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Her questions eat at my soul. Day in and day out, I work to anticipate my father’s next move. I dig for information. But truthfully, I can’t prepare. If Cat learns the truth, that I’ve been working on setting her family up for the last five years, and why I hated her father so much, would she ever forgive me?
The answer is likely no.
And that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.
I scrub at my head and huff. With my father heading to London, all I can do is hope that his plan is on hold until after he returns. By then, Cat will be headed to Paris. While she’s gone, I can work to unravel the plan or at least minimize the fallout. With her overseas, I can only hope to keep her from suffering the consequences of it all.
But now that Mia knows, that plan may be nothing more than a wish whispered into the wind. She’ll never let me keep her.
“This will break Cat’s heart,” I say to Mia, pleading with her.
Her eyes are wild. “You think I don’t know that? It’s theonlyreason I didn’t say anything last night. How could you be so selfish? You can’t claim to love someone and then trick them like that.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” I counter.
She reddens. “I stepped back. You asked me to give you a chance to make her happy. I stepped back because I care about her.” Her eyes well with tears. “I care about her, Jay, and this is going to break her heart.”
Standing, I tug on the cuffs of my sleeves, then round my desk. Kneeling beside her, my hands on the arms of the chair, I plead my case. “That’s why she can’t know. We need to fix this. I’m trying to stop my father’s plan, but I need more information to do that. I need to get that damn tracker they had me place in Carter’s room. I slipped it in his computer. It’s an SD chip. I have no idea what’s on it or what intel my father’s looking for, but we should start there.”
“We?” she scoffs.
Falling back on my ass, I sigh and fold my arms over my knees. “I can’t do it, Mia. It’s too risky.”
“Why?” she demands.
“Because I’ll have no reasonable explanation if I get caught.”
“And what if I get caught?”
I give her a look, and her mouth drops open. Then she crosses her arms and glares.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I argue. “You flirt with everyone. If you get caught, just bat your lashes at him. He’ll think nothing of it. Carter thinks with his dick around women…and you’ll be protecting Cat,” I add for good measure, suddenly realizing the brilliance of this plan. We can get the chip back, and once I have it analyzed, hopefully I’ll know what my father is planning. Then I can protect Cat from the fallout and make sure it doesn’t touch anyone but her father.
Because knowing my father, the goal is to take down the whole family.
“When?” Mia asks.
“I’ll call Carter today and ask if he wants to come up to Boston for drinks. You go to the apartment, get in and get out, and we’ll be all set.”
Mia is silent and impossible to read as she tilts her head and examines me. I really need her to say yes. If not, I’ll call Kevin. I need help, and I can’t let this get back to Cat. Mia is right; it will break her heart. Since the moment I found out she was Catherine James, I knew this day would come. But I’ve worked to be a better man. To be a man worthy of her. And I didn’t go through all of that—and fall hopelessly in love with her—only to lose her. I promised her a future, and now it’s time to make sure we have that.
“One night,” she replies, her eyes holding mine.
“One night?” I question.
“Yes, that’s my price. Give me one night with Cat, and I’ll do it.”
I jump to my feet and shout, “The fuck?”
“You get everything else, Jay.” She folds her hands in her lap and tilts her head like her demand isn’t fucking insane. “You stole it all from me, and now you want my help, so that’s my price.”
“She’s not a fucking hooker, Mia. I don’t bargain with her body.” Spinning, I slam my fist into my desk. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You claim to love her, and then you do this? Fuck you. I’ll take care of it.”
She stands, eyes wild. “One night, or I tell her.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and fist my hands so tightly my nails puncture the skin. I could kill her. I could literally strangle her right here. End this right now. All I see is red. “Get the fuck out of my office,” I say through gritted teeth. I can’t be held responsible for what happens next if she doesn’t leave.
“Worried she’ll want it?” she sneers. “That she’ll realize you aren’t enough?”
