Cat POV"You're joking, right?" I asked. Luke shrugged. "No, not really.""Well, you can't be serious. That would be… I'm not even invited!" I said, throwing my arms out to the sides. "Cat, what better way to stick it to Aaron than show him that you're happy and moving on?" Luke asked, grinning a challenge at me. "But… I… but Victoria will be there, too. She's Fiona's friend, and she's still your pretend girlfriend," I argued when I realized Luke was serious. I couldn't believe that he had suggested it. Go to Aaron's wedding? Though, there was some logic in his suggestion. "It would be inappropriate. I'm Aaron's ex. I don't belong there. Besides, we both know Victoria will be there, and you haven't told her the ruse is over," I said. "This storm is a big setback on the project. I'll have plenty of time to repair things with Victoria's father on the land sale, with or without her blessing. There's no need to continue that façade." Luke took my hand and brushed h
Cat POVKnock. Knock. Knock!I sat bolt upright. I didn't know I had fallen asleep until a furious knocking on my cabin door jolted me awake. Grunting, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. After leaving Luke, I'd taken a long bath. I realized I was still in my bathrobe. I hadn't even gotten into pajamas before passing out. "I'll be right there," I called to whoever was knocking. There wasn't any time to change. The knocking was more and more insistent. When I opened the door, three women walked right in. Between them, they rolled a dress rack stuffed full of hangers and nice dresses. Another set of women came in carrying shoe boxes. "Um… what is all this?" I asked, jumping out of the way to avoid getting run over by the dress cart. "Oh good, you're already in a robe. That will make trying on dresses easier," the first woman to enter my cabin said. "Trying on dresses?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, yes. We are from the boutique at the resort." She stepped
Luke POVThe wedding ceremony seemed like it had taken forever. I'd sat near the back, alone, watching my younger sister get married. She had been glowing and smiling, but when I'd looked at Aaron, it seemed like he wasn't thrilled. After they'd said their vows and kissed, all the guests moved to the garden for the reception. I was still bummed that Cat had decided not to come with me. If she'd been there, I was sure we'd have a way to make it all entertaining. I stood with a small group of investors that had been invited as a courtesy. I'd hoped that by inviting them, they would give me their investment money. A limo pulled up outside the garden. I'd only half been paying attention to the conversation my investors were having, so I was happy for the slight distraction. As far as I knew, all the guests had arrived. At least, the ones my family deemed as important. Who would be arriving late in a limo? It was enough to get my attention. The driver opened the back doo
Cat POVI had to go into the resort to find the bathroom. When I pushed the bathroom door open, someone grabbed me and pulled me into a nearby closet. "H-hey!" I snapped, pushing at the person that grabbed me. "Cat, it's just me, calm down," Aaron's voice said through the dim lighting. "What!?" I cried. I reached around and found a light switch, flipping it on. Aaron and were pressed together in the small closet, only about a foot between us. He was looking down, his eyes sunken in. He had his hands stuffed into his pockets like he wanted to show me that he wouldn't touch me again. "What is this about, Aaron?" I snapped. I pushed at his chest again, making him step further away from me. "I wanted to talk to you. When I saw you in that dress… well, I remembered all the reasons I fell in love with you, why I still love you," Aaron said. I groaned and rolled my eyes. This couldn't be happening! Aaron had just said his wedding vows. Did he think I would fall for thi
Cat POVA limo pulled up beside me, and Luke opened one of the back doors from the inside. He motioned to me, and I slid into the limo beside him. "We can go back to the villa if you'd like," he said, pulling the door closed. "Yes, please," I said, nodding. Luke gave the instructions to the driver and then leaned back in the seat. He slung an arm over my shoulders, and I leaned against him. I didn't know how this suddenly became the norm, but I was loving every second of it. "I was right about this not being such a good idea," I said, sighing. "Why would you think that?" Luke asked, turning his head to me. I kept my eyes on the partition between us and the driver. I'd told Luke I'd had a run-in with Aaron and Fiona, but it was a lot more than that. "Aaron was being a complete ass," I said, twiddling my thumbs. "Yes, you mentioned that he and my sister were fighting because he'd tried to get you back." "Aaron took me aside, pulling me into a closet.... He sa
Cat POVWhen I woke up, I found my cheek pressed to Luke's chest and his arm firmly around my shoulders. I sighed and threw my arm and leg over him, not ready to leave the comfort of his embrace. Luke smirked, his eyes closed, and tightened his arm around me"Did I wake you?" I asked, apologetically. "No. I've been listening to you breathe and thinking of how to prolong this moment," Luke admitted. My cheeks heated, and I buried my face in his chest. I kept my eyes closed, and Luke and I both pretended to be asleep for a little longer. Like him, I didn't want to leave the moment. Eventually, we couldn't pretend to be asleep anymore, especially when I had to get up and use the bathroom. When I came back to the bedroom, Luke was still lounging naked in bed. He had his phone out, and I suspected, was looking over his emails and messages. I slid back on the bed, and he put his arm around me, still squinting at the phone screen. "Is it going to be a busy day?" I
