CHAPTER TEN
Zek
I sank down into the passenger’s side seat of Alisa’s car and let out a long exhale. Relief was mine for the minute. I knew we still had a battle on our hands, but after getting through the rape trial and coming out victorious, I wanted to rule the world. It felt like there might be a fighting chance to get through the next conviction, should it come. If justice ruled supreme, then I wouldn’t find a way out of the trading case, but I had to hope.
“Thank God the verdict went in our favor.” Alisa got into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the busy parking lot. “I wanted to wrap you up in a hug and kiss you a thousand times when we won, but I’m not so sure that would go over too well with the press.”
I chuckled and reached for her hand, pulling it into my lap and wrapping my fingers around hers. “Thank you for believing in me. I would never hurt a woman. Not in a million years.”
“I know that.” She glanced over at me, her blue eyes filled with compassion. “You don’t ever have to say that again. I know the kind of man you are.”
“Good.” I squeezed her hand and let my head drop back as I closed my eyes. “I should have called you this week. You’ve been the only thing on my mind. I almost went stir-crazy several times.”
“Same.” She laughed softly. “I thought maybe you were upset about the conversation with Ben. I didn’t plan that, and I’m honestly sorry you had to hear it.”
“No need to apologize, Alisa.” I turned and opened my eyes, wanting to see her. “You guys had a life together. I was jealous only because I’d love to have those stories to tell.”
“You will. One day.” She pulled her hand from mine and slid her tight grip around the steering wheel. “I want to talk about us.”
“Oh yeah? What about us?” I knew she didn’t like me playing coy, but I was done making assumptions. They never worked out too well for me.
“I think if you’re up for it after we get through the next trial, I’d like to take you out for dinner.” She gave me a cheeky grin.
“You taking me out? That seems a little backwards.” I let my eyes run down her profile and over her shoulders, catching the large swell of her breasts as my body woke up and need teased me.
“Yeah, well, I want to take you out. Are you denying me?” She pulled up to the house and parked beside Mark’s old car.
“No. I’ve decided that if you want it, you get it.” I got out of the car and walked to the front, stopping only to pull her into my arms. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did today. I never once doubted you.”
She ran her fingers down my face as a cute little frown tugged at her mouth. “I’m going to ask for the maximum bail to be posted for that bitch for cutting you and it shouldn’t be a problem after her little scene today.”
“It’s all good.” I leaned down and brushed my lips across hers before pulling her in tightly and pressing my face to the side of her neck. “Makes me look more manly. More rugged.”
“No, it makes you look like someone attacked you.” She pulled back as the door to the house opened and my brother walked out.
“Hey! I’m looking at a free man, hmm? Ain’t nobody getting you down, right? No sir-re! You’re Zek Kellington. The world can suck it.” Mark patted my back and pulled Alisa into a side hug. “And this kick ass attorney you got here isn’t too bad either.”
Lizzy walked out and hugged me and shook Alisa’s hand. “I’m so happy for you, Zek, and I’m insanely proud of you, Alisa. You did the firm right, and took care of my family. Thank you.”
“It was a pleasure.” Alisa nodded to the house. “Now... time to feed the hard-working attorney.”
“Agreed. The almost criminal is starving too.” I moved in behind Alisa and opened the door wider before following her into the kitchen. Lizzy took over as she always did, and I moved to sit at the breakfast bar with my brother as the two women in my life worked to get something delicious for us to enjoy together.
I couldn’t have felt more right, more whole. Alisa would be mine eventually. I just had to survive my bad decisions. There was no way I could ask her to wait two to five years for me if I went to prison for the trading charges though. She had too much life in her to ask her to stifle it for that long, and I had started to care far too much about her to even think about taking anything from her.
My focus was to give her everything she wanted, and anything she needed. That had to start with me being a free man. If I could just figure out a way to circumvent the trial and put in a plea bargain, but what would she think about that? She’d already been pretty clear on the fact that she would feel differently about me if I was, in fact, the criminal the SEC was working to turn me into.
The scary part was that they wouldn’t have to work too hard at all. I’d done it. Now I was just running from the part where I got caught.
***
Lizzy and Mark left after dinner was done, and I was grateful. I wanted some time alone with Alisa before she ran out on me too. She might be interested in next steps, but she was still holding back a little around me. I understood it, and though I was grateful for her being so responsible, I wanted to beg her to let her hair down just a little.
I moved in behind her as she washed dishes at the sink, and I slid my hands around her waist. I pressed myself against her and brushed her hair away before pressing my lips to the side of her neck.
“I want to ask you to stay the night with me, but I know you well enough to know that you won’t. I don’t need the rejection, but know that I want you here.” I kissed her again and pressed my mouth to her throat, sucking softly as she let out a groan.
“I want to so bad. Maybe I should just let go. Stop being so damn responsible with all of this.” She turned off the water and turned in my arms. “I was miserable this week without you.”
“Can I ask what happened with Ben after your conversation?” I knew I was pushing a little into her private space, but I needed to know if any part of her still had hope for reconciliation with him.
“Sure.” She reached over and picked up a hand towel and worked to dry her hands as her eyes moved across my face. “We met that night, talked about our investments. I signed some papers that he had for me, and then I went home. He wanted to talk about us, but I reminded him that there is no us anymore. It’s all good. It’s just been a long week after that.”
“I should have called.” I slid my hand along her face and rubbed gently at the base of her head. “Forgive me?”
