by Linda Kage
Sitting up in interest, I glanced toward Ezra. “You live out on Porterfield Lane? Oh my God, I love it out here. My dad had a friend who lived along Porterfield when I was growing up. I used to beg to go with him so I could see all the trees and countryside on the way. It’s just so beautiful and peaceful here.”
Ezra glanced at me. “Who was your dad’s friend?”
“Uh…” I racked my brain for the name of the old guy who’d owned a chain of fast food restaurants. “Mr. Octavius. Yeah, that was it. Old Gus.”
A small smile lit Ezra’s lips. “I remember Gus. I’d go with my dad to visit him too. The house I grew up in was only like five miles from his place. He always gave me sherbet pops whenever I’d come along. And he had this blind, old cocker spaniel named—”
“Princess! Yes!” I pointed at him, lighting up. “Oh man, I suddenly miss those sherbet pops.”
Ezra shook his head over the memory. “I’m only a couple miles up the road from both him and my dad’s place.”
“Cool.” I nodded, still reeling from the fact we’d shared such a common trait in childhood. “We lived out in Fairmont when I was little. Right along the lake. You could see the dam from our place.”
And then Lana had sold it within a year of my dad’s death so she could move into a luxury condo in town. Witch.
“I had a friend who had a summer house out in that area,” Ezra was saying, pulling me away from my straying thoughts. “I swear, I lived there through the entire months of June and July when we were growing up. We rarely left the lake. I always thought I’d end up getting my own place out there someday, but huh, I guess I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
I glanced at him and took in his thoughtful expression. “It’s funny how close we’ve been our entire lives and yet we never met until now.”
His gaze focused on me, his eyes warm with wonder. Then he held out a hand. “I guess we have a lot of lost time to make up for, then.”
When he pulled into the drive of a house made of tan brick with dark brown shutters and white trim, I was instantly charmed.
“Ooh. I like this.”
Ezra pulled into the garage and killed the engine before turning to me. He grinned like a kid eager to show off his Lego collection. “Let me show you around.”
He took me inside through the back where we entered a spotless mudroom and then down a hall until we came out into the kitchen.
“So this is where the grand master chef of grilled cheese sandwiches hangs his hat, huh?” I took in the stainless steel appliances and white cabinets.
“Indeed.” Ezra looped a hand around my waist and swept me along through the morning room, a great room, dining room, foyer, music room, and library in hyper speed. As we passed a hole in the wall that looked like it housed a chrome tunnel that went up, I paused to peek up into—
“What is this?” I had to ask, scratching my head.
Ezra backtracked to me, chuckling. “Oh, that. Yeah, I bought the place from a family with small kids, and they called it an indoor slide, though for insurance purposes, we refer to it as a laundry chute.”
“A slide?” I said in awe, itching to ask if I could slide down it but not wanting to let my inner kid show quite that much. I turned back to Ezra. “And you kept it after you moved in?”
He shrugged. “Why not? I figured when I have kids someday, they’ll appreciate it. Besides, it saves time getting down to the first floor when I’m in a hurry.”
I loved learning that he’d actually slid down it himself. Grinning, I asked, “You want kids, then?”
Before he could answer, my eyes widened with horror and I instantly waved my hands to retract what I’d just said. “Oh my God, ignore that. That was totally not me trying to wiggle my way into the do-you-want-kids conversation yet. I didn’t mean for it to come across sounding that way.”
Ezra winked. “I do want kids,” was all he said. “Someday. More than one. Less than five. What about you?”
Oh Lord, we were totally having the do-you-want-kids conversation. Nodding, I gulped before answering, “That… Yeah… What you said sounds good.”
He took my hand, then leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Come on. I want to show you what I’ve been dying for you to see since the first time I stepped into your apartment.”
“O… Okay,” I said and laughed as he rushed us toward the stairs and to the second level.
So, I guess we’d just survived the “kids” talk without a hitch. Cool. I was still reeling by how well it had gone before he stepped into a huge bedroom that had to be the master suite and pointed toward a window along the far wall.
“This is my room,” he said.
I turned to the window, since that seemed to be what he wanted me to look at, and then I froze solid.
“Oh… My God,” I said, my feet carrying me to the seated box window without me being aware of it. “It… It…”
“It’s exactly like the one in your apartment. I know.”
“Holy wow,” I uttered, reaching out slowly to touch the window seat as if I feared it would disappear if I tried. “This is so crazy.”
“I couldn’t believe it the first time I saw yours. I kept wanting to ask if you sat in yours every morning too, drinking coffee and dreaming about the future.”
I turned to look at him slowly. “I do,” I said. “Nearly every morning. It’s like a compulsive need.”
Ezra took my hand. “Me too.”
All this time, we’d both been sitting in our window seats, looking out at the same sunrise, and dreaming for companionship. How crazy to realize we’d always been closer to each other than we’d ever imagined.
