Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
“You’ll get back here early in the morning, without any sleep, and you have to be fresh for court Monday.”
“I have to be prepared Monday, which means sleep is a luxury I can’t afford. Call me when you wake up and I’ll come pick you up.”
“No. You have to sleep and focus on your Monday game plan.”
“I’ll do those things with you, Cat. I’ll see you soon.” He hangs up.
I let the phone drop to the bed, and I’m back to staring into the darkness, but this time, I am not fretting. Lauren was right. That call means something. It tells me that I am a part of his life now, and it’s terrifyingly wonderful.
Chapter twenty-two
Reese
By the time Blake, Kara, and I follow my client and his wife back to their house, it’s seven. I leave them with two of Royce’s men watching the house. I walk them to their door and Kelli goes inside, while Nelson and I stand on the porch. “You’re paying for the plane, and the services I found necessary today. That’s non-negotiable.”
“Understood,” he says. “I know I fucked up. Are you telling the judge that I left?”
“No, but I should,” I say. “Just like I should ask to be recused from this case, but it’s too late in an expensive trial. The judge won’t let me. But be clear: If you give me one more reason to doubt you, my closing statement will get the job done, and nothing more.”
I turn, walk away and climb into the back seat of the Escalade Blake is driving instead of Royce this time. Once I’m inside, I shut the door and watch as Nelson heads back into his house.
“She did it,” Kara says. “I spent the entire flight talking to her, and she did it.”
“I don’t disagree, but we’re all speaking on gut instincts,” I say. “I need more.”
“Unless you have a problem with it,” Blake says, “Kara wants to talk to Nelson’s secretary.”
“I don’t have a problem with it at all,” I say, “but why? Where are you going with this?”
“A secretary knows the boss’s secrets,” Blake says. “I can’t tell you how many times a secretary busted open a case for me.”
“And women share dirty secrets more readily with another woman,” Kara adds.
I’m reminded of Cat’s history. Her ex fucked his secretary while he was with her. The secretary definitely knows a man’s secrets. “Do it,” I say, “but do it quickly. I’ll push Kelli’s testimony to Tuesday, but I can’t push it any further.”
“We’ll go see her today,” Kara says. “After we sleep a few hours.”
Blake turns toward my apartment, and I think of Cat in her bed, instead of mine. “Take me to Cat’s building.” I give him the address.
“So you two are really a thing, then, huh?” Blake asks.
“Yes,” I say. “We are most definitely a thing.”
Kara turns and smiles at me. “A man who knows what he wants and is going after it,” she says. “Are you sure you don’t have Walker blood in you?”
I don’t comment, and she doesn’t expect me to. She turns and faces forward while I silently agree with her. I am a man who knows what I want, and that’s Cat. And I’m going to make sure she knows. For the remainder of the drive, I switch back and forth between trial details and Cat, finding my desire to talk through everything that happened on this trip with her. That’s a first for me. But not only does she want to help, she actually does.
By the time Blake drops me at Cat’s place, it’s nearly eight. My brilliant plan to talk my way past the security desk and surprise Cat doesn’t go as planned. “Call her,” I tell the guard, a man with gray hair, wearing a blue jacket and a big attitude. “Tell her I’m here. The name is—”
“Reese Summer,” he says, disdain in his voice. “I know. We all know who you are.”
The man defending a baby killer, I think. That assumption after what I’ve just dealt with irritates the fuck out of me. “Don’t spread that around or Cat will end up with reporters chasing her and you’ll get to handle the gaggle of people that will appear in your lobby. And I’ll make sure the right people know who made that happen, which would be you.”
“I don’t run my mouth, sir, or I wouldn’t have a job.”
“Call Cat,” I order.
His lips press together, as if he’s biting back a retort, but he dials Cat’s apartment and I’m given immediate clearance. I walk to the elevator, tension radiating throughout my body. I’m ready for the fucking hellish trial to be over; that seed of doubt about Nelson’s guilt eating me alive. He can’t be guilty or I can no longer trust my instincts. I ride the elevator to the fifteenth floor and I swear, just knowing I have a bed with Cat in it waiting on me punches back some of that edginess the guard has stirred in me, right along with the weariness of no sleep. Once I’m at her door, I knock with impatient insistence. I need to see her, to hold her naked body in my arms. It’s irrational. It’s nothing I’ve ever felt with a woman, but it’s real. It’s now and I want the walls between me and this woman gone, literally and figuratively.