Page 37 of Degrees of Innocence
“How the fuck can it get any worse? I’ll be damned if I’ll have him working on any project of mine. I don’t want that man anywhere near you.”
“Chase, if you fire him it’ll appear he was let go for making some stupid comment about the person you’re sleeping with. If word gets out it will be much worse for me,” I say, trying to reason with him.
“How will it be worse for you? You won’t have to listen to his foul mouth!”
“Chase, you have to let me deal with this. You can’t just charge in and fire everyone that says something derogatory about me.”
“The fuck I can’t, Katarina. He’s finished.”
“Chase, this is exactly why I didn’t tell you. Martel is a huge conglomerate and if Mark gets fired, he will make it known that I was the cause. It will affect the projects I get asked to do in the future. I need time to think about how to handle it and I’d like you to help me resolve it, but please don’t fire him,” I say.
“This is the second time I’ve wanted to let him go and you’ve intervened. It’s really against my better judgment, Katarina.”
“Chase, this is the stuff that can really affect my career.”
His eyebrows rise in question. “Is this what happened to your mom?” he asks.
“I don’t know, Chase. All I remember is her crying all the time. I could hear her through the walls of our bedrooms. Then we started moving, town after town, new school after new school and no friends.”
“What about a compromise? We’ll develop a plan for Mark tomorrow, but then I am going to go over a very detailed list of security items and I want you to agree with them,” he says.
“Okay, we can look at the list tomorrow and see which ones we can agree on.”
His eyes hold mine captive. “Katarina, I want you to agree to the entire list. Surely you understand my arguments around security with everything that has transpired the last couple days?”
“I do, Chase, but this is all new to me. They are complete strangers to me and yet they need to know all the intimate details of my life? You just need to give me some time.”
“Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time. We need to have a plan in place for your security.”
“Has Jay been with you a long time?” I ask changing the subject.
He narrows his eyes at me not fooled for a moment. “Yes, he’s been with me for quite a few years and is a good man. As soon as you left the lounge he knew something was wrong. He just didn’t expect you to come barreling out of your room like you did. He and his team followed you onto the beach. If he hadn’t, it’s hard to say what could have happened to you in that alley or if you had consumed that drink.”
“I know, and I am very grateful to him.”
We finish our salad and wine and I feel relieved that I told him. He was obviously angry, but at least he agreed to work through it together which was probably a huge concession for him.
“Thank you for not firing him. I know it goes against your better judgment,” I state.
“I’m not going to allow you to be in danger, regardless of your fears, Katarina. I’ll have Jay start a profile on him. It’s highly unlikely that he had anything to do with the two attempts on your life, but I need to be sure.”
I walk around the table and slip into his lap, kissing him gently. “Thank you. I know you are just trying to keep me safe and I will try to be more cooperative,” I say.
“You are quite distracting sitting on my lap with nothing on but this bikini,” he says, rubbing the sensitive skin of my neck.
“I’d much rather be sitting on your lap with nothing on,” I confess.
“Careful, Baby, you’re not wearing much and I am only human. Why don’t you go change while I talk with Mikael? We’ll be pulling onto shore rather soon and he and I need to discuss adding more fleets to his commercial catamaran business,” he says, giving me one last kiss.
I slide off his lap, careful to press into his hardness as I do.
His eyes are alight with amusement. “I see this is going to be a long night,” he says as I head toward his bedroom.
I realize I left my cell on the nightstand earlier. I pick it up and see several missed texts from Jenny.
Message:How are you feeling today?
Reply:Much better. I will call you later.
