Page 179 of Love Unspoken

"Yeah, love."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you." I felt grateful that she'd given me a second chance, that the universe had given me a first, and it almost brought me to my knees. "I love you."

She kissed me; this time, it was more than comfort, more than love and affection; it was sexual, potent.

I groaned softly, breathing hard. All I wanted to do was spread her over my desk and be inside her, my favorite place in the world.

"I love you too." She smiled and wiped my tears. "No more of that. I'm here. You're here."

"Yeah?"

"We're a team, Covington."

I kissed her nose, feeling like the luckiest motherfucker in the world. "The best team I could ever be on." My heart was ready to burst out of me. It was so full.

"I have to go, and you have a meeting." She cupped my cheek. "Diedra let me know that you have to see Kath and Gene in a little bit."

I took a deep breath. "I have to fire her."

"You do?" She wasn't challenging me; she was just curious.

I nodded and told her what went down in the boardroom.

"She never loved you, did she?" she finally said when I was done.

"No, Tesoro, she never did."

She gave me a sad smile. "You do what you have to do. I'll be at home, waiting for you."

And thank God for that!

I kissed her softly, sweetly, because she was the love of my life, and I'd never felt it more strongly than I did right then.

THIRTY-ONE

LUCAS

I sat at my desk, facing Kath.

Gene was seated next to her, his lawyer face revealing nothing, but I knew he was dreading this as much as I was.

Kath looked like a deer caught in the headlights—her eyes filled with disbelief at how it had turned out, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her designer blazer. I'd seen her confident, collected, even ruthless, but now? Now, she was just scared. And that made this all the more necessary.

She avoided looking at Gene and sat staring straight into my eyes. She could guess why the company's general counsel was in the room.

"Kath, we're going to have to let you go; you understand that, right?" I kept my voice cold and professional.

She opened her mouth, probably to try to talk her way out of it, but I held up a hand to stop her. I wasn't in the mood for excuses or justifications, not after what had just gone down in the boardroom.

"Your actions today were not only unprofessional but a direct threat to the stability of this company. You conspired with Hugh to undermine my leadership and take control of LPC. You were party to him blackmailing Michael; pressuring me to marry you."

"Lucas," she finally managed to speak, her voice shaking, "I was doing what I thought was best for the company. We were⁠—"

"You mean what's best for my company?" I cut in, my voice hardening.

Her eyes welled with tears, and for a moment, she looked like she might break down entirely. But she straightened her shoulders, trying to regain some semblance of control. "Lucas, you can't just fire me. I'll sue you."