“Hell, I should have called. You were attacked by some crazy chick, and I wasn’t even here to help.” She pressed her hands to my chest and rubbed softly.
“If you would have been here, it would have been worse, and I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to record the conversation on my phone that I did. It’s all good. It worked out well, actually. Now the other six days in the week... you were missed.”
She laughed with me, and I moved back, picking up my beer and nodding toward the living room. “Come on. You don’t have to spend the night if you don’t want, but don’t go just yet. I want some more time with you.”
“Okay.” She picked up her glass of wine and walked just ahead of me to the living room.
I sat down and extended my arm to the back of the couch, nodding for her to take the seat next to me. “Come let me feel you up.”
She smirked and dropped down next to me. “This feels like high school all over again.”
“Oh yeah? I don’t ever remember me feeling you up while you were still fully dressed. We kept our love affair a secret, remember? Your brother would have killed me in my sleep had he known how badly I wanted to touch your sexy little body.” I leaned over and kissed the side of her face as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
“I wanted you to touch me.” She pulled her legs up and cuddled against me. “Remember that old game I made you play with me all the time? Do you trust me?”
I laughed. “Oh shit. I’d almost forgotten about that. You were a devious little thing. Had me hard every time I saw you because of some of the things you told me you wanted us to do when we grew up. Remember that?”
She laughed as her cheeks turned pink. “I do. I would read dirty magazines at home to get some new ideas to share with you late at night. I wanted you to see me as a woman, not a child. I figured if I knew the latest sexual lingo that you might notice me.”
I glanced down at her and shook my head. “You didn’t have to do anything to get my attention. You had it — fully. You were beautiful and wild. Fuck, you still are.”
“I’m not wild anymore. I want to be some days. I want to jump from a plane, ride a motorcycle at full speed, swim with the sharks.” She gave me a wide grin and my heart melted in my chest.
“Let’s write all that stuff down and after we wrap up the mess I’ve made with my life, we’ll start working through your bucket list. Sound good?” I kissed the tip of her nose.
“Yes. You have to add things to the list to. What do you want to do?”
I couldn’t help myself from being completely honest with her. “I want to make love to you until you can’t walk. I want to watch your belly grow with my babies. I want to carry you across the threshold of the house of your dreams.”
“Zek.” Her eyes filled with tears and she turned, snuggling in tighter to me. “Don’t give me hope just yet. You know it scares me.”
“I know it does, but it’s all I’ve got to cling to. My life has turned upside down completely. You coming back into it has been a blessing that I couldn’t have prayed hard enough for.” I touched her cheek and let out a long sigh. “It’s all worth it if I end up with you by my side. Do you think that’s a possibility?”
“I do. I don’t want anyone but you, but we need to see this thing through before we make a million plans. You know I’m still half-scarred over not seeing you for the last eighteen years. Your avoidance techniques worked well.” She tried to let out a laugh, but it fell flat.
I pulled from her and stood up. “I was an idiot. Forgive me.”
“I already have.” She sat up. “Where are you going?”
“To the restroom. You want more wine?” I walked toward the back of the house as she called after me.
“No. I’m already loopy and you know I like to mess around when I’m drunk.” Her voice was warm and filled with affirmation of her love for me. I had her, I just knew it.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it until after I’d used the restroom and washed my hands. I checked myself in the mirror as I toweled dried my hands and studied the scar. It was ugly as fuck, but it did make me look more rugged. I didn’t care what Alisa said.
I pulled up my phone as it buzzed again. It was a message from an unknown number.
Leaning against the cabinet, I let it play. My insides turned to stone as my worst fears became my reality.
“Mr. Kellington. This is Jackson Burnes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have concluded our findings and your trial is currently being set. We will be bringing fraud charges against you as the Chief Executive Officer of Kellington Investments. Please work on obtaining legal representation, and be on the lookout for our subpoena to appear in court. If you have any questions, please—”
I dropped the call and left the phone in the bathroom as I walked numbly back into the living room. Alisa wasn’t in there, but I could hear her moving around in the kitchen. Why couldn’t I have just a day to believe that things were going to be fine? A week? A month? Why? Was it too much to ask for?
“Zek?” She turned and walked toward me as concern filled her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I just got a message from the SEC. They’re pressing charges against me and the firm.” I let out a long sigh and tried to not dive into the dark hole of despair that opened up in front of me as she stepped back.
“Oh no. Shit.” She pressed her hands to her mouth as her sapphire eyes searched my face. “Well, I’ll be right beside you. We’ll beat this. You didn’t commit the rape, and you didn’t do the insider trading deal. I know you. You would never—”
“Alisa. I didn’t rape the girl.” I paused as my heart contracted painfully in my chest.
Don’t. It could change everything. Don’t.
“I know that. I just said that.” She stopped and took a step back. “Zek. Please tell me that you didn’t get involved with the trading scandal. That’s not like you at all.”
I could have told her all the reasons why I did it, but it didn’t matter. None of it did. Justice would have her way with me, and I would be behind bars. My time with Alisa would be over, and it would be for the best. She was a good woman and a great lawyer. She deserved the best, which used to be me, but it wasn’t anymore.
Her voice cracked as she touched my chest. “Tell me you didn’t do this. Your ethics couldn’t have changed that much over the years. I don’t believe that you’re capab—”
“I did it. I made an error in judgment. I fucking did it, okay?”
I ran my fingers through my hair as she spoke the words I knew were coming, and yet they hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Wow. This changes everything.”
Continue on to read Part 3…