m not fucking retiring. You think I don’t have anything on you?”
“You don’t, asshole, because I don’t break laws.”
“This isn’t over,” he says, but he gets on the elevator. I wait for it to shut and then turn for the stairwell with one thing on my mind: getting to Carrie.
Chapter Fifty-One
Carrie
My taxi is stuck in stand-still traffic and it’s all I can do to hold it together. Reid keeps calling my phone and I can’t talk to him. I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t even want to listen to his messages. I’m going to melt down and cry. I’m not a crier or a fool, but Reid apparently wants to make me both. I trusted him. I was falling in love with him while I was an “investment” to him. I feel so foolish. I hurt. God, this hurts. How did I get to a point this quickly that this man could hurt me that badly? And his father—well, I know where the asshole in Reid comes from. Two peas from the same pod.
I dial my father for the fifth time, and this time when I get his voicemail I don’t hang up. “You need to call me back. Now. Stop dodging my calls. This is important. I need to talk about you about Maxwell Senior. I need to talk to you about you.” I disconnect.
The cab hasn’t moved in five minutes. Unmoving traffic surrounds us. I can’t sit here like this, with my emotions clawing their way out of me. I can’t do it. I only took the cab in the first place to be able to use my phone, which isn’t doing me any good. I eye the meter and throw a ten at the driver before opening my door and getting out, the crush of fumes and that dirty city smell Manhattan is famous for attack my nose and lungs. Once I’m outside, I dart for the nearest subway and replay Maxwell Senior saying “You aren’t welcome here” in various ways, over and over. By the time I’m in a subway car, my thoughts go to a place that my mind is avoiding, to the place I know I can’t get past; Reid and his “investment” comment. Reid letting me leave when his father arrived at the elevator. He could have gotten into the car with me. He had that opportunity, but he didn’t. Just like he didn’t come to me in the kitchen. He went to his father.