Beyond the Edge (the Knight Series Book 3)

by Mari Brown

  “Am I missing something?” Gracie asks from her desk where she is steady texting while listening to us talk.

  “Oh girl… Marisol and I met at Miguel’s one night. We got drunk and I told her everything about Cole” I lean back with a smile as the memory of the time hit me. “She later met Cole in a bar in Mobile and well, let’s just say when she figured out who Cole was, she played him and then left him hanging.”

  “Really? She sounds like another you?”

  “My sister and Kat are a lot alike …but Kat is even more special then my sister.”

  “Miguel stop! Gracie doesn’t need any more ideas. She’s going to have popcorn in here soon ,watching us like a we are a movie”

  “Oh, it crossed my mind especially since Drew just texted that their weekly breakfast is over and they were all headed into the office.” She smiles sweetly at me.

  “How long before we are invaded?” I ask my smile dropping a little. Not because I’m not happy my man is coming but it means everyone will be walking into the office together.

  “Ten minutes or less” she says grinning.

  “Fuck!” I turn toward Miguel. “Well, you’ll get to see Luke at least.”

  “Yea, I can’t believe he was the first one of us to go down!”

  “Go down?”

  “Yep! Fell in love and moved across the country to be with her. It’s just Parker and I left.”

  “How is Parker?” I ask of their ginger haired friend. He was just as handsome and charming as Miguel but I wasn’t as close to him.

  “He’s the same. He’s my trainer now. Still a ladies man of course not as good at it as me.”

  A giggle escapes Gracie “I love this guy.” she quips. Her elbows rest on her desk her chin in her hands and she’s watching this all like it’s a TV drama unfolding.

  The dinging of the elevator announces the arrival of the men. Glancing up I wonder who will be the first face to cross the threshold. My chest flutters as Cole saunters into the office. His eyes gleam as they land on me. It’s as if we are the only two in the room as he heads toward me.

  “Kitten, I missed you.”, he places his warm lips against mine. “I hate when we don’t come to work together.”

  “I missed you this morning.” Biting lightly on my lower lip I fight back a smile. Cole and I often have morning sex. “Cole, I want you to meet Miguel.”, my hand waves toward where Miguel is sitting on the couch.

  Cole straightens and turns to where I indicate. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”

  “It’s great to meet you as well.” Miguel extends his hand out to shake which Cole does. “I think you are the only Knight I didn’t meet when Kat was my manager.”

  Way to bring up the past Miguel, I think to myself while sending him an evil look. Cole chuckles at Miguel’s comment.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t exactly on Kat’s good side back then.”

  The elevator dings again and this time several sets of footsteps are heard as well as voices speaking to one another. Justin, Drew and Luke all enter the office together. Luke stops short when he sees Miguel.

  “What the fuck, man? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming into town?” Luke asks his longtime friend.

  “It was a surprise. I wasn’t sure I was doing it until late last night.” Miguel replies.

  “It’s good to see you.” Luke greets Miguel who has stood up and they give each other that special man hug. I always wonder how they know just the right amount of force to pat each other while doing it.

  “Guys this is my old friend, Miguel.” Luke faces Justin and Drew as he speaks.

  “Wait, Miguel as in the one Kat use to manage?” Justin asks.

  “That would be the one.” I reply while smiling up at Cole who has made himself comfortable on the arm of my chair.

  “It’s nice to meet you, man. I’m Kat’s brother, Drew.” My brother shakes his hand before turning and walking over to Gracie who he kisses on the cheek before planting his ass on her desk.

  A grin covers my face as I look around this room. It’s filled with some of the people I love most. I have a feeling there won’t be much work done today with Miguel’s arrival.

  “What brought you to town?” Luke asks.

  “I came to try to win Kat over one last time…” he turns to eye me then Cole who has stiffened beside me. “But I see that just like always her eyes are only for Cole there.” Cole relaxes as Miguel speaks again.

  “Yeah, even when I wasn’t with him my heart was.” I say while smiling up at Cole with love. I hope this man knows how much I really do care for him.

