Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

“I’m sorry,” Kate said and shrugged. “You had enough on your plate going to see that editor about the article. I called Lara and she came over to be with me while they interviewed me.”

I sighed in relief, although I was upset that Kate didn’t call me right away. “You should have called me immediately. I would have called the police and told them to wait until I arrived back home.”

She shook her head. “I think they wanted to look at our apartment and talk to me by myself. Lara was here and everything was fine. How was your meeting? What are we going to have to deal with tomorrow?”

I put down my knife and turned to Kate. I stroked her cheek and brushed a lock of hair off her shoulder.

“I’m sorry you had to talk to the police by yourself. We’ll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow. Tell me what happened. You must have been upset.”

“Lara was there,” she said. “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about. You had to deal with that woman at the Herald. What can you do? You should call Lara.”

“I will. Look, don’t worry about the article,” I said. “There’s nothing I can do to stop her and anyway, you already have enough on your plate. Besides, I’ve already been in contact with the hospital about the issue and Fred Parker was fine with it. I’ve already pulled back a bit from the Foundation. At least, my face and name won’t be on any promotional materials.”

“That’s so unfair,” Kate said and frowned. “You’ve kept it going since your father died. You’re the one who gives it direction. It’s your vision. Why should you be pushed out?”

I sighed. “Because big donors won’t give money if they think their names will be associated with someone scandalous. Until this all washes over and clears up, my name is off all the materials and website.”

She shook her head and seemed upset about it. It made me feel good to know how much she cared, but I didn’t like to see her so upset. There was ample reason for it, so I merely noted it and tried to offer her as much comfort and support as I could.

After we finished eating, with a major interruption of Sophie grousing for a feed when Kate had nicely lit into her ribs, we tidied up and then Kate and I gave Sophie a bath, put her in her jammies, and she went down for the night.

By then, it was ten fifteen and Kate was yawning, hiding it behind a hand. She turned and smiled at me but it was clear that she was still not one-hundred percent happy. There was this look in her eyes...

“Come here,” I said and sat down on the sofa, motioning to my lap. “Sit with me. I need some Katie time.”

She complied and sat on my lap, her arms around my shoulders. Being that close reminded me of that night so very long ago when I went back to her tiny apartment in Harlem after dessert at The Russian Tea Room and seduced her. I hoped this position would remind her as well and maybe light a spark inside of her that would turn to passion, but I still wasn’t going to push.

“Other than Detective Mutt and Jeff visiting, how was your evening?” I asked, stroking her cheek with the backs of my fingers. “Did you watch anything on television?”

She shook her head. “No,” she said a bit hesitantly. “I pretty much spent time with Sophie.”

I nodded. “Are you tired?”

She exhaled. “It seems like I’m always tired. I can’t seem to catch up, even when I sleep during the day.”

I nodded. “Until she sleeps through the night, you’ll have broken sleep.”

“I’m not complaining,” she said quickly. “I’m always a bit exhausted. I don’t even want to watch TV or read. Too tired for anything but looking after Sophie and sleeping.”

“I know,” I said and nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck, kissing her skin. Of course, she might have been too tired for anything but sleep, but my very healthy and normal male body couldn’t help but react to her softness in my arms, the scent of her hair in my nose, the feel of her skin beneath my lips. “You can go to bed if you want. I have a few things to do before I can go to sleep, so I’ll go to bed later. I’ll get up with Sophie for her first feed. You can sleep.”

“Thank you,” she said and kissed me on the lips, chastely. “I’m sorry I’m not better company but I’m so—.”

I put my fingers over her lips to stop her from saying it. “You don’t have to apologize. I understand completely. You had a terrible shock. You take as much time as you need. Soon enough, Sophie will be sleeping through the night and you can, too. Things will be a lot different then.”

She nodded and rose from the couch, off my lap

. I pulled my cell out of my pocket and pointed to my messages.

“I’ll answer a few messages and then I have to check over something for the Corporation. You go to bed.”

She bent down and kissed me on the lips once more. “Drake, I’m sorry I’m not much of a wife for you. Until this happened, I thought we were happy. Weren't we?"

"What?" I said, frowning at the very notion that she doubted it. "Why would you even say that? Of course we were happy. We are really happy." I looked her in the eye. "What's this about? Tell me what's wrong." I pulled her back onto my lap. She slipped her arms around my neck, but glanced away, not meeting my eyes.

"Tell me," I said. "Is it something the detectives said? Something about the case?"

She nodded and still avoided my eyes. "They said they had some emails you sent to Lisa before the accident."