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Her sister-in-law placed a hand on her shoulder. “I tried to talk him out of showing up here, but we were in the area. Sort of. A new client wanted a face-to-face.”
“How close were you?”
“Forty-five-minute drive.”
She forced a smile. “I guess I should expect him to drop by when he’s that close, but he could’ve called first.”
Jenna laughed. “I told him to, but I think he was hoping to find the guy here so he could kill him.”
Cate shook her head again. “I’m not seeing anyone. I went out for a single dinner with a colleague. It wasn’t a date.” She poured the water into the cups, releasing the scent of chamomile into the air. “How did he even know about my dinner?”
Jenna giggled and tilted her head to the side.
“Gavin told him. Of course, he did.”
“But you like him.” Jenna’s eyes widened. “It’s written all over your face. This guy means something to you.”
“It doesn’t matter. There is no way it could work. He lives over by Worlds End. I’m here. Geography isn’t on our side.” Besides, he wouldn’t want to get involved with a girl so emotionally challenged. He knew nothing about what she’d been through. Her captivity had changed her inside. She wasn’t the same sweet girl she’d been before the Continental Alliance had impacted her life.
Jenna chuckled. “It wasn’t on our side, either. Nor was it on Gavin and Samantha’s side.”
“Malachi isn’t wealthy, he can’t pick up his life and move the way Gavin did.”
“True, but you are. And you can.” Jenna glanced around the tiny flat. “You might choose to live like a pauper, but if you wanted to, you could follow that guy to the ends of the earth.”
“He doesn’t even know who my daddy is. No reason to bring it up with someone I’m not dating.” Cate took a sip of tea. “Besides, if I were dating him, my brothers would definitely be a problem.”
“Trust me when I tell you, they already are.” Jenna made eye contact with Grayson who filled the doorway to her tiny kitchen with his presence. He scowled at her in his playfully menacing way. Cate’s college friends used to say he looked like Reacher on the television show. Cate didn’t see it, but his size definitely compared.
Cate curled up on the couch and covered herself with her faux fur weighted blanket. Running her fingers through the soft fur, she smiled to herself. Her brothers were a royal pain, but they loved her and would do anything to keep her safe.
She grabbed her teacup from where she’d set it on the coffee table and inhaled the fragrant steam before taking a long sip. Her brothers had quite the scare a couple of years prior when she’d disappeared from school, so she understood their overprotectiveness to an extent, but they’d ventured into the extreme if they thought they had a right to screen her dates.
“It’s good to see you, Katydid.”
“I hate it when you call me that.”
“No, you don’t. You love it.”
She couldn’t hold back a smile. Truth be told, she did like it. It reminded her of her mother. That was what she’d called her, and Grayson had taken to using the nickname after Mom’s death.
“I’m glad you’re here. How was Disney?”
“Not bad. Trina liked the princess castle.”
Jenna smiled. “We bought her a princess dress to wear. Want to see pictures?”
Cate nodded, and Jenna pulled them up on her cell.
When they were finished browsing through the photos, Gray narrowed his eyes and steepled his hands together on his lap. “Now, tell me more about this Malachi James.”
“Not much to tell.” Penny hopped up beside her, and Cate lifted her to her face. “Finally, resigned to having company?” She kissed the top of her head and set her on her lap and the cat did a few circles before lying down. Within seconds she was purring. There were many days when Penny had been her lifeline. On days when she hadn’t wanted to get out of bed, she’d risen simply to care for the cat. If she hadn’t been there, her spiral wouldn’t have been as short-lived as it was.
“My research into him shows he didn’t exist in the system until he was eight.”
“I assumed as much.” Cate chuckled. “And you shouldn’t be researching my coworkers without asking me first.”
Jenna gave her a high five, and Gray frowned. “Why would you assume such a thing?”
