His to Keep: A Billionaire Romance (His to Have Book 3) (8 page)

“I’m not sure I follow,” I tell him.
 

“I settled in and built it, and after a few months, I realized that I was bored out of my mind. I hired a gardener, and I haven’t set foot down here since. Can you imagine me doddering around down here, knees covered in dirt as I fuss over some plant?”

“Is this supposed to be some kind of lesson?” I ask.

“I’m just asking you to think carefully about what you want,” he says. “You might just get it. I got everything I wanted, Catherine, and when it was too late, I realized the things I cared about didn’t matter.”

“Blake matters to me,” I tell him.
 
“And if you’re telling me you won’t help because you think it’s beneath you, why would you tell me any of this? You didn’t have to go after him. You didn’t have to force your way into his company. You didn’t have to do any of it.”
 

“I know that, Catherine,” he says. “But don’t you see that I enjoyed it?”

“Seriously? You almost put my boyfriend in jail, and you want me to understand that that is what you want in life?”

“You misunderstand me,” he says. “What I’m trying to tell you is that I enjoy the intrigue, and I’ve enjoyed seeing you turn into a shrewd and clever young woman.”
 

“So why won’t you help me?” I ask.
 

My father laughs. He throws his head back and laughs with his whole body. I don’t know why he seems so amused. “We really need to work on our communication, Catherine. Can’t you see that this is my way of telling you that I will?”

“You will?” I ask.
 

“Anything for you,” he says. He leans in with a conspiratorial smile. He wraps his arm around me and leads me back to the house. “Now tell me again what you had in mind.”

“You just want to hear me say hostile takeover again, don’t you?”

He smiles. “Those words have such a lovely ring to them. Are you sure your FBI friend will sign off on this?” he asks.
 

“I’ll arrange everything with him on my way home. For what it’s worth, he’s as hesitant to help Blake as you are. I guess this is a bad time to remind you that you owe both of them an apology at some point.”
 

“For what?” my father asks.
 

“You forbade Ben from seeing me when I was in high school.”

“Fine, but I won’t apologize to Blake until he apologizes for stealing my secretary.”

“Are you serious?” I ask.
 

“I’m always serious.”
 

“We’ll find a way to work that out,” I tell him. “Thank you,” I add. “I know how hard that must have been for you.

“This doesn’t mean I like him,” my father says.

“Not liking him is enough progress for now,” I say.
 
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry if I haven’t been the best daughter.”

“You’re making me proud,” my father says. “I guess forgiveness is in the air, isn’t it?”
 

I nod. I just hope Blake will forgive me for what I have planned next.

CHAPTER 15

BLAKE

I don’t know where Cat is. It’s midafternoon. I cut out of work early to see her, but when I got back to the apartment, she wasn’t there. I called her, but the call went straight to voicemail. All I can think about is whether or not Jacob somehow got to her.
 

The last I saw her was when she walked out of my office. Damien told me that he saw her heading out with Ben, but Ben isn’t answering his calls either. Maybe she’s with him. I don’t know. I try to tell myself that everything’s fine, but I can’t ignore the panic that’s eating me from the inside. If I can’t talk with Cat, I figure I should at least talk to someone who can tell me something. I pull my phone out and dial, when I hear the voice on the other end of the line, I feel a wave of relief.
 

“Hey Alex, are you free to talk?” I ask.
 

“Anything for my billionaire kid brother,” she says.
 

“Have you heard from Cat?” I ask. “I know it’s a long shot, but I don’t know where she is. I don’t know how to tell you this, but Jacob is back.”

I expect a shout or a meltdown or something, but all I get is a cool response. “Blake, she’s probably fine. You need to learn to let go a bit. Jacob is not stalking your girlfriend through the streets of Manhattan.”
 

“I know,” I tell her, “but he made a threat against her. He threatened you, too.”
 

“Blake, I own a bar full of drunken Irishmen who would beat him bloody if he stepped through the door. As for Cat, you’ve got to give her room to breathe.”
 

She’s right. I know she’s right, but I can’t help myself. Since I saw Jacob at the hunting lodge, I’ve been on high alert. All I can think about is Cat’s safety. I need to know she’s ok. “I know,” I tell her. “It’s just hard, sometimes.”
 

