Savage Hearts (5 page)

Something in her voice had changed.

Something was…

Different.

She stood a little taller. Chin up, shoulders back, eyes flashing. Yet still he could see glimpses of the a spses ofwoman who’d clung to him outside,
who
’d instinctively run and then decided to brave through anyway, who’d talked to him about abuse and BDSM, who so clearly had a past she wanted to hide. He wanted to know more about that woman, too, not just the one who was about to kick legal ass.

Damn.
She
really was
all kinds of trouble
. The truth was that he hadn’t felt anything like this since…

Well, since Julia.

That
was dangerous thinking right there. And besides, it was different. He knew that, watching her lead him up to the lounge, taking those long strides, letting her heels strike the floor hard in that warlike rhythm. Yeah, she was the most interesting woman he’d met in a long time. Maybe it felt different because he was older now and he could appreciate it.

That instant connection.

That instant
want
.

He knew if he touched her again they’d both lose it. Weird way to think about your lawyer, but Ford had insisted there was no one better. Come to think of it, Soren had been expecting someone much older. Everything he knew about big-time lawyers came from his stepfather: old, male, usually drunk, always douchebags. How good did she have to be to rise to the level of partner at her age in an old boys’ club?

If only she wasn’t a newbie. Goddamn. If he thought he could have her without her getting attached…

And the worst part was he knew he could help her through that fear. He knew it too damn well.

“Soren?”

He looked up. Ford was watching him. Cate was watching him. They’d been sitting in Ford’s office for at least five minutes. Soren had no idea what they’d been talking about. He’d been looking at the curve of her thigh as she crossed one leg over the other.

“What?” Soren said, irritated.

“I asked if you wanted to give Cate a rundown of the situation.”

“The situation is bullshit,” Soren said.

Ford glared at him. “No, it’s a problem. Cate, you’re aware of the book
Savage Hearts?
”

“The tell-all about the band? I haven’t read it yet, but I gather it’s a source of controversy,” she said dryly.

“It’s not Molly’s fault,” Soren said. This still pissed him off. Molly Ward was the woman who’d been picked to write the stupid thing, which was how she’d come into Declan’s life in the first place, and she’d only done her job. The reason Soren came off as a womanizing piece of crap was because he’d behaved like a womanizing piece of crap during the events of the book—his behontok—hiavior had resulted in one woman’s overdose, his best friend Declan’s freak out, and, because Declan was the lead singer of Savage Heart, the temporary break-up of the band.

It wasn’t Molly’s fault that Soren refused to sit for any interviews or allow her to use any of the stuff she’d found out about Soren’s life. Declan and Molly had begged him, but Soren hadn’t seen the point of hurting more people just to make
himself
look like a little bit less of a jerk. Having the band back together and having Declan back in his life was good enough. Double bonus points that Declan had found Molly in the process.

“Who’s Molly?” Cate asked.

“She’s family. She wrote the truth, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, the truth has inspired some past conquests to come out of the woodwork,” Ford said. “He was served already.
Outside of Volare.
Sexual harassment.”

Cate looked at them both. “That’s it?”

“You
ever been
sued for being a bad person?” Soren asked. “That’s enough, trust me.”

Cate smiled. “No offense, but this would be punching below my weight. You don’t need me for this.”

“They’ve retained Josephs & Cheedham,” Ford said.

Cate sighed. “I see.”

Given his family history, Soren was not a huge fan of lawyers. He especially didn’t like it when they seemed to be speaking another language. He
especially
didn’t like it when they were speaking in another language about him.

“Anyone going to clarify how, specifically, I’m screwed here?” he said.

“I know Mark Cheedham,” Cate said. “He only gets involved if he thinks there’s going to be a huge payday. I mean
huge
. I’d bet he has more than one woman willing to sue, and he’s sitting on something. This is just his opening gambit. He won’t win any ethics awards anytime soon, and he loves to play the press. I’m usually competing for cases with him, so this is…”

Cate trailed off, her voice falling. For a moment she looked very far away, very small, the way she had outside when she’d been hiding from that douchebag Patrick Cross. Soren’s Dom sense went nuts.

He could actually see the moment when Cate figured something out.

Dammit, he wanted to know what it was.

“This is surprising,” she finally said. She
recrossed
her legs, which was distracting enough that Soren almost missed the little furrow in her brow.

Almost.

“So?” Soren asked.

Soren couldn’t argue with that, although not in the way she meant. Every second spent in her presence was winding him tighter and tighter. He wasn’t like this. People didn’t get under his skin like this. Wanting a woman was one thing, but wanting to figure her out, to turn her inside out and right side up and
know
more…

“Soren, look at me,” she said.