  “You two make me sick!” Drew quips. He has a look of mock disgust on his face. It makes me laugh. I remember times when Cole and I first started dating and Drew’s real disgust over it. I’m thankful that my brother is more approving of our relationship this time. I know from things he has told me over the years that the only thing he worried about back then is me not going to college.

  “Like you’re any better with Gracie!” I retort back.

  “This isn’t near as fun as I thought it would be.” Gracie remarks.

  “What did you expect, a duel?” I ask her

  “I expected something more than everyone being all chummy.” she says with a fake pout on her lips.

  Drew leans back precariously balancing on the desk as he plants a kiss on her forehead. “You’re so damn cute.”

  “Oh puke!” I give my brother a hard time. He rolls his eyes at me while Gracie giggles.

  The elevator dinging has all eyes darting to the entryway. Julie sashays her way into the room as her eyes take in the crowd; she freezes.

  “Well, I feel like I didn’t get my invite to the party.” Julie quips.

  “Hey babe, I want you to meet one of my oldest friends.This is Miguel …Miguel this is the love of my life, Julie Knight.” Luke introduces the two.

  “It’s like a fucking love fest up in here.” Justin replies with sarcasm. “I hope it’s not fucking contagious. Miguel don’t worry, us bachelors have to stick together. I’ll introduce you to Knight’s Castle tonight.”

  “Oh, that’s just what we need Justin, you and Miguel both on the loose at the club.” I respond while turning to look up at Cole. “Be prepared for a phone call tonight.”

  “Noted.” he says with a smirk as he eyes his little brother.

  Miguel is busy talking to Luke and Julie. Drew and Gracie have started their own conversation. Justin walks off to his office leaving Cole and I sitting there.

  “Want to go in your office?” his eyebrows lift up and down as he asks his question.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” I say while jumping out of the chair. We make our way quietly to my office. Gracie is the only one who pays attention and she gives me a knowing smile before turning her attention back to my brother.

  Cole shuts and locks the door behind us before he steps toward me forcing the back of my legs to hit my desk. His hand pushes my skirt up and as he finds me without any panties on he lets out a groan.

  “Fuck! I love you, Kitten!”

  Chapter 15

  Kat

  Cole and I, both, sit on the sofa in my office panting sweaty messes. We just spent an hour making up for this morning. We are only interrupted when Gracie buzzes in over the speaker.

  “We are making reservations at Tony’s for lunch. Y’all in?” Her voice chimes.

  Cole replies, “Yeah, sounds good. We need another hour.”

  “Another hour, huh?” I ask with a laugh.

  “Yes, I need you, again;, once just isn’t enough this morning.”

  I right my skirt and blouse. “We should probably do some work while we’re in the office this morning.”

  “Why?” he whines.

  Hahaha! “Oh Cole, I do love you but we have a huge corporation we need to run. We can fuck again later I promise.”

  “Fine.” he pouts while pulling his pants up and walking into the bathroom between our o
ffices. “I hope you know I’m making a huge sacrifice for us to work.”

  “What are you sacrificing?”

  “My Cock being in your pussy… that’s the best place to be in all of the world.”

  “Oh my gawd, Cole. Go to your office and cool off!” I say chuckling. I sit down in my office chair and flip my laptop on. As much as I would like another round with Cole, I have a couple issues that were brought to my attention yesterday regarding one of the companies we acquired from Frank. It apparently wasn’t an entirely clean business. I had to figure out the best way to fix that.

  After a couple of hours, Cole pops his head back into my office. “Kitten, ready for lunch?”

  I look up from my laptop where I have been looking over the files on the salon we acquired. I hit save on the progress I made and straighten the piles of paper up on my desk into the folder. “Yeah… I am.” I place the folder into my bag along with my laptop. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “What you been working on?” he asks as we walk out to the lobby.

  “There’s a hair salon we acquired in the merger. Initial reports showed it was operating in the black; however, something other than hair is being done there.” I remark casually.