“Do you trust her?” Alex asks.
 

Of course, I trust her. I’d trust her with my life. “Yeah,” I say.
 

“Then trust her. If she wants you to know what she’s doing, she’ll let you know.”

She’s right again. I’m trying to give up control, but I’m just afraid of my past causing her harm. “I just don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“Take care of yourself, little brother, and she’ll be fine. I promise.”
 

I see the elevator light up. “Hey, I have to go,” I say. “Be careful,” I tell Alex.

“You too,” she says. “And don’t be stupid,” she adds.

“Words to live by,” I tell her.

When the elevator doors open, and Cat steps out, relief floods through my body. “There you are,” I say.

“Sorry, I went to visit my father,” she says. “I didn’t like how we left things, and I wanted to make sure there aren’t any misunderstandings.”
 

“Are there?” I ask.
 

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” she says.

Since she accepted her father’s offer, I’ve run through every possible way Richard Carlisle could use his daughter to his advantage, but I’ve never really considered that maybe he’s really trying to reconnect with her, or that she really wanted to reconnect with him. I look at Cat. There’s something she isn’t telling me. I can feel it. But it’s ok. She’ll tell me when she’s ready. I know she will. I trust her.

“How did your meeting with Ben go?” she asks.
 

Terribly. As poorly as possible. I flipped my shit on him because I’m worried about you. I was almost as bad with Damien. I couldn’t sleep last night because all I could think about was what would happen if I ever let anything happen to you.
“We’re butting heads about how to deal with Jacob,” I finally tell her. “But none of that matters right now,” I add. I walk over and wrap my arms around her, pulling her in for a long, slow kiss. I wish I could hold her like this forever.

“I love you,” I tell her when our lips finally part.
 

“I love you too,” she whispers. She brushes her hand against the side of my face. “You look tired,” she says. “Is everything ok?”

I nod my head and kiss her again, the warmth of her soft lips. As long as she’s in my arms, everything is right.

CHAPTER 16

CATHERINE

My father calls on Wednesday morning. Blake is at work, and I’ve got the apartment to myself. “I’ve arranged everything for Friday. Jacob will be at my house at noon. Can you arrange the rest?

“Of course,” I tell him. “You’re really going through with this?” I ask.

“Like I told you, I’m doing this for you,” he says. “If I get a little enjoyment out of it along the way, that’s fine too.”

“I’ll see you then,” I tell him. Now I just have to convince Ben that this plan is worth pursuing.

“You’re roping us all into this one, aren’t you?”

“See you on Friday, dad,” I say. After I hang up, I try to think back to the last time I ended a call with my father with a smile.
 

A few moments later, I call Ben. “I’ve got Jacob,” I tell him. “I’ve got him, or I will if you agree to help.”
 

“Does Blake know about this yet?” Ben asks.
 

“No, and he can’t,” I tell him.
 

“It will take a little legwork, but I’ll get the necessary paperwork done.”

“I’ll pick you up in the morning, and we’ll head up together?” Ben asks.
 

“Do you even own a car?” I ask.
 

“Company car,” he says. “It will get the job done.”
 

“I’ll make sure we park it somewhere Jacob won’t see it.”

“It doesn’t say FBI on the side, Cat,” Ben says.
 

“It probably won’t say Ferrari either,” I tell him. “I could always ask to borrow Blake’s car. A Porsche would fit in nicely. I think he gets a kick out of me driving it.”

“Even if I’m your passenger?” he asks. “You don’t have to be there, you know. I can bring a tech and lead your father through everything myself.”

“I need to do this for Blake,” I tell him.

“See you on Friday morning,” Ben says. “I’ll find my way to you.”

I hang up and walk around the apartment. I find my way to the home office, and I stare up at the bookshelves. I think back to everything Blake and I have been through since we started dating. I grab my phone and call him.
 

“I was just going to call,” he says. “I was wondering if you could come in.”

“To the office?” I ask.

“There’s something I want to show you,” he says.

“If it’s another tour of your office, I might have to accept.”
 

