Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

I did nothing to her. I never led her on or made any promises. She had to have lost touch with reality. That was the only explanation for her behavior.

Why?

Did she imagine that by ruining my life and reputation that hers would be better? That she’d get off lighter when it came to sentencing? Thing is, if she insisted that I was involved and if they believed her, it would be harder on her than if she pled not-guilty by reason of insanity. Sure, she’d go to some psych hospital – maybe for years – but at least she’d get off lighter than if she was found guilty of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and spend decades in jail, or whatever the penalty ended up being.

Then, my cell rang again. It was Lara.

“Now what?” I said, my bad mood getting the better of me with my one best female friend, aside from Kate.

“You haven’t read the Herald?”

“No,” I said, angry. I finally reached the front of the apartment building, where a spot miraculously appeared as if the parking gods were feeling bad for me and opened a spot f

or me. “I’ve been at the hospital. Ethan had another stroke. He just got out of surgery and I’m going home to feed Sophia because Kate doesn’t want to leave the hospital.”

“Oh, Drake,” she said, her voice full of sympathy. “I’m so sorry… and I hate to be the bearer of bad news…”

“You’re the second person who’s said that to me today. What nastiness did the venerable reporters at The Herald have to say about me? Let me guess – Doctor Dom Does Dirty Deeds…”

“No, more like Spanking Surgeon and Submissive Sweetheart,” she said sardonically. “There’s a photo of you with Lisa at a dungeon party. Or at least, it looks like you. You always wore a white shirt and black leather pants, as well as a black mask. Your shirt is open to display a nice six-pack and she’s bending over in front of you.”

“Oh, God,” I said and rubbed my eyes. “We’re not actually having sex, are we?”

“No, you’re fully dressed, but she’s bending over, and you have your hands on her hips.”

“I remember that there were a few photos being taken. Derek liked to have a record of all the men she was partnered with. He’d use them later when he punished her.”

“Yeah, I remember. Well, looks like Lisa turned some photos over to the press. The Herald, that venerable institution, decided to publish one."

“No wonder the Board at the corporation wanted to kick me off.”

I heard her sigh on the other end of the line. “Oh, crap, Drake. That’s too bad.”

“Tell me about it. So, I’m off the Foundation and Corporation boards, I’m on a leave of absence from my Fellowship program and I’m on a leave from NYP. My father-in-law is in danger of dying and my wife has a touch of postpartum depression. What else can fuck up in my life?”

“I'm glad you and Kate finally talked about her depression.

I frowned. “Yes,” I said. “I could tell that she’s under stress, tired and finding it hard but I didn’t recognize it as depression until you said something.”

“Did she tell you she cries all the time and is afraid that Sophie will stop breathing?”

“No, she won’t talk about it,” I said and frowned, adrenaline flowing through me that I had misjudged Kate’s mental health so much. “I knew she was tired and she does cry easily, but that’s to be expected after major trauma like she had.”

“Well, she needs help,” Lara said. “She needs medication or some counseling to deal with everything.”

I sighed heavily and sat there with my eyes closed for a moment. “Thanks for calling. I’ll make sure she gets help. We have a nanny-slash-housekeeper coming in several days a week now to help. Maybe that will do. I hope…” I said and realized that if Ethan died, it would be another blow to an already delicate Kate.

“I hope that Ethan survives,” Lara said softly, as if she had read my mind.

“Exactly. If he dies, and there’s a fifty-fifty chance that he will based on his stats, I don’t know what Kate will do.”

“She’s on the edge, Drake. Watch out for her.”

“I will,” I said and took in a deep breath. “I gotta go. I have to feed Sophie and get back to the hospital.”

“Okay,” she said, her voice soft. “You go and look after that beautiful baby of yours. I’ll keep track of the media and let you know if anything needs attention or a response. I can be your spokesperson, if you want. Give anyone my number and I’ll take care of things for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, feeling so tired at that moment that I felt like I could collapse in bed and sleep for hours. “I will.”