Coming Clean (23 page)

My brow furrowed. “Last assignment? You're leaving?”

“Yes. I have been called away. This is merely my vacation home, darling. I do not know when I might return.”

Vacation home. That explained the less than clinical environment, though nothing about Katya and her methods was clinical. Still, I had to know….“Did we do something wrong?”

“Oh, no, darling. On the contrary. You have pleased me very well. I have been called back to where I am needed. You will see me no more.” She went to leave.

Called back to where she was needed? For only a moment, I allowed the silly, dreamlike part of me to imagine her as a Mary Poppins or Nanny McPhee for adults and with a naughty twist, showing up where couples needed her most before moving on to the next. But that was silly, right?

“But what if we fail the assignment?”

Katya stopped, turning in my direction with a silent pause before those to-die-for lips curled up into a smile that reached all the way to the fathomless depths of her eyes. Her confidence in me, in us, didn't need to be spoken. Needed or not, it was. “You will not fail. In our short time together, the two of you have shown more progress than any of my very long list of clients. But these sessions were not meant to be a miracle cure. You will still need to work on the areas we have identified as problematic. Have fun with it, use your imagination, explore the possibilities and the limits of your bodies, and do not ever relax the grip on control and confidence that you have both recaptured with a firm hand. However, if you should find yourselves in need of a…how do you say…a
tune-up
of sorts, the card I gave you has a direct line to me. An invitation, if you will.” She turned back toward the door, adding, “Do not hesitate to use it.”

Cryptic
was Katya's middle name.

“Katya?” I stepped from the dressing screen, going no farther. She hesitated, but I didn't really know what to say next. We should thank her, beg her to continue seeing us, tell her she would be missed. Something.

Nothing came out.

As she turned her face to the side with a mysterious smile in place, I knew all of that was understood. “The pleasure was not only yours” were her final words, and then she walked away without looking back.

Shaw flipped the card over in his hand and grinned.

“What does it say?” I asked, going to look over his shoulder.

Before I could see it for myself, Shaw shoved it into his pocket. With a sexy wink he said, “You'll see.”

Something had gone down between Cassidy and Katya during our session with her last night. Though I couldn't hear or see anything, once the blindfold and earplugs had been removed, I certainly noticed the difference in the way they interacted. But I wasn't going to obsess over it or pry into something I was sure had nothing to do with me. Cassidy and I both had our own issues to deal with, and Katya had been a mastermind at bringing them all to the forefront by using sex as a tool. Fucking genius; that's what it was. Besides, I was probably better off not knowing anyway.

After the heart-to-heart we'd had—without Doc Sparling, I might add—I felt good about where we were in our relationship. I'd owned my fuckups, and Cassidy had let go of the grudge she'd been holding over the partnership. I was still worried about her, still felt the guilt of the career she'd loved and lost on a personal level. She'd said it wasn't my fault, that being a stay-at-home mom was a decision she had made, but it didn't make me feel any less responsible. I was the one who'd gotten her pregnant, after all. Jesus, had I really said she'd gotten herself knocked up? Yep. I'd been such an ass, true to my bastardized reality. But that was all behind us now. Things were looking up, up, up for us, and victories abounded as we soared to new heights.

So why didn't I feel the weightlessness of a bird in flight? Quite the opposite; some small part of me felt like I was still choking on saltwater, with my lungs unable to fill with the breath they needed. And instead of breaking the surface of the ocean and finding land in sight, I was steadily sinking deeper and deeper into the dark abyss that had once tried to claim me.

I tried to shake off the negativity, focusing all of my energy on the positive.

Like how we'd graduated from Katya's course. Well, almost. There was still the matter of the last assignment that needed to be completed before we could bring our son home, and I knew Cassidy had been missing him like crazy, we both had, so I wanted to do that right away. Not only for the sake of bringing my little man home, but because what Katya had written on the back of that card she'd handed off to me had made my cock punch inside my pants, and that was after I'd already blown my load inside Cassidy like an eruption from Mount Vesuvius. Damn straight, I wanted to get on with that.

As soon as I could get the emergency Striker-wide meeting Wade had called out of the way. An emergency meeting I knew nothing about. I was a partner, for Christ's sake. You'd think he'd run these things by me first. Mulling over the list of possibilities of topics that might be discussed, I settled on the obvious. Wade was going to make some grand announcement about his replacement; specifically,
who
that person was going to be. Yeah, that pissed me off even more because, again, I was his partner. Shouldn't I have a say in the choice, be given some kind of final approval or something? I trusted him to make the selection, but the least he could do was tell me who that person was before announcing it to our employees. I was blind, and I didn't like being blind…unless Cassidy was going to be lying on a table with her feet in stirrups and her pussy served up for my dining pleasure.