“It’s a surprise,” he says.

“What kind of surprise?” I ask.
 

“A good one,” he says. “Do you think you could make it down this way for lunch?”

I look at my reflection in the window. My hair doesn’t look too bad. “I can be there in an hour,” I tell him.
 

“It’s a date.”

I run to the bedroom and start changing. It’s funny that I care about making a good impression with Blake’s employees. I could show up in a burlap sack, it wouldn’t change a thing about my ownership stake in the company. I pick a black dress, slip on flats and apply makeup.

When I get to Blake’s office, his secretary tells me that he’s waiting in the conference room. I thank her and head over.
 

He’s sitting at the head of the conference table. In front of him is a little blue box. Tiffany blue. It’s got a silver bow. My heart skips a beat when I wonder for a second if it’s a ring. I tell myself that it can’t be a ring.
It’s entirely too early in our relationship for a proposal, isn’t it? Maybe it isn’t,
I think. I decide this would be a distinctly unromantic proposal and that Blake would find some way to be way grander
and
more intimate. I still can’t shake the jitters as I walk over to him.

“What is it?” I ask. I can’t even look at him. I’m halfway convinced again that it’s a ring, and I’m changing my mind about ten times a second. No, I finally tell myself. It’s not a ring, but I can’t help but think how much I wish it were a ring.

“I was thinking about the argument,” he says.

“Which argument?” I ask. I feel like so much has happened in the past few days.

Blake laughs. “In my car, we argued about you taking your father’s offer. I wanted to apologize.”
 

I look down at the box. “And this is your way of apologizing?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t react well,” he says. “I will support you in everything you do. This is just a way to show you.” He grabs the present and slides it across the table.

“Now I have to know.” I walk up to the table and pick the present up. It’s heavier than I expected, and it feels solid. I pull the bow and then slip a finger under the wrapping paper. A smile breaks across my face as I realize what it is. “Business cards?” I ask.
 

“Your business cards,” he says. “I figure you’ll need them.”

Catherine Carlisle. Capitalist.
Crisp black text on a white background. I look one of the cards over. It feels good in my hand. “Capitalist?” I ask. I can’t hide my smile. “For a second there, I think you were going to propose to me.”

“I have another set that says Director since you have a seat on the board,” Blake says. “I can have ones made up that say Wife, if you’d like.”

“Director will do for now,” I tell him.
 

“In that case, would you like some lunch, Ms. Director?”

“I’d love that,” I tell him.”
 

Blake has lunch brought in, and we eat there, just him and me at the enormous conference table. “I want you to get used to this place,” he says. “The board can be daunting. It’s like a dozen Richard Carlisles haranguing you at once.”

“Well, I’ve been dealing with my father my entire life, how much worse could another eleven of him be?” I ask. I want to tell Blake about the plan, but I know it would ruin the mood. “As long as you’re there, I’ll be fine,” I tell him.

“I love you,” he says. “I’ve been thinking about that other thing too, by the way.”
 

“Which thing was that? It’s getting hard to keep track,” I tell him.
 

“Italy. You’re right, we should go. I could take a few weeks off once this all Jacob stuff blows over. It will probably be a few months from now, but it would be good to get away, just the two of us. Maybe we could go somewhere a little further south, somewhere warm and sunny. What do you say?”
 

“It sounds great,” I tell him. He gets up and walks up behind me. He places his hands on my shoulders and starts to rub. It feels wonderful. I close my eyes and try to imagine myself relaxing by the pool in some Italian villa. “I can’t wait.” I can picture it so clearly, the blue sky above, the water beyond my feet, Blake lying next to me. It all seems so real. I just can’t picture what it will take to get to that point.
 

CHAPTER 17

CATHERINE

By the time Friday morning arrives, I’m a nervous wreck. All I can think about is the hundred ways this could go wrong. I ask Blake if I can borrow the Porsche when he’s on the way out the door, and he agrees without hesitation. I feel like I’m betraying his confidence, and he just seems thrilled that I like the car. I tell him I’m planning a surprise for him. It isn’t a complete lie, but I feel awful not telling him the whole truth.