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“Or you’re just so jaded that all you see is greed.”
“I wish that were true. I wish what I’ve seen could be undone, but it can’t.” He motions to the door. “Shall we?”
“Yes,” I breathe out. “We shall.”
I round the island and he catches my arm, turning me to look at him. “Why do you look different?”
My God. My brother is going to guess. “Because you’re actually looking at me.”
“I always actually look at you. More than you know. What’s different?”
“I’m not myself right now. I’m rattled when contrary to what you seem to believe, I’m a Maxwell by blood. I don’t get rattled.”
“He didn’t cheat, Cat. I’ve looked in that man’s eyes for years now, and all I see is intelligence, skill, and a man who loves his wife. I watch for changes. They aren’t there. I’d tell you. As painful as it would be after reading that letter from mom, I’d tell you.”
“I know he didn’t cheat. I never once doubted him. I just hate that he’s distracted during his trial and that he thinks I might doubt him. That hurts our relationship, too. I don’t want what is perfect to get hurt.”
“We are perfect, Cat.”
At the sound of Reese’s voice, Reid releases me and I turn to find my husband in the doorway. “You’re perfect,” he adds when my eyes meet his.
I rush toward him and he pulls me against him, hugging me, becoming my sanctuary as always. I love this man so very much. “You okay?” he whispers, his lips at my ear.
“Yes,” I say, looking at him. “Reid wants to represent you and us if we need it.”
“You do need it,” Reid says firmly.
“Agreed,” Reese replies.
Gabe steps into the doorway. “I guess we’re back in here.”
“Yes,” I say, pushing out of Reese’s arms. “We’re here.”
Gabe grabs me and hugs me. “We’ll beat this together,” he promises in my ear.
“Thank you,” I whisper, so very confused by both of my brothers right now, but not in a bad way. In a bit of a sad way. There have been so many lost years between me and them with a lot of built up baggage from that divide.
He releases me and Reese links our arms, leading me around the island again. Reid steps to the spot in front of me again, and Gabe steps in front of Reese. “We should file a restraining order,” Reid states.
“Not yet,” Reese says. “We’re going to try to trap her into blackmailing me on tape.” He goes on to explain the plan Royce and Lauren came up with earlier.
“A restraining order could keep her from going public,” Gabe interjects. “I’ve seen an order intimidate people.”
“I’m the criminal attorney here,” Reese says. “And the person who’s dealt with Debbie. She’s unstable. We will need protection and we have it. I hired helped. But what I’m telling you all right now, is that I need us to have multiple plans, and they all need to consider that as I just said, she’s unstable. I don’t want to set her off, if we can get her on tape, and get the police to get involved on a broader scale, than an order, that might trigger some rash action on her part.”
“She won’t go public,” I say. “If she does, she won’t get the money.”
“Not true,” Gabe says. “I had a big wig I represented that was getting blackmailed over a pregnancy. The baby wasn’t his which is exactly why she went public. She wanted my client to pay her off to retract the story and say she lied. And he did.”
My stomach knots. “In other words. She might go public to force Reese into protecting his reputation.”
“That’s the worst-case scenario,” Gabe confirms.
Reid disagrees. “The worst case scenario is her coming after Cat because she’s a crazy fucking bitch who’s obsessed with Reese.” He looks at Reese. “She needs protection.”
“Arranged,” Reese confirms. “And I agree. Protecting Cat is everything.”
In other words, I’m pregnant with his child, and a crazy pregnant woman might well come after me. Which is believable, since I’m the one she came to at the courthouse.