I don’t know what kind of magical, kismet fate had finally brought us together, but in that moment, I just wanted to give it a hug in gratitude. And since Ezra seemed to be the human manifestation of my fate, I wrapped my arms around him instead.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
It would probably be completely unnecessary for me to say my weekend at Ezra’s was amazing, but it was. It totally was.
We spent most of it inside, trying to christen as many rooms as we could—double-christening a few. And when we weren’t sexing it up, we’d sit out on the back terrace, wrapped in a blanket together, enjoying the sunset. Or we watched movies, argued politics, heck, we even played a couple games of chess together. And I took a spin in his mammoth kitchen once or twice, whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Nothing else in the world existed but us.
By the time Monday came around, we were both loath to return to reality, where we had to hide our relationship at work and pretend we barely knew each other.
When we returned to his light-blue Bentley in the garage—my purse and overnight bag with me—we were both unusually quiet and subdued. Ezra held my hand while he walked around to the passenger side with me, as if he didn’t want to let go of the moment until the last possible second. Then again, that was probably just me projecting my own feelings off onto him again, because I certainly didn’t want such a wonderful weekend to end yet.
He opened the back door for me, only to shut it before I could toss my bag inside. Then completely leaning against the car to block me from it, he turned to face me with a thoughtful expression.
“I’ve been thinking… Is hiding this from Lana a ridiculous idea? It’s starting to sound like a ridiculous idea. We’re two single, consenting adults. Why are we letting some third party influence how public we make it? I mean, if she has a problem with us, then that’s her own issue to work through.”
I nodded, listening to his perfectly logical explanation. “Plus, we really suck at hiding it, anyway,” I added.
He pointed. “And that,” he agreed before shrugging. “Mostly that. Because… After this weekend, there’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to hide it.”
Totally agreeing, but realizing a headache the size of Lana Judge would follow, I sighed heavily before saying, “Well, in that case, would you mind giving me a r
ide to work?”
A grin spread across his face. “I would be honored,” he murmured, finally opening the back door, so I could slide my overnight bag inside.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of Judge Fashions Industry. My stomach instantly began to knot with tension, especially when he pulled into the VIP CEO parking spot next to Lana’s cherry-red Ferrari.
Oh, God. This was really happening. Not just Lana, but everyone in the office was going to see us together. They were going to see me getting out of Ezra’s car and walking side by side with him inside. How many people were going to gossip that I was sleeping with the boss to get an advance? Oh geesh, how many people wouldn’t?
Then, I blew out a breath and looked at the man beside me as he glanced in the rearview mirror to adjust his tie and wipe down the shoulders of his suit jacket, and I decided it was worth it. Whatever happened from here on out was totally worth it, because I had him now.
He blew out his own bolstering breath, as if he had his own nerves to work through, then he glanced my way. “Ready?”
I nodded. “Let’s do this.”
We opened our doors simultaneously like a pair of badasses and met at the hood of his car to link hands.
Then, together, we started around to the front of the building, only to round the corner and see three police cars with red and blue lights flashing above them, parked at the curb by the front entrance.
“Wha…?” Ezra and I jerked to a halt, gawking at the sight.
“Shit,” he muttered, letting go of my hand so he could hurry forward. I raced after him.
The first two police officers we saw stood at the front glass doors, as if barring the exit.
“What the hell is going on?” Ezra demanded, heading straight to them. A crowd of other employees had gathered to the side, watching and gossiping, looking as curious, concerned, and confused as I felt.
“Sir.” One of the officers stepped forward, lifting a hand. “If you’ll just step back, this is a police matter.”
“No, I will not,” Ezra told him as if he were crazy. “This is my building. I’m the CEO here. I need to know—”
“They’re coming,” the other officer cut in, suddenly pulling the door open. The second officer abandoned us and turned to assist the first.
I crowded close to Ezra and gripped his arm. He took my hand, waiting next to me to see who was coming.
We heard her first, that unmistakable highbrow voice dripping with condescension and fury.
“You did this to me?” Lana raged just as she appeared from the gloom from within the building flanked between two more officers as they escorted her outside.
I gasped and looked up at Ezra, but he appeared to be just as startled as I felt, shaking his head as he watched her.
Then I realized who she was talking to. Hayden strode just in front of them, marching outside, only to pause so he could watch his mother pass by in… Holy hell, her hands were cuffed behind her back.
Her eldest son seemed completely unaffected as he slid his hands into his pockets, rocked back onto the heels of his shoes, and watched without emotion.
Lana hissed at him. “I asked you a question, you bastard. How could you?”
He glanced away as if bored. “Maybe I wouldn’t have… If you hadn’t killed my father.”
I slapped my hands over my mouth, trying to hold in the shock but failing. It spilled out of me in waves.
At my gasp, Lana zipped her attention my way, and wow, she looked bad. Black trails of mascara seeped from each eye and down her cheeks. Her usually perfect hair was tousled as if she’d put up a struggle, and the wrinkles around her puckered mouth made her look older than she’d ever looked before.
“You,” she sneered, jerking against the hold the officers had on her, as if she wanted to charge at me. Then she focused on Ezra next to me and hissed. “I knew it. I knew you two were sneaking around behind my back. I knew it!”
