The Drake Unwound Complete Collection (The Drake Series Book 9)(64)

"Drake?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She stepped closer to the couch. "Drake," she said, her voice wavering. "I—"

"Don't," I said, holding up my hand to stop her. "Don't say anything."

"But I need to explain—"

"Not now," I said, desperately trying to keep control over my emotions.

"Please Drake," she said, her voice panicked. "I was going to tell you…" She came over to the couch and was going to sit next to me but I turned to her, frowning.

"Stop," I said. "Leave me alone. I need some time to think."

"Why?" she said, her voice pleading. "There's nothing to think about. I ran into Kurt at the fundraiser, he followed me out of the building and some photographer took that picture when I was telling him to leave me alone. That's it," she said, chopping her hand down emphatically. "End of story."

"You never said anything about Kurt being your," I said, trying to control my voice. "Escort."

"He wasn't!" She sat closer to me. "The paper made that up. I wasn't with him. He followed me out and they took that picture. That's it."

"What time did you get home that night?” I said and frowned, trying to remember. “When I woke up, it was almost eight thirty. Dave said you left the fundraiser at six – with Kurt."

She exhaled in frustration. "I did leave at six. I didn't want to stay because Kurt was there. He followed me out. I didn't leave with him. He cornered me, I told him I was with you and was happy, and then I left. I took a cab because the limo driver was away and I wanted to escape Kurt. I got home around 6:15 and you were asleep so I didn't wake you up."

It sounded possible but the photo... "So you have no proof that you were home that early? Dave said you left with Kurt."

"I didn't," she said, her face white, her brow furrowed. "There's the concierge in the entry. You could ask him."

"God, Kate,” I said, emotion overwhelming me. “Do I really have to check with the doorman to know if you're telling me the truth?"

"Why would you doubt me?"

I turned away, my heart pounding. She was right. Why would I doubt her? Finally, I turned back to face her and the expression on her face was almost enough to make me trust her. Almost.


"Why would I doubt you?” I said, exasperated, conflicted. “Because you didn't f*cking tell me the truth right away, that's why. Dave had to tell me."

"It meant nothing,” she said, her voice insistent. “I didn't want to upset you over nothing. You've been through so much with Liam and the transplant and being sick. You were so tired…"

I shook my head, not meeting her eyes. "Is every f*cking woman going to cheat on me?" I muttered. Then I turned back to face her. "Didn't I pay enough attention to you? Couldn’t you wait until I recovered?"

"Couldn't I wait?" she said. "What do you mean?"

She crawled onto my lap, her arms around my neck, tears in her eyes. I couldn’t respond, my jealousy so strong, my fear of once more being cheated on keeping me from believing her.

"Drake, don't do this," she said, her voice breaking. "Kurt means nothing to me. Nothing."

"Did he touch you?"

"What do you mean, did he touch me? He grabbed my arm, he touched my cheek. I didn’t touch him. We spoke for five minutes and I left. Alone."

I stared at her, my eyes hungry for her. Even as I sat there feeling betrayed, I couldn’t help but love her, desire her – want to f*ck her right then and there, hard and fast.

"Did you f*ck him? Just for old time's sake?" I asked it, needing to know the truth so I could shut off my emotions. Shut her out of my heart.

"What?" she said, pulling back in horror.

"Tell me the truth, Katherine,” I said. Maybe she needed me to be more dominant. Maybe she needed someone more forceful. “At least tell me the goddamned truth."

"Do you really, seriously think I'd just f*ck some man?"

"Kurt isn’t just some man,” I said, thinking back to everything Kate and Lara had told me about him. He was in the Marines, like Ethan and my father. He was alpha, if clumsy in his introduction of kink with Kate. “He was your lover. I know how these things go."

"No, stop for a moment and think," she said, her voice breaking. "Do you really think I could f*ck Kurt? I need to know."

I shrugged, already closing off my emotions. "I don't know. The paper said he was your escort. You left with him. You were home late. You have needs…"

"Drake, that’s insane. If you can even think that might happen, you don’t know me at all. I would never do that."

"How would I know? We've only been together for four months,” I said. “You're still so young. Who knows what hidden kinks you might have."

I thought of Kate perhaps liking the idea of multiple partners, polyamory. Who knew what she might desire. If she wasn’t being truthful with me about Kurt, there was no telling what kind of kink she might be into.

"It's the truth," she said, stroking her hands through my hair, her eyes brimming. "I was back here at 6:15. I was so happy to get away from Kurt and back to you."