Cat POVOur time in the Caribbean wrapped up faster than I wanted it to. In just a few days, we were able to set the groundwork for the project, talk to potential contractors, and move along with the negotiations for the tract of land. I didn't meddle with that; anything to do with Victoria was on Luke. We went back to the city, and I returned to work at the office. Luke and I thought we could keep things professional, but it wasn't proving to be easy. During a morning briefing, Luke sat at the head of a conference table. The rest of the department heads, including me, sat around the table listening to a presentation by a bridge engineer about a potential new market. Luke's firm primarily dealt in real estate, but building bridges was a very lucrative business he was considering expanding into. During the presentation, I was taking notes when I felt a prickle down my spine. Glancing up, I saw Luke staring at me with deep, smoldering eyes. My cheeks flushed, and I lo
Cat POVI'd agreed to go to Luke's grandfather's house with him, but I hadn't realized it was in France. We packed our bags and headed off across the Atlantic in Luke's private jet. The house was in the countryside on a massive vineyard. We got a good look at it as the plane descended. It was so large and old it was basically a French castle, with the vineyard still fully operational. There was even a private airstrip on the giant estate. After Luke's jet landed, a car was waiting to drive us from the airstrip back to the mansion. "This is one of the longest-running vineyards in Europe," Luke muttered to me as we drove through the rows of grape vines. "And perhaps the only place I ever felt a little at home." Workers in big straw hats with satchels were busy harvesting grapes. "Hand harvesting?" I asked, squeezing his hands. "My grandfather says it is the only way to properly harvest wine grapes. He's been in the business for his entire life, just like his father.
Luke POVRunning out on my own wedding had been the best decision I'd ever made. Almost two years later, I still didn't regret that decision. "Up, up," a soft voice cooed to me. I pulled my eyes from the gorgeous Caribbean sky and bent down, scooping my beautiful daughter into my arms. Arianne had been a surprise, but a very welcome surprise. Cat had always been the embodiment of home and family for me. When she told me she was pregnant, that feeling had finally become completely real. We were going to be a real family, and now, we were. I balanced Arianne on my hip and blew a raspberry on her cheek. She giggled and squirmed in my arms. "No. No." she laughed, pushing at me. "Let's get home. I'm sure your mom is waiting for us," I said. I walked along the rocky embankment we'd been playing on and headed back home. Since the Caribbean project had taken up so much of our time, Cat and I decided to move down here. It allowed us to be closer to the project an
Cat POV"I've got to go," I cried, rushing to the hotel room door. "The ceremony is in the penthouse," Alistair called after me. "Top floor!""Thank you!" I shouted back, not stopping to look back or wave at him. There was a moment when I wondered if his slow movements earlier had been to wait until this moment when the ceremony was starting. It made for a more dramatic entrance. I didn't have time to think of it beyond that, though. At the elevator, I hammered the "up button" over and over again. "Come on, come on you stupid piece of sh*t," I groaned. The elevator never came. Groaning, I ran to the stairs. I had to run up almost ten flights, but I was determined to stop Luke from making the biggest mistake of his life. He couldn't marry Victoria until he knew the truth. Even if we didn't get back together…My pulse pounded in my head, and my calves ached as I ran up flight after flight of stairs. By the time I made it to the penthouse, my legs felt like j
Cat POV"Do you really think that I am the right person for Luke?" I asked slowly. "Why would you think you aren't?" Alistair countered. "I come from a different world. My family, my history, it is all different from his. We don't… mesh," I argued. Alistair snorted and shook his head. "There is no doubt in my mind, Catherine, that you are the one for Luke.""You can call me Cat," I muttered, looking down again. I thought about everything Alistair had said, how Luke had reacted when Victoria had tried to turn him against me, and how he'd taken off without telling his family. Devastated, I grabbed my chest and groaned, leaning forward against the table. Everything Alistair said made me realize I'd walked out on Luke when he needed me. I'd abandoned him after all he'd done for me. If he went ahead and married Victoria, it would be no more than I deserved after what I'd done. I knew there was a chance he would end up hating me. That was a price I'd been willing to