  “Oh?” he waits for me to tell him more.

  “I’ve been studying the figures. Hunter is doing some digging.”

  “What’s your plan?” Cole asks.

  “Figure out what’s going on. Get rid of any bad element especially if it's connected to Sal.” I frown as I continue, “I’m not even sure Frank was aware of this.”

  “We can handle whatever.” Cole says as we wait for the others to join us.

  “Gracie, is everyone ready?” I turn to her and ask.

  “Yea, they should all be joining us at the restaurant. I’m just waiting for Drew now.” She answers me.

  “I won’t be coming back into the office this afternoon.” I inform Gracie.

  Cole and I head to the elevator.He takes my hand and pulls me into him. “I want you so bad right now.”

  “I want you too. But it will have to wait until after lunch.” I tell him quietly.

  He nuzzles into my neck a bit before saying, “Yeah, I think I’ll be taking an extended lunch today.”

  I laugh at his words. “Oh yeah? Going to stay with me at the house for a bit are you?”

  “A little while, yeah.” He says before straightening back up. As we exit into the main floor lobby the guard’s head swings up he acknowledges us with a smile and nod of his head.We make our way down the side hall that leads to the underground parking garage.

  “I’m good with that.” I picture a little fun with Cole before setting out with Rocco to go see this salon for myself. I want to put my eyes on it and find out what is going on.

  Cole unlocks my door and opens it for me. Once I’m settled in my seat he shuts the door behind me. I place my bag on the floorboard beside me as I settle into my seat and reach for the seatbelt, clicking it into place. Cole is sitting down behind the wheel as I finish up and I watch as he too clicks his belt in place before starting the engine.

  I smile warmly at him. I’m happy that we have each other. I really can’t imagine my life without him. The years we were apart where some of the toughest on me. Yes, I was screwing the hell out of my best friend, Luke, off and on during that time but it just wasn’t the same.

  Life has a way of working out when you least expect it or how you least think it will. I never dreamed that Drew would be shot bringing me back to Belmont and ultimately, Cole. It’s probably the biggest good to come of all this bullshit with Sal.

  It takes us a short ten minutes to reach the restaurant. Cole maneuvers into a parking spot in front of the building. I wait for him to exit the vehicle and he makes his way around to open my door for me. I’m quickly learning that the men in the Knight family treat women with a respect like no other. It’s not just Cole, it’s all the guys. Is it something that is a requirement before they hire you to work for them? I know it’s a silly idea. I have been back and running the company with Cole long enough to know how it really works. It’s hard to believe I have been back in Belmont almost a full year.

  “Thank you.” I say as he helps me out of the car.

  “Always, Kitten…always.” He says while leading us to the door of the building. He opens it and lets me step through before quickly following behind me.

  “Mr. Knight, Ms. Roberts, pleasure to see you as always.” Maria the hostess greets us. “I have your table ready.” She grabs a few menus before motioning us to follow her. She leads us to a back corner of the building where a table is set up and ready for our large group. Justin and Miguel are already seated at the table. Both men stand as we approach the table and remain standing until I’m seated by Cole. He sits down at the head of the table with me on his right side. Justin is to his left and Miguel next to Justin. Gracie and Drew are the next to join us. I watch the men again stand until Gracie is seated.

  Drew has taken the chair next to me and Gracie is to his right side. Luke and Julie will take up the remaining two chairs once they arrive. I wonder what is taking them so long and giggle at the thought of them getting it on in the storeroom at Duchess.

  “What are giggling for?” Cole asks me.

  “No reason.” I tell my fiancée, not sure he would find the humor in the situation that I do.

  Maria escorts Luke and Julie to the table a few moments later and I notice a new girl following behind her.

  “Mr. Knight, Ms. Roberts this is Rachel. She is a new server with us and I have her assigned just to your party.”

  “Rachel, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I greet her with a smile. “How long have you been here?”

  “About a month now, ma’am.” She replies with what sounds like a British accent.