That
got his attention. Mimicking his tone from earlier, telling her to look at him.
Deliberately provocative.

He let his gaze wander over her face until he caught her eyes. Whatever this was, it was important.

“Did you do it?”

“No.”

“You’re sure? You don’t even know what you’ll be accused of by the end.”

Soren leaned forward in his chair. “I have never harassed a woman in my life. I’m a Dom, for fuck’s sake, I get consent. Always.”

Cate didn’t bat an eyelash.

“What am I going to find out?” she said.

“You’re going to find out that I’ve fucked a lot of women,” he said, watching for her reaction carefully. “You’re going to find out that I’ve dominated a lot of women. And you’re going to find out that they all enjoyed it.”

Cate cracked a smile. “Probably I’ll rephrase that for the press. Any committed relationships I can point to? Even from the past? Someone who will come to your defense?”

Soren gritted his teeth.

“No.”

She raised an eyebrow. “None?”

“I don’t do relationships. I do honesty.”

Cate uncrossed and
recrossed
her legs again, taking Soren’s gaze with her.
God damn
.

“That’s a good line,” she said. “I might steal it.”

Maybe it was because of those legs that Soren took a second to process what she said. When he did, he could swear he actually heard the world crack in two. In one half, he’d misunderstood her, and nothing had changed. In the other half, Cate had just announced that she didn’t do romantic attachments. And in that version of the world, he’d have her.

“What?” he demanded.

She raised an eyebrow. “I said I like that. Honestysizhat. Ho. I think I’d rather have honesty.”

“You’re saying you don’t do committed relationships or monogamy or whatever the hell people are calling it now?”

“Yes,” she said, amused. “‘Whatever people are calling it now.’”

“You don’t seem like the type,” he said.

That earned him a withering look. Fair enough. He just needed to be completely sure.

“Live and learn,” Cate said.

Soren stared at her. She was serious.

“Well,” Ford said, clearing his throat. “We should schedule a meeting for—”

“No,” Soren said. He kept his eyes locked on Cate. “She’s fired.”

Cate froze. It was like when she used to go running in the winter back when she lived on the East Coast, and she’d take off her sweatshirt and feel both hot and freezing at the same time; her rampant insecurities were running headlong into her badass professional persona, and it was confusing as hell. Public Cate and Private Cate did not mix at all.

Had Soren Andersson really just
fired
her?

Normally, there wouldn’t be a conflict in a ridiculous situation like this. Normally, her professional persona would take over and she’d just wipe the rhetorical floor with him. But this was the man she’d just revealed herself to. This was the gorgeous stranger who actually knew something about her.

It felt like the bitterest rejection, and that in turn felt pathetic. It was infuriating.

“Excuse me?” she said.

“Soren, what the hell is wrong with you?” Ford exploded. “Cate is one of the best litigators in the entire
country
. They see her on the other side of the table and you will actually have a chance. We are unbelievably lucky that she’s even in this room right now, and you—”

“Not her,” Soren said again. He was still staring at her. “Not you, Cate.”

“I hadn’t yet agreed to represent you,” she said. She sounded almost detached, which as weird, because she was feeling anything but. “You can’t fire me. And you are unbelievably stupid in addition to being unbelievably lucky.”

In a professional sense, it was true. Intellectually, Cate knew she was a star, and had been ever since her first big judgment against one of the corrupt energy companies, right after she passed the bar. It was a case no one else would take on, and she’d won it all on hert h own against impossible odds, working late nights pro bono, living on ramen and her youthful ability to pull all-nighters. Frankly, it was a Hail Mary miracle shot in a million, but she’d done it. After that she’d had her pick of job offers, eventually accepting a partnership at a firm that would let her grow her own boutique business. She didn’t need this particular case. It would get her more press just because of Soren’s fame, but she could do without it. In a strictly professional sense, this was a walk.

In a personal sense, it hurt way too much to be healthy.

Not to mention there was the involvement of Mark Cheedham, and the fact that she’d seen Patrick Cross lurking around Club Volare. Both men were connected to her ex-husband. Patrick she’d believed to be just a coincidence, and it had spooked her.
But Mark?
Jason had been angling for a job with Mark Cheedham ever since Jason had been culled as an associate from one of the big firms over a year ago, and Patrick owed Jason one too many favors.

Patrick Cross’s presence at Volare didn’t look like a coincidence anymore.

That should have frightened her even more. And it did; there was definitely a core of fear. But Cate was getting angrier and angrier every time Jason did something to scare her, and she was just tired of it. The legal arena was the one place where she didn’t feel like Jason had the upper hand.