Page 57 of It's Always Been You

He groaned and hugged her to him as they strode to the TV room. “Sorry for leaving you alone with her. I had something to discuss with my dad.”

“No problem. She wasn’t bad at all. I have a feeling I’ll be getting used to her in no time.”

“You did get along well.”

“What did you have to discuss with your dad? Does it have anything to do with the danger from Komarov?”

Travis exhaled heavily. “Yes. I can’t risk them being a target.”

Before Caitlin could digest this tidbit, react, or say anything, Travis squeezed her tighter against him. “And I don’t want to hear you say it’s your fault. I’ll handle this, Caitlin. We’re in this together. I protect what’s mine. You concentrate on getting Komarov his money, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

Caitlin shrugged. It seemed easier now that she had gotten the first set of files open.

“I forgot to add,” Travis whispered in her ear, sendingshivers down her spine. “You concentrate on making sure that body is available to me any way I want it, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

It wasn’t aseasy as Caitlin thought it would be, but it would be three days later when she eventually cracked the encryption on all the files. All 100 million dollars of Komarov’s money plus change—the interest garnered from three years sitting in the bank was quite substantial.

The breakthrough happened one afternoon when she was in Travis’s office. She was squirming with excitement in her chair as she stared at all the money that would finally liberate her and Travis to live their life together.

Together.

Caitlin’s skin tingled with the memory of the past three days. Sex, sex and more sex. They couldn’t get enough of each other. She couldn’t remember why she had resisted him so firmly in the first place. She was feeling so lucky now—to be falling in love with a man who fiercely loved her. Although he had not said the words again since the day in the kitchen, she could feel it in each caress and in the way he looked at her—tenderness, passion, yearning. She hoped her eyes reflected the same.

“Someone’s daydreaming,” a sultry amused voice spoke from the doorway.

Beatrice.

The redhead had come in every day to discuss security contracts with Travis and his team. She also made it a point to stop by at the conference room where Travis had her set up to work on the files.

“Hey, Beatrice!” Caitlin smiled at the newcomer. She hadn’t quite made up her mind whether she liked the redhead or not. Her familiarity with Travis made Caitlin a bit jealous,and the last thing she wanted was to act petty. So she tried to squash those feelings and told herself that if Travis wanted Beatrice, he would have gone after her a long time ago instead of carrying a torch for Caitlin for so long. Feeling a bit better with her quick self-reflection, Caitlin widened her smile.

“You seem to be happy about something,” Beatrice said as she glided into the room. How she could do this gracefully in three-inch spiked heels was beyond her.

“Getting some of my skills back.”

“Travis has a stupid grin plastered on his face nowadays,” Beatrice informed her dryly. “It’s nauseating.”

“Oh, stop complaining. You’re happy for him, aren’t you?”

The redhead grinned, her green eyes softening. “Yes, I’m happy for him. He’s been through so much. You have no idea.”

“So you met him through your dad?”

The redhead shrugged off her blazer, and sat beside Caitlin. Looked like Beatrice was down for some girl chat instead of her customary brief “hello.”

“Yes. A little over two-years ago, just when Travis was starting BSI, Dad introduced him to me at a security conference,” Beatrice said. “We got along well and decided to be business partners of some sort. You know the work I do?”

Caitlin nodded. As a security consultant, Beatrice was the first line of contact for most BSI clients. She made top-level recommendations and then fielded the contract to her partners. BSI wasn’t the only security company that Beatrice worked with, but according to Travis, they got most of her clients.

“The time I met him, I could tell he was a man who hadn’t let go of his grief,” Beatrice continued. “He looked okay physically, but his eyes were haunted. Like he was just existing with no joy in his life.”

Caitlin’s heart ached at Beatrice words. “I’m sorry.” Although, she wasn’t sure why she was apologizing.

“I’m not really sure why I’m telling you this,” Beatrice hedged.

“Let’s not mince words here,” Caitlin replied. “You don’t seem to be the type, and you’re not even subtle about it.” She paused for a beat before pushing forward. “You don’t want me to hurt him.”

“He’s not going to get over losing you a second time.”

---