“Hey, boss man! It's time for the meeting. You ready?” Ben ripped me from my thoughts before I could get too carried away.

“Yeah,” I told him, grabbing my cell and standing to button my suit jacket. “What's the word around the office on this one?”

“What do you mean?”

Joining him, we walked side by side out into the corridor, making our way toward the boardroom. “You usually know before me what's going on. I figured you'd already know who Wade's replacement is going to be.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. If anyone knows, they've kept their lips sealed on this one.”

I noticed then that Ben was dressed impeccably, his suit pressed and fresh as if he were prepared to make a standout first impression. Could Ben be the chosen one and he just wasn't spilling the beans under orders from Wade?

Glancing at my watch, I noticed the time. Determined to keep my word, I pulled up my cellphone and pressed the speed dial to Cassidy's. When she answered, her voice sounded off, like maybe I'd just interrupted some personal time she'd been having with herself. I mentally chastised my cock for getting carried away with the thought, and powered through. “Hey, sweetness. What are you doing?” Okay, so maybe I wasn't powering through it as well as I'd intended.

“Um, nothing,” she said, but I wasn't buying it. She was definitely doing something. Plus, I could hear an echo in the background, like she was in our bathroom, so what I already suspected became even more obvious.

“Yeah, okay.” I laughed, deciding to not call her out on it, while making a mental note to have her give me all the details later. “I just wanted to let you know that we're about to go into the meeting, and I don't know if it'll run long, so I might be a little late getting home.”

Look at me being a grown-up and checking in with the little missus. Just like all responsible adults in a committed relationship
.

“Oh. Yeah. That's fine. No worries.” Shaky words equaled “Let me the hell off the phone so I can come already.”

A fat grin spread across my face, but I played nice, ending the call to let her get back to it. Putting the ringer on mute, I tucked the phone into the inside pocket of my jacket and stepped into the boardroom.

The place was crowded, every seat around the table taken except for two—mine and Wade's at the head—while the rest of the employees lined the walls. I took my place, greeting those around me and making small talk as best I could to hide my curiosity over Cassidy's naughty biz going down right at that moment back at home, and that staved off my frustration with Wade over blindsiding me like this.

Swiveling around in my chair, I looked out at the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the far wall. Yet another grin pushed at my cheeks as I got lost in the memory of the night, not so long ago, that I'd played a game of hide-and-seek in the dark with Cassidy in this very room. A game that had ended with two winners, if I recalled correctly.

“Is everyone here?” The booming sound of Wade's voice as he made his grand entrance pulled me back to the present, and I turned to level him with a “What gives?” expression that he ignored. Instead, he made a quick sweep of the room and then clapped his hands together. “Good, let's get started. As you all know, I am retiring.” Right to the point. There were a series of
aww
's from a few of the employees, which were without a doubt heartfelt. Wade could be a no-nonsense sort of hardass, but he took care of his employees, and everyone really loved the guy for it. “I know, I know,” he continued, “but every voyage must come to an end, and every captain must have his final docking, but that doesn't mean the ship will never sail again.”

I half-expected Wade to fall into a dramatic recital of “O Captain! My Captain!”

“Matthews will be at the helm,” he said, acknowledging my presence with a nod, to which I gave a wave. “So I know the Striker crew will be in good hands, but he needs a first mate.”

A pregnant pause followed, during which time everyone got quiet, looking around the room at their co-workers and undoubtedly speculating who that might be. Whoever it was, they weren't giving themselves up before Wade gave the formal announcement.

“Having said that, please join me in welcoming someone who is not a stranger among you, someone who I know you will all follow without question, one of the most successful agents to have ever made a name for herself in the industry—”

Her
self? A woman?

“—my very good friend and the new co-partner of Striker Sports Entertainment. Elizabeth, show her in,” he said to his assistant, whom I just realized wasn't only standing by the door, she'd been guarding it.

Those who'd been sitting with their backs to the entrance turned in their seats, every pair of eyes in the place glued to that door as it swung open. Elizabeth stepped out, telling someone to come in, and then went back to her place.

In walked a woman dressed in a gray pencil skirt and a matching, form-fitting vest over a white silk collar shirt underneath that had the first couple of buttons unfastened to show the skin—and the cleavage—beneath. I'd know that form, that skin, and that cleavage anywhere.

Cassidy.

