“How are you doing?”
“Honestly, I’m feeling pretty wrecked right now,” she told him, tears welling in her eyes again. “When we left, my mother was crying, Kylie was pissed, and my father looked terribly disappointed in all of us. The worst was when my father walked us to the door and quietly suggested we not show up at the store tomorrow.”
“Want company?”
Losing herself in Chris for a few hours sounded like heaven, but she had to deal with this. “Thanks, but we need to figure out what to do now.”
“Okay, baby. I’m here if you need me.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me. Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime. I’m here for you—always.”
That was the best thing she’d heard all day. “Give the dogs a pet for me, okay?”
“I will.”
Kate hung up the phone and exhaled heavily.
“You didn’t ask him.” Karyn leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, eyes accusing.
Kate scowled at her. “No, I didn’t.”
“Why not?”
Because I don’t want it to be true. It can’t be. Aloud, she said, “There was no reason to.”
“So, you don’t think it’s important to tell Chris that Luther said Chris and his friends are behind the accusations? Or that they’re the ones hacking the system and planting evidence and manipulating you in an attempt to turn you against your friends and family?”
“No,” Kate repeated, rubbing at the ache that had started up between her eyes. “Because it’s complete and utter bullshit.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.” Kate knew there was unexplained animosity there between the Freeds and the Winstons—everyone did—but she didn’t believe Chris or anyone else she’d met up there would do something so underhanded.
“And you don’t think your boyfriend knows more about the situation than he’s letting on?”
Kate couldn’t answer that question with the same level of conviction because she did have the feeling Chris knew more than he was letting on. However, she wanted to believe that if Chris had known something that would negatively affect her or her family, he would have shared that.
“Just ask him, Kate. If you don’t, it’ll just continue to prey on your mind.”
Karyn was right, of course. It was time for Kate to put her money where her faith was. She took her phone up to her bedroom for privacy and made the call. Chris answered immediately.
“Hey, baby. What’s up? Did you change your mind?”
Kate closed her eyes and gathered her courage. “Did you know what Luther was doing?”
The immediate and resounding, No, of course not, she’d been expecting didn’t come. What she got was a significant pause and her name spoken in a way that sent her hopes crashing.
“Kate ...”
“Did you know?”
Another pause.
“Not for certain, no.”
“But you suspected,” she pushed.
“Yes.”
Disappointment warred with anger. “And you didn’t think to mention it? You couldn’t have said, Hey, Kate. Luther might be stealing from your family. You might want to check into that?”
He exhaled. “It’s not that simple.”
“Bullshit.” She felt betrayed for the second time that evening. The difference was, it hadn’t been completely unexpected coming from her mother. But Chris ... “What else have you been keeping from me?”
The seconds ticked by in deafening silence.
“Oh my God.” For the first time, she considered the possibility that some of that vitriol Luther had been spewing might actually have some truth to it. “Is it true then? You’ve been using me?”
“What? No!” This time, his denial was instant and powerfully spoken.
That made Kate feel just a tiny bit better, but her trust had been shaken.
“Everything between us is real, Kate,” he said emphatically. “You have to know that.”
She wanted to believe that. So badly. But wanting something wasn’t enough to make it so.
“I need to think about this,” she said quietly.
“Think about what exactly?” he growled.
“You. Me. Us.”
“Kate ...”
“It’s been a really long day, okay? I’m turning my phone off and going to bed.”
Then, she did exactly that. But sleep didn’t come.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mad Dog
Mad Dog’s grip tightened around his phone until the case began to crack. He couldn’t lose Kate, not now.
He wouldn’t.
His first instinct was to jump in his truck, head down there, and convince Kate that she had no reason to doubt him. But he couldn’t because he hadn’t been completely honest with her, and it was now biting him on the ass. He needed to fix this.
He grabbed his coat and set course for the main building instead, seeking out Church and the others and calling an emergency meeting of his own.
“We have to tell her,” he said after giving them all a brief rundown.
They were well-trained men, experts in keeping their expressions neutral and their personal opinions to themselves, though he knew them well enough to read their eyes. Cage and Doc were thoughtful and considering the idea objectively. Church was weighing the pros and cons like the leader he was. Smoke and Heff were empathetic but would do whatever was best for the team.
“I won’t lose her,” he told them. Even if it meant walking away from his brothers and the cause. She was that important. He sincerely hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“Kate is very loyal to those close to her,” Church said carefully. “She’s not going to take kindly to the fact that we’ve been quietly gathering information about the major players.”
“Maybe not, but she’s also intelligent and reasonable. She’ll understand when we explain why we’ve been doing it,” Mad Dog countered. “I guarantee she doesn’t know half the shit Freed and his cronies have thrown our way.”
“Why would she believe us—or you for that matter?” Cage mused, playing devil’s advocate. “They’ve been careful about covering their tracks. It becomes a we said, they said sort of thing, and she’s known them a hell of a lot longer.”
She might have known them longer, but they didn’t have the powerful, once-in-a-lifetime kind of connection he and Kate had, and that was what he was counting on. However, if he expected Kate to put her trust in him, then he had to put his trust in her.
“Then, we show her what we do have.”
Church shook his head almost immediately. “Not a good idea.”
“Why not?” he protested. “Sam and Sandy—”
“Were informed on a need-to-know basis because they were directly involved and in danger,” Church finished. “Kate is not.”
“Someone ran her off the goddamn road!” Mad Dog roared.
“We don’t know that was intentional,” Heff cautioned quietly.
“Plus, Sam and Sandy have also made it quite clear whose side they’re on,” Cage pointed out. “It sucks that it comes down to that, but it is what it is.”