Cat POV"I… that… does it matter?" I asked, unable to say anything else. What did it matter how I felt, now?"When Luke and I spoke in France, he talked about you more than anything else," Alistair explained. "We had some good times together, but it wasn't meant to last," I said, shaking my head. "And why do you think that?" he asked back. "Luke and I are the closest members of the family. He tells me everything, and I know him very well.""He told me the two of you were very close as well," I agreed with a nod. Alistair sighed and sat at the head of the table like he was a CEO about to lead a very important conference. He lay his palms flat on the table. "Then believe me when I tell you that he was happier talking about you than anything else. Happier than I'd ever seen him," Alistair said, fixing me with a challenging look. It was like he was daring me to argue with him. "It doesn't matter, we aren't meant to be together," I said, shaking my head. "If that wer
Cat POVMy heart felt like it was cracking open, a fragile egg being smashed to pieces. I glanced at the article my coworker had shown me again, my chest aching and my stomach trembling. Victoria was right all along. As soon as I was out of the picture, he ran right back to her, and now they were getting married. It seemed like Luke had never loved me at all. Sighing, I folded the pages over so I didn't have to look at the article anymore. With one final heave, I got up and went back to the sink. Quickly, I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I touched up my makeup again and double-checked my clothes. As much as I wanted, I couldn't hide in the bathroom all day. My coworkers didn't know anything about my past, and I didn't want to have them ask me all kinds of questions. Not to mention, I had to make a good impression on them if I was going to be working there long-term as I wanted. With one final look in the mirror, I nodded to myself. If I could just make it thro
Cat POVBefore Luke returned, I went to his place and cleaned out my things. Then I went home to live with my mom. It didn't take me long to get a job at a small, local firm. They designed office spaces. It wasn't the most interesting job, and I certainly wasn't flying all over the world for it, but it paid me enough to take care of things around my mom's house and lessen the financial burden on her. It had been almost a month and a half since I'd been home. She was mostly happy to have me there, but she did like to hit me with condescending remarks now and then. It was tense most of the time. At least the dude she was seeing seemed to have backed off for good ever since I returned. "Honey, you look pale," my mom said when I came down for breakfast. "I'm fine. Just a little tired," I said. I waved her off and went to the coffeepot. My mom only kept decaf in the house. It was horrible, but at least it made me feel like I was getting a morning jolt of coffee. "Are
Cat POV"You see, you could never understand Luke. He is way out of your league. I'm the only one that ever truly understood him," Victoria continued. I was only half listening. I had my phone out, and I searched for the Pink Slip. It was supposedly a cabaret, though everything about it screamed it was something more. Tons of pictures came up online, including one that looked identical to the door Luke had walked through on the video Victoria had. In the picture, it showed the sign above the door, a pink flashing sign that read "Pink Slip" with a cute, light up, neon, pink dress next to it. My heart sank like a rock, and I gasped for breath. Luke had been to a brothel while we'd been together? While we were living together!?"I'm the only person that has ever understood him. The only one that can make him happy. So, if you care about him at all, leave. And he will come back to me like he is supposed to," she said. Without turning back to Victoria, I left the library,
Cat POVI had no idea when Victoria had showed up. Luke's cousins had asked about her, so it made sense that she was there. Sort of. It wasn't like it was her grandfather who was dying. "What are you doing here?" I asked again as she closed the library door. "I told you, we need to have a chat," she said. She pulled out her phone and a thick file folder and set them on a table. She sat down and lifted her feet, resting her ankles on the table. "You might want to sit down for this," she said, motioning to the chair across from her. "No, I'll stand," I said, crossing my arms and glaring at her. "Have it your way."Victoria opened the file folder and pulled out a stack of papers. I saw Luke's company log watermarked on the page, and at the top of the page in bold lettering was the lot number of the land he'd just purchased from Victoria's father in the Caribbean. "I'm sure you know that until everything is signed for and watertight, I can still convince my fath
Cat POVI'd agreed to go to Luke's grandfather's house with him, but I hadn't realized it was in France. We packed our bags and headed off across the Atlantic in Luke's private jet. The house was in the countryside on a massive vineyard. We got a good look at it as the plane descended. It was so large and old it was basically a French castle, with the vineyard still fully operational. There was even a private airstrip on the giant estate. After Luke's jet landed, a car was waiting to drive us from the airstrip back to the mansion. "This is one of the longest-running vineyards in Europe," Luke muttered to me as we drove through the rows of grape vines. "And perhaps the only place I ever felt a little at home." Workers in big straw hats with satchels were busy harvesting grapes. "Hand harvesting?" I asked, squeezing his hands. "My grandfather says it is the only way to properly harvest wine grapes. He's been in the business for his entire life, just like his father.