Carter took her face in his hands and swiped at her tears with his thumbs. “We'll figure this out, okay? We'll get your friend taken care of. We'll make sure that she's safe. You don't need to go to Devon for help.”
“You believe me?”
Carter seemed to hesitate. “I'm not sure yet, but I'm not asking you to leave and I think that's a positive sign.”
Kaitlyn breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that's good, because I'm telling you the truth. I wasn't actually going to do anything with him. But I have some information about him that he wouldn't like getting out, so I was thinking about leveraging that to my advantage.”
Carter let out a little whistle. “That's a very wolf move of you. Pretty courageous to threaten somebody like Devon. You know he could make you disappear if you wanted to, right?”
Kaitlyn shuddered at the thought, thinking about the story he told her about the college girl winding up dead in Devon's bathtub. She thought about how easy murder shows made it sound to say that someone committed suicide, as long as you did it the right way. “Well, then there'd be two of us missing and nobody to mourn our loss.” She lifted both shoulders, well aware of her lot in life and her position in the world.
But Carter gently ran the back of his knuckles down her cheek. “Your job doesn't diminish your value.”
She let out a chuckle. “But your job definitely increases your value exponentially. Sorry, that was a low blow.”
“No, you're kind of right, and I agree that it's a bullshit system, but we just each have to find our own ways to work within the confines of it and still be able to sleep at the end of the night.” Carter's words gave her hope that maybe not every rich person was awful, just most of them. At least Carter could admit that the world played favorites, even if those favorites did work hard. She knew his job was demanding mentally and that he worked harder than almost anybody she’d ever known. But still, a lot of luck had gone into his position and his company to hit the right place at the right time while being in the right place at the right time.
“And I'm sorry for being a bit nasty to you. I really was trying to comfort you. That was an awful thing that Devon did to you, and nobody should have to go through that.” She met his gaze, trying to be as serious as possible so he could understand that she meant what she said. “I never lie about how I feel about people. I like you, Carter. I like who you are and how honest you are. I wish you were a little more forthcoming, but I understand keeping secrets; I'm kind of bad about that myself. You're the first rich person who hasn't made me hate rich people all the more. You have given me hope that not every rich guy is completely unscrupulous and awful.”
“Don't get me wrong, I am unscrupulous and awful. Just not to you.” He flashed a smile at her, and a shiver snuck down her spine.
“I've had my whole life to learn that when people sayit's different for you,they're trying to pull one over on me.” She smiled back, but didn't really feel the gesture. Feeling suddenly out of her depth, she shifted away from him slightly.
Was there more to Carter than she knew?
Had she fallen for a beautiful lie?
“I do want to kiss you again.” He said the word softly in a low tone that left goosebumps rising up and down her arms and across her chest.
“Maybe that's not a good idea.” And feeling slightly unsettled and like she'd seen the face of the devil himself, she shifted in her seat before standing up and pacing back and forth. “I don't know what to do about Devon. If I shut him down now, I don't know how volatile he's going to get. He might think I'm planning to go public with the knowledge and information that I have on him and I don't know how he'll react.”
“He showed up at my work today and saidit's that easy.”
Kaitlyn jerked her head up to stare at Carter, her lips parting slightly in surprise. “Was he threatening you? Because that sounds like a threat.” Her blood chilled in her veins, and she worried that she'd put Carter in danger. She didn't like that thought, not one bit.
“That's what I thought. But it might have also been his way of telling me that you were seeing him, like maybe he won you away from me. I'm not really sure, but security dragged him out and now they're on high alert, so hopefully that's the last I'll see of him.” Carter lifted his shoulders, as if he wasn't really sure about what he was saying.
“That's really unsettling. I don't like it.” Kaitlyn gave her head a slight shake and an idea occurred to her. “Maybe I could ask him? I could tell him that I don't want to work with him if he's going to be keeping secrets and dropping in to tell you. Meanwhile, I'd be telling you everything, of course.”
But Carter shook his head, clearly not interested in that idea. “Honestly, I'd rather you stay away from him because I know he is a danger to you. He's a danger to me and he's a danger to everyone we care about.”
He leaned in and pressed his lips to her cheek, and Kaitlyn froze feeling the power of the touch and the jolt like electricity through her skin. His warm breath made her heart pound and she squeezed her thighs together, feeling that same strange pull toward him.
Maybe he was a monster, but he was definitely a monster she was interested in.
“You smell delicious.” He inhaled her scent at her neck before gently flicking the tip of his tongue over the soft skin there. The sensation sent a shiver down her spine and she wanted to jump on him. She could remember how good he felt between her legs when she straddled his lap, the feeling of him pressing down on her when she’d pulled him on top of her, and the excitement that coursed through her veins every time they touched. Something about him electrified her in the best - or worst - way.
Still, Kaitlyn couldn't help but be afraid of what Devon would do next.
Now that she had weaponized the information she knew about him, cutting off contact completely might make him volatile. She couldn't help but think what he said to Carter had been a very blatant threat. Showing up in his protected office building in his office to tell him it was that easy to get to him, how could that be anything other than a threat?
He couldn't possibly think it was because he had her, because he didn't. She'd been in the process of blackmailing him, telling him what might happen if the information she knew about him was leaked to the press.
But if he wanted to silence her, harming Carter - or even just threatening him - would be a good way to silence her. He had to know she’d be afraid for him, and given that Devon knew she was living with Carter... No doubt the crazy guy thought that if he got rid of Carter, he would have free direct access to her.
“Devon knows that the only thing that stands between him and I, is you. I think his words were a threat, and I think you need to start watching your back. Maybe hire somebody to protect you?” As Kaitlyn said the words, she couldn't ignore the knot forming deep in the pit of her belly.
“I'm sorry for dragging you into all this trouble, for putting you in danger. I had no right to do that, no right to ask you for help, no right to accept your help. Especially not without telling you everything that was going on.” Folding her hands in her lap and staring down at them, Kaitlyn couldn't help but feel bad for what she'd done to him and the danger she’d ushered through the door of his life.