I nearly fell out of my seat at the sight of her and that confident smirk she wore. Her ginger hair was done up in a bun, Wayfarer glasses sat on the bridge of her nose, and she strolled in with those signature red fuck-me peep-toe heels I'd nearly lost my mind over back when we'd been adversaries. We were no longer adversaries. Now, it seemed, we were fucking partners.

The room erupted in conversation while she made her way toward the front of the room, joining Wade.

He beamed like a proud papa as he put his hand on her shoulder. “I'm sure my onetime protégée needs no introduction, but just in case…Ladies and gentlemen, Cassidy Whalen.”

Agents, receptionists, accountants, and assistants—employees of every rank and file—stood and clapped. I stood as well, not really feeling my legs as I walked to the front of the room. Wade roared with laughter when I looked at her like I couldn't believe what I was seeing, then at him, and then back at her again.

“Told you I had it covered,” Wade said, clapping me on the back. “The dynamic duo…back together again. Damn, I'm good.”

Cassidy leaned into me, smelling damn amazing as she spoke low so that no one else would hear. “Shaw, are you okay with this? You haven't said anything.”

Shit. I hadn't, had I? Then again, neither had she…this whole damn time. How long had she known? Those two, Cassidy and Wade, had both duped me on this one. Duped me good. I waited to feel my blood pressure blow, for some type of angry outburst to find a raucous way to cause a scene.

And it never came.

Shaking off the dreamlike haze of the surprise, I got my wits about me because I wouldn't be able to stand it if this woman thought I was unhappy with this decision in the least bit. “I am
more
than okay with this, sweetness. Um, I mean, Whalen,” I corrected myself, catching the slip a little too late.

“It's okay,” Wade whispered. “You're the bosses. Which means, you can pretty much get away with anything now. And I do mean
any
thing.” He elbowed me, following it up with a conspiratorial wink.

Cassidy drew her head back. “He most certainly can
not
. There will be no hanky-panky at the office. Striker will not be run into the ground under my watch.” Her hand went to her hip as she wagged a finger at the two of us with an expression that was stern, serious, and so familiar.

Yeah, Cassidy Whalen was back. The woman I loved, the mother of my child, was now my partner. The career she had worked so hard for and lost was hers again. And that made me pretty damn happy. One thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't going to let anything take it from her again.

“Settle down,” Wade called out, bringing the meeting back to order. “I'm turning over the reins now, so you need to listen up.”

Once everyone was quiet again, Wade melted into the background, giving Cassidy the floor. I wasn't sure what was expected of me, so I turned to take my seat again, but Cassidy stopped me with her hand on my arm. “Where are you going?” she asked. “This is a united front, Matthews.”

“Oh. Right. Okay,” I said, adjusting my tie before putting my hands in my pockets to let her take the lead. It wasn't like I knew what she was going to say.

She gave a quick wave to Ally, her former assistant, before starting. “First, I want to thank you all for the warm welcome. I know a few of you were hoping to be named partner, but hopefully there won't be any hard feelings.” Quiet laughter followed and then she continued.

I stood there, proud as the day was long, and listened as my woman gave her background with Striker and all of her qualifications. Cassidy talked about her love for the company, her vision for its future, and she assured everyone that I had the lead with her full support. I didn't correct her because undermining her in front of our staff wouldn't be cool, but I'd make sure she knew we were going to be as equal in this partnership as we were in life.

And then she snuck a little something in on me. “Though I see some new faces, I know most everyone here by face and name. Before I left, I also knew what was going on in most of your personal lives. That's because we've always been a family here at Striker. How could we not be when we spend so many hours out of the day together? But those are hours that are being taken away from your families at home. So Shaw and I have decided that the first change that will take effect right away is that Striker will be opening an on-site daycare so you can have your family here with you.”

Eyes shot open, accompanied by some surprised gasps from the women present, and then deafening applause from every single employee.

My fucking partner just did that. God, I loved this woman.

I took a step back, bowing as I faced her with applause of my own. There was no “Shaw and I” in her first order of business. That had been all Cassidy. Because she had the foresight to take care of our employees even better than Striker had done in the past, because she was a career woman who had felt the loss of her sense of self when she'd become a mother, and because she was a mother who would feel that loss, too, if forced to choose.

She could have it all, and she could give it all to our employees, as well.

Wade couldn't have made a better choice. As I stood back watching and listening to her, I couldn't help but think how funny it was how things just sort of worked themselves out. Cassidy and I had competed hard-core to be named a Striker partner. Though there could only be one winner, we'd both deserved it, and we'd both earned it. Hell, because of it, we'd fallen for each other and had even been blessed with a child and a family of our own. And now? Now we both held the title.