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“That’s not the point. The point is your safety. Where were you?”
My temper flares. I feel like I’m fifteen and my father is scolding me for being out late. “Out.”
“Shit, Kate! I’ve had the entire security team, and half the hotel security, looking for you. Is that the dress you bought at the designer imports store?”
I open my mouth to ask how, but I know how he knows, I charged it to the room. I cross my arms defiantly. I glance up. Luke and Morgan are still standing at the top of the stairs.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Cole comes up and tries to grab my arm, but I push him away. I glance up at the two men again. “Luke, Morgan, why don’t you wait downstairs? I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I whip my head back to Cole. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes, shit, Kate. I put a meeting on hold. I’ve been worried sick about you.” The sound of the elevator ding draws my attention. The doors are closed, and the men gone. Cole takes advantage of my distracted attention and wraps his arm around my waist.
“Back off Cole.” I try pushing him away, but he doesn’t budge. Instead, he wraps his other hand around, pulling me closer. I can’t cross my arms, so I let them hang, turning my head away from him. His hands roam up and down my back, trying to ease my anger. But everything from the past two days has bubbled to the surface, and it’s not going away.
“Cookie,” he trails kisses down my neck. He can give me a hundred hickies, it will only stoke my anger.
“NO!”
“Then talk to me.”
“You want me to talk, fine. I haven’t seen you for the past two days except when you wake me up to have sex. You can’t even call me back. You make Luke do it. I feel like a freaking plaything, Cole, not your wife. I know this is my fault that you have to deal with your dad and your business because we got married. This is the consequence of all that. I accept that. This is still hard for me; the least you could do is pick up the phone once in a while. You need to tell me what’s going on instead of leaving me in the dark. This is all new for me. I wish we weren’t here. We just got married. We should be on a beach somewhere, without a care in the world.”
“Kate, baby, I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault. I love you, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. But I can’t leave until this deal is finished. The second this thing is done; I’ll fly us to the most remote vacation destination I can find. This is new for me too. I’m sorry. I promise I will answer whenever you call, and I will try to be more open about what’s going on. How does that sound?”
I sigh, resigned to my current fate, but loving it at the same time. “Better, and I will try to stay out of trouble.” I try to kiss Cole, but he backs away from me. “Now what?” I cannot even fathom what else is the matter.
“It’s nothing.”
“Seriously, nothing? I tried to kiss you and you backed away. It wasn’t nothing.”
Cole clenches his hands, pacing back and forth. Then stops punching the air.
I take a deep breath, trying to dispel the fear that’s starting to build up. “You said you’d try to tell me what is going on. Please Cole, tell me.”
“I saw Olivia today. It was right around the time she was supposed to be meeting you for lunch.”
My hands clench into fists, and I stomp my feet, screaming with frustration. Olivia played me. Not only that, but Luke ratted me out. I need to remember that Luke is faithful to Cole first and foremost.
“Somehow, she cornered me in a conference room between meetings. We’d just dismissed for lunch. I was on my way to meet my dad at The Empress, but I needed to make one last phone call. She came in while I was on the phone.”
He stops and looks up at me. I’ve never seen this look on his face before. It almost looks like fear. My heart races and the tears start back up. I take a step back from Cole.
Cole curses under his breath. “Nothing happened, Kate, I promise. She tried to come onto me. Made more threats, but she doesn’t have anything. Kate, Kit, and Race walked in on us. I promise you, nothing happened. I called Luke. He was there in minutes and escorted Olivia out.”
My stomach churns nauseously. “What did they do? Kit and Race?”
“I was trying to put her jacket back on her and get her out. She tried to play it up like we’d been caught. They didn’t believe her. They know I love you. That I’m doing this because I love you.”
My heart feels like it’s going to explode in my chest. I’m going to rip Olivia’s hair out—that woman is now enemy number one.
“Kate?”
“You need to tell me what happened between you and Olivia.”
“Kate, we’ve been over this. I chased her, and we slept together, that’s it.”
“That’s it? That’s the entire story?”
