“That’s fucking low.”

“Is it? I feel responsible for the situation she’s in. She was a single mom at age twenty. I never once did right by her except when I paid back the child support I owed her.”

“Yeah, but grabbing your junk when you’re with someone else is inexcusable.”

“I shut her down. Told her I’m with Viv.”

Jeff said back in his chair. “But?”

“But I felt like shit for days after. Like I fucked all of them over. Cori, Brook and Viv. I wondered if I should put my feelings aside and make Brooklyn number one. Cori’s a good mom.”

“What, you mean be with Cori even though you don’t want to? Leave Viv?”

His outraged tone underscored what a dickhead I’d been.

“I don’t know, man. I love Viv. But I wondered if I was being selfish for thinking of me instead of Brooklyn.”

“Kane . . . you can be a great dad to her without being involved with her mom. People do it all the time.”

“I get that. I do. I was just eaten up with guilt over all of it. And Cori holds the fucking cards, man. I see Brook when she says I can. I can’t give that up. Cori didn’t want her meeting Viv.”

“Didn’t? So they met?”

My shoulders slumped forward in defeat. “Yeah. I brought Viv over there with me on Christmas to drop off Brook’s present. I wanted Cori to know I’m with Viv and that’s not changing.”

“And it didn’t go well.”

“Viv felt blindsided. Understandably.”

Jeff gave me an incredulous look. “You didn’t tell her about Cori coming on to you? And you just took her to Cori’s house?”

I scowled at him. “Yeah, asshole, that’s what I did. I didn’t want Viv worrying. But Cori was cold to her and she made me tell her everything on the way home.”

“Man, that really sucks.”

“Yeah, you think? I can’t think about anything else. Can’t sleep. All I do is call and text and wait and wonder when she’ll fucking talk to me.”

“Maybe she just needs some time.”

“It’s been two fucking weeks,” I said, my tone more like a growl. “Fuck this. I can’t take it. I’m in love with her. It’s like I’d never filled my lungs completely with air before her, and now I know how it feels to breathe deep. I don’t want to stop.”

Jeff was somber. “I’m sorry.”

“I know I was wrong. I know I fucked up. It was never that I wanted Cori. Never. I just wondered if I should be putting my daughter first. Giving her a chance at something she never had. But I can’t. It’s not . . . not even an option. Viv is my heart and soul.”

“Then don’t let her slip away.”

I got up, his words driving me into action. I had to see her. Maybe if she saw how fucking wrecked I was without her, she’d give me another chance.

I was desperate. I had to fill my lungs with her again. Whatever it took.

Viv

CARA’S SMILE WAS EVEN BRIGHTER than the giant engagement ring on her finger. I’d never seen her like this.

I still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock of her news. Marcus Anderson had proposed to her on New Year’s Eve, at Six. He was the mystery man she’d been seeing since the night I first brought her to the club. Funny how they worked at the same law firm but didn’t feel an attraction until that night. From what Cara had told me, a shared love of kinky sex was part of the draw.

It was nice to see my best friend so happy. I was already over the bridal magazines, but I hadn’t told her that yet. I wasn’t sure if I was legit over it or just bitter because I missed Kane so much.

The past two weeks had been so hard. Everywhere I turned I saw reminders of him. I still wore my ‘k’ necklace tucked beneath my shirt every day. Still reached to the other side of my bed in the morning expecting him to be there. Still read and re-read the texts he’d sent me.

But I didn’t respond. Sometimes I wrote out a reply but deleted it instead of sending it. Now I was the one all messed up inside. I loved him, but had a nagging sense that I should step aside and let him focus on Brooklyn.

Cara was sitting in my office talking about honeymoon destination ideas when Marcus opened the door to my office, knocking at the same time. His eyes warmed when he saw his fiancée.

“Dinner with Henley Cartwright at seven, Viv,” he said to me. “Don’t forget.”

I groaned and took out my planner. “I guess I forgot to write it down. Probably because I hate him. Are you sure I have to be there?”

“He specifically requested you be there. He actually said I don’t need to be.”

I rolled my eyes. “I refuse to go without you. I also refuse to listen to his lame attempts to get me in bed.”

“He’s hot, Viv,” Cara said. “He could be your rebound guy.”

“No.”

Marcus walked in and rested a hand on Cara’s shoulder. She gazed up at him adoringly. “I didn’t mean he’s hotter than you, baby. No man’s hotter than you.”

“I’ll go to dinner,” I said, eager to get one or both of them out of my office. “But Marcus, don’t ditch me with him.”

“Agreed.”

“Where’s dinner?”

“Six.”

I laughed. Then I laughed some more. “No. I won’t go there.”

“Come on, I got us a great table.”

I shook my head. “There’s no possible way I’m going there. At all.”

Cara looked up at Marcus. “That’s Kane’s club. The guy she was seeing until a couple weeks ago.”

Marcus’s eyes widened. “Matthew Kane? That’s who you were seeing?”

I glared at Cara. “Yes, and thanks for sharing that, Cara. Pick another restaurant or have a nice dinner without me.”

“You are the ballsiest junior attorney I’ve ever known,” Marcus said. “It’s almost impressive.”

I gave him a tight smile. “I guess you making me chase your playboy client all over the country and endure his vapid personality brought us closer together.”

“You win. We’ll go to the Chopping Block.” He had a hand on the back of Cara’s neck now, massaging her. “You’ll join us, right, babe? I don’t think we’re discussing the case. Just celebrating the disposition.”

“Sure.”

“I’ll meet you there,” I said, putting my reading glasses back on. “I need to finish a few things up first.”

They left and I rested my elbows on my desk, trying not to think about Kane. I didn’t really have anything to finish. I just couldn’t stand being around a happy couple right now. Not when the pain of losing Kane was still so fresh.

Kane

I heard her laugh.

That rich, throaty laugh that made me smile and get horny for her all at once. I’d missed that laugh so damn much.

“I do believe it, actually,” she said. “You seem just crazy enough to do it.”

“Crazy can be fun.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. It was a man’s voice. Viv had just gotten out of a cab near her apartment with another fucking man. From my spot on the side of her front stairs, up against a stone wall, they couldn’t see me. I couldn’t see them, either, but I could hear them.

“Don’t write me off, Miss Marceau,” the man said. “I know I test your patience, but there’s a lot to me you haven’t seen. The playboy reputation is more for show. I like being a one-woman man, if she’s as feisty and beautiful as you.”

My muscles tensed and I pressed a fist to my mouth, struggling to maintain control. I wanted to fly down to the sidewalk and kick this asshole into next week.

But I also wanted to know if she wanted him. Had she moved on from me already? Was I too late?

“Henley, thank you,” she said. “I’m flattered. But I’m . . . with someone.”

“Why the pause?”

“It’s complicated.”

He laughed. I could tell by the laugh the guy was a douchebag. It was girly. Fucker.

“Ah, complicated is never good. That usually means ‘I don’t know how to get myself out of this mess’.”