Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

"Not when you have this in front of you. But I mean coffee, silly."

I shook my head. “No, I already had a cup. But thanks.

“Soo…” she said when I sat across from her. “What do you think?”

“What do I think?" I said and shrugged, although I felt sick. "What do you think? You're the lawyer."

"It’s bad,” she said, her voice level. “Those fake emails. The paper has the video that Sunita took of one of your sessions.”

I sighed heavily. "I'd be suspicious of me."

“Did Kate know about that video?”

“Apparently, yes," I said. "Sunita contacted her early on when we first started to see each other. She wanted Kate to see it, but Kate declined.”

“She didn’t see it?”

“No,” I said. “She thought it was none of her business. At that point, she knew she had to either trust her gut or end things with me. She said she couldn’t even think of ending things so she said no.”

“Thank God for that. I knew right away that you didn’t have it in you to be a strict Dom or Master. You weren’t into pain at all. No sexual response to it.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "It's these emails that have me worried," I said and stared into the distance. "How do we prove I didn’t create the email account and write those emails?"

"I've been talking to our IT guy. He said they can check when the account was created and when the email messages were sent. I'm sure with a little digging, the police will realize Lisa did it all herself. Maybe she sent them all from the same IP. That would be a dead giveaway."

I shrugged and ran my fingers through my hair, which was badly in need of a cut. "Until then, can we get access to the emails?"

"I suspect the police may want to ask you directly about them, so don't be surprised about a call asking for a meeting. I was shocked that they talked to Kate about them first. Maybe they were hoping to jar her into confessing something incriminating. Turn against you or something."

I nodded as I thought about how difficult that must have been for Kate to hear. "Poor Kate," I said. "How was she?"

“She was a bit startled,” she said and leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees, her eyes expectant. “I was able to calm her down after. So, tell me what this bitch at the Herald said to you.”

I leaned back and loosened my tie, thinking about Peterson. “She called Sunita a victim and a mentally ill person who couldn’t give consent so anything I said about ‘safe, sane and consensual’ went out the window.”

Lara shook her head. “Some people will never get it. They don’t want to get it because it threatens their little fantasies about humans and our sexuality.”

I nodded. Of course, Lara was preaching to the choir.

“What can I do about the article, if anything?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. Best to let it go. If you’re asked about it, have a very simple statement prepared. You tried it and didn’t like it. You’re not that kind of Dominant. You don’t enjoy pain. End of story. From a PR perspective, that’s the most you can do. Hope it blows over.”

“If it doesn’t?”

“It will, believe me. I’ve dealt with these cases before. It might be a bit rocky for a while, but your services are in demand. I’m sure once this blows over, they will be again. People have short memories.”

I wasn’t so optimistic. “What if it doesn’t blow over?”

She leaned back and shook her head. “Worst case scenario? You leave Manhattan. Start up your practice somewhere else. Somewhere more sympathetic to sexual freedom. Maybe Key West. Or California. I hear San Francisco is really progressive.”

“Manhattan is our home. Kate’s parents live here. The foundation is here. The headquarters for the corporation. Mersey…”

“Both of you are young and can start a new life somewhere else. I doubt it will come to that, but if it does, move to San Francisco. They have a great hospital there. The scenery is fantastic.”

I said nothing for a while, thinking of having to move away. I knew Kate would be upset at the thought of leaving her father, and rightfully so. His health wasn’t all that good.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that. So, there’s nothing I can do to get that article pulled?”