Ezra stepped partially in front of me, but I was still able to keep eye contact with my stepmother as she sneered, “This is all your fault, you ungrateful little brat. You ruined everything. If you’d just died when you were supposed to, none of this ever would’ve happened.”
Say what now?
“Hey, hey, hey,” the officer holding her boomed, jerking her back under his control. “I think you need to watch what you say, lady, before you get another charge of attempted murder tacked onto your crimes.”
Another charge of attempted murder? Ezra and I exchanged mystified glances.
Meanwhile, Lana didn’t heed the warning in the least. She glared at me, seething, spittle flying from her lips. “You were supposed to die, you little tramp. That bastard never would’ve questioned anything if you hadn’t been around to protect. Damn you. How could you do this to me? You bitch, cunt, whore piece of trash! You’ll pay for this. You’ll die just the way your worthless—”
“Enough!” Ezra roared before turning to one of the police officers. “What the hell is going on?”
But they only shook their heads, not answering.
So Ezra turned to Hayden as Lana was dragged off, still screaming obscenities at me every step of the way. “Carmichael?”
Finally showing some emotion, Hayden dragged a weary hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “I think you need to call your lawyers here, Nash. Just… Whoever you need, and meet us in the conference room as soon as possible.”
Ezra and I gaped incredulously at each other before we turned back to Hayden. “Why?”
My stepbrother reached out and clasped my arm, tugging me to his side, away from Ezra. “And you should come with me.”
But Ezra stepped forward, grasping my other arm, trying to keep me with him. “Seriously, what the fuck is happening right now?”
“I’m telling you,” Hayden bit back, narrowing his eyes and he tugged me away from Ezra again. “Go get your people, whoever you need, and meet us in the small conference room. You’ll learn everything there, because I only feel like explaining this shit once.”
Seemingly unconvinced, Ezra glanced my way. With our shared confusion and mounting worry mirrored in each other’s eyes, he slid his attention back to Hayden. “But, Kaitlynn’s—”
“She’ll be there too,” Hayden explained, making me whip my gaze to him and blink, because, honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about, no idea what was happening.
This time, he more-gently tugged me to him as he started inside, leading me along. I followed because I trusted him, but I couldn’t help but glance back at Ezra, wondering…
Ezra took a step after us, only to stop and shake his head, silently letting me know he’d follow Hayden’s suggestions and meet me in the conference room. I waved at him, a small wave that felt doomed, like maybe it was the last time I’d ever see him. But that was crazy, so I shook off the dread cloaking me and finally faced forward to watch where Hayden was leading us, which seemed to be directly to the small conference room.
“Just so you know,” I murmured without looking at him. “You have me really freaked out right now.” But I bravely lifted my chin to emphasize the point I was ready to face whatever he had going on, regardless.
From the corner of my eye, I saw him glance my way. “You don’t need to worry,” he murmured.
I gulped, unable to believe him.
Once we reached the conference room, the door sat ajar and the lights were on inside. When Hayden paused for me to enter first, I stepped forward, feeling totally different than I had on Friday, when we’d been here for the big portfolio presentation. That had been nail-biting and exciting. This was just… Frightening and confusing.
Inside, I found two men on the right side of the long conference table, wearing suits, one standing, one sitting as they studied something together on the screen of a tablet on the table in front of them.
The one standing, glanced up, only to straighten, smooth his hand down his chest, and step toward us. “You must be Kaitlynn. It’s nice to
meet you. I’m Richard Sawyer.” He approached, holding out a hand for me to shake.
Following the formalities, I took his hand and told him it was nice to meet him too, though I had no idea yet if it was nice or not. That remained to be seen.
He smiled politely before nodding his head toward the seated man who was still reading something on his tablet. “And this is my associate, Mike. We’re the top legal team with Sawyer, Moore, and Associates.”
“So you’re…” I turned my questioning gaze to Hayden, “lawyers?”
“They’re your lawyers,” Hayden explained.
My… Huh?
I blinked at my stepbrother before turning back to Richard. With a nervous laugh, I tried to explain, “But no. No, I don’t have a lawyer.”
“You do now,” Hayden answered.
Except I didn’t need a lawyer.
Did I?
Trying to swallow past the dread in my throat, I hissed to Hayden, “Why do I need a lawyer? Hell, why do I need two lawyers?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Hayden put a hand on my back, right between my shoulder blades, and nudged me forward. “Why don’t you take a seat?”
I didn’t want to take a seat. I wanted to know what was going on, why Hayden was being so cryptic, why Ezra needed lawyers as well, and why Lana had just been arrested. My heart felt like a trapped hummingbird; I swear, it was about to flutter itself to death against my ribcage.
But it seemed the quickest way to get any answers was to comply for the time being, so I nodded and took a seat next to Mike when Richard graciously pulled the chair out for me.
Hayden remained standing, murmuring something to Richard, and I glanced toward Mike’s tablet, but the screen was filled with words of legal jargon, nothing to give me any clue what was about to happen.