  “Excellent. I look forward to getting to know you.” I reply. Our family owns this restaurant and it’s the one place we all love to eat at.

  “Thank you! Can I start you off with drinks?” She wisely starts with Cole and follows around the table to the right as she takeseach drink order.

  “She’s got potential.” Cole says.

  “Yes, she seems efficient.” I reply. My judgment is reserved for when the meal is over how well she did.

  “I really like her.” Justin pipes up from across the table.

  “You can’t fuck our waitress!” I exclaim.

  “Oh ,I’ve already done her four different ways in my mind.” he says with an arch of his eyebrows.

  “You’re disgusting!” I tell him.

  “This coming from the chick who bones my brother anytime and anywhere they feel like it.” He laughs.

  “Yea, we used your bed last night.” I quip.

  Justin looks at Cole, “Cole please tell me you didn’t fuck your girlfriend in my bed while I was gone last night.”

  Laughter rings out around the table.

  “How about we don’t talk about my sister’s sex life at the table?” Drew looks pointedly at Justin.

  Laughter follows Drew’s words. Everyone quiets down a bit as we look over the menu. But the talking never ceases. We laugh and have a good time as we place our orders. It’s not until Justin is placing his order that I nearly choke on my sweet tea.

  “I’ll have the lobster linguini with a side of you.” He says in a smooth voice laying the charm on.

  Nervous laughter comes from the table. My eyes pop up, darting from Justin to Cole whose face is clouding and back to Justin.

  “Oh my gawd, you did not just say that?” I ask him completely horrified.

  “What? I’m just being honest.” He says.

  “I’m not on the menu, sir!” Rachel says trying to maintain professionalism.

  “Justin, you can’t say shit like that.” I reply as Rachel completes her orders.

  “I’ll just go put these in the kitchen and I’ll be back with drink refills.” Her cheeks are the brightest shade of red.

  “I can’t believe you did t
hat.”

  “Believe it. Because I did. I told you I want that chick.”

  “Justin!” Cole’s booming voice silences our table as well as those near us. “You will not talk to our employees again that way. This is not Knight’s Castle nor a brothel. You’ll apologize when she comes back.”

  Justin’s expression goes blank but his eyes are teeming with anger. They don’t near match Cole’s though who is livid if the look on his face is anything to go by.

  “I’ll apologize to her.” Justin says through clenched teeth.

  I shake my head as my hand falls onto Cole’s leg beside me. I can’t believe Justin would do that. What is he thinking? This isn’t the club. She’s a waitress just trying to do her job. I make note to watch Justin closely. There may be more going on than I am even aware of. I know a few months ago Cole mentioned being worried about him but was I missing something?

  “So what is this Knight’s Castle you guys keep talking about?” Miguel asks effectively changing the subject.

  I watch as Julie’s cheeks redden. I know she’s aware of what goes on there but as far as I know she’s never used it herself. Luke smiles mischievously at his old friend.

  “It’s a BDSM club.” Justin answers.

  “A whatt?” Miguel spits out while straightening up in his chair interest clear on his face.

  “Oh boy!” I say under my breath.

  “Tell me more…” Miguel is looking eagerly around the table as he awaits someone to speak.

  “You’ll love it, Miguel.” I tell him sure that our friend will be having his own brand of fun tonight at the club.

  “Yes, you will.” Justin begins. I tune them out as they begin discussing the various things available at the club. I’m more focused on other things like my wedding, the stupid salon, Seth’s birthday, the upcoming engagement party; my list can go on and on.

  “You okay, Kitten?” Cole asks quietly.

  “Yeah, I’m good. Just was thinking about my to do list.”

  “Am I on that list?” he asks with a laugh.

  “Always.” I give him a wink.

  It’s a nice feeling, this peace. It comes from being with all my loved ones. As I look around the table I take in each face;the majority, family, or soon to be family, whatever the case might be. This is my circle. t’s different than I ever imagined it would be but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m in a good place. I wish my mom could see Drew and me now. I’d love to say ,“See I’m better than you made me feel.”