Page 49 of Degrees of Innocence
“I absolutely love it, Chase,” I say, snuggling into the luxurious material and using the towel to wrap my hair. Do I need to get dressed or can I wear it downstairs?” I ask.
“Wear the robe. We may run into Gaby, but she won’t care,” he says, pulling on lounge pants and nothing else.
As we walk into the kitchen, I look around amazed at the sheer size. There are two Viking stainless steel ranges and an oversized Sub-Zero stainless steel refrigerator. “It’s like a restaurant kitchen,” I exclaim.
“We usually have the Boys and Girls Clubs for meals during the holidays. Gaby cooks everything right here,” he says, opening the refrigerator to pull out a large bowl of soup. The note on the top saysPotato Dill soup. Heat for 2 minutes per bowl.Fresh bread is in the breadbox. Chase places the dish on the counter and begins ladling it into two ceramic bowls.
“I’ll cut the bread while you heat the soup,” I offer having found the breadbox on the counter by the range. I finish slicing the loaf, place it on a plate and bring it to the table as he puts both of the heated bowls in front of us. “It’s delicious,” I say, savoring a piece of the fresh dill bread.
He smiles. “She’s a magnificent cook. I worry that she does too much sometimes, though. She’s got her hands full managing the household and all the staff we employ,” he says.
His phone vibrates on the table and he turns it over, scowling briefly at the message. “Excuse me, Baby,” he says, hitting the number to one of his contacts.
“Sid, Chase here, what’s going on?” he says into the phone.
After a slight pause, he appears frustrated with the conversation. “I don’t care how many people it takes, Sid. Draw him out of hiding, and find out who he’s working for. There has to be a reason, some connection we’re missing,” he says before disconnecting.
“Was that about the guy in Aruba?” I ask.
“It was. Jay has intel teams working to find any connection between some of the work we are doing overseas and the attempts made on your life, but nothing’s coming up,” he says.
“What do you mean by that, Chase? You think someone is trying to kill me because of a job you are doing overseas? I don’t understand.”
“We’re not sure yet ourselves. It doesn’t make a bit of sense that someone would want to fatally harm you. Some traffickers prey on young women and use the same drug that was found in your drink, but the doses were too high just to knock you out for a while, so we’re looking into other reasons. The teams are working round the clock, but they haven’t been able to turn up anything, yet,” he says.
I crawl into his lap and kiss him gently. “Finish your bread so we can go back to bed,” I whisper, wanting to forget the incident and be in his arms.
I wake curled up with his arms wrapped around me from behind. “Good morning,” he whispers into my ear, pulling my body closer, cupping my bare breasts in his hands, slowly and deliberately rolling my nipples between his fingers. “I like waking up with you in my bed,” he murmurs playfully.
“When Dr. Mederea came to take care of me after the accident I asked her to prescribe the same birth control pill I was on a few years ago. I’ll be covered from pregnancy, but she asked me a few questions that I wasn’t able to answer,” I say aware of the warmth rising on my cheeks.
“What did she ask you?” he asks.
“Well, um, you know about sexual partners and ensuring we wouldn’t transmit anything to each other,” I say.
“And you are embarrassed discussing this with me?” he asks, sitting up on his elbow to look at me.
“Maybe, a little bit. It’s not like I’ve had many experiences in this particular department,” I say.
“It’s a perfectly reasonable question. You can be assured precautions with previous partners have been taken, along with routine lab work,” he says.
“I see, and are you taking precautions with me, aside from the condoms?” I ask.
“I didn’t think it was warranted given your limited experience and the fact you haven’t slept with someone in three years,” he says, his eyes rising questioningly.
“I guess I didn’t think about the risk of you and your other partners and probably should have,” I state, annoyed at the petulant sound of my own voice.
“Katarina, don’t tell me you’re jealous,” he says and this time, the quirk of his lips reveals his amusement. I try to avert my gaze.Is this what jealousy feels like?
“Look at me,” he says, turning my chin to face him so that I have no choice but to look into his eyes. “There is absolutely no reason for you to be jealous. I am completely monogamous and these relationships happened before I met you,” he says.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Your previous partners really shouldn’t matter to me. A couple more days and I will be covered from the birth control aspect,” I say, wishing the thought of him with other women didn’t leave me feeling so covetous.
“I can’t wait to be inside of you and feel you around me without a condom,” he says, kissing me on the lips gently. “Now, let’s go downstairs and see what Gaby has prepared for breakfast. We have an appointment with the realtor mid-morning,” he says.
“You’re really quite fond of her,” I say as I reluctantly slide out of bed and we get ready for the day.
“Yes, I am. She’s been with me for about seven years,” he says.
