Hearts on Fire 7: Claiming Catalina(17)
“The mechanic from Westfield where we grew up?”
He exhaled and ran his fingers through his blond, shaggy hair. Now with a closer look, she could see how he had aged some. Maybe being a medical doctor, a surgeon, or because of what her sister had put him through. He began to explain how he found out, how the baby had a medical condition that usually comes from the father and that he didn’t have it. No male in his family had it.
“There were little things she said, and then I was working a lot of hours and sometimes I would come home and find out that your grandmother had had the baby all weekend. Anyway, within a year, she came clean because we had blood work done, and, well, I had them do a paternity test. It was very clear I wasn’t the father. I confronted her on it, and she said she didn’t want to end up married to some blue-collar guy and struggle to make ends meet when her sister was going to marry a doctor and be rich and have everything.”
“That’s Kaylee. Forget about love, about caring for someone because it’s the right thing to do. She would always ask—”
“What’s in it for me?” he said the words, and she realized that he had suffered greatly. He had been fooled by Kaylee, roped into thinking he’d gotten her pregnant and that he’d done the right thing and married her and tried to raise a baby, only to find out she’d lied and it wasn’t his. How sad.
“You moved on with your life. You’re still in the medical field?” she asked.
“I work as a cardiologist at Hospital for Special Surgery. I love it. I’m busy all the time, and I have a great staff of nurses, although I always imagined I’d have you by my side helping.” He winked.
She smiled as she thought about those days and what they’d shared.
“Things change and happen for a reason, Paul.”
He reached up and cupped her cheek.
“Like seeing you here tonight after all these years. What we had was so special. If I could turn back the hands of time, Catalina, I would change that moment, that night I drank too much and fucked up. My God, you look so beautiful.”
She lowered her head. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. If they had met any time sooner, would she have forgiven him and tried to work things out this many years later? She knew the answer would be yes because she was feeling lonely and as if leaving Treasure Town was her only option. Then she’d met Jeremy and his brothers at the hospital, and she held on to the hope she would see them again, but they didn’t come back to ask her out. Time passed, and she thought maybe there was no man out there who could truly love her, be trustworthy, and put her first.
But she hadn’t met Paul like this earlier, weeks ago. Here he was now and at a time she was trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, if she could risk her heart on four men who were unstable in their careers, who wanted to share her, and who also would be split apart because Cody and Jeremy still lived in New York. How would it all work out?
This situation, this reminder of the pain, of not being able to keep Paul interested in only her, just made her wonder how she would keep four strikingly handsome men like Cooper, Cody, Don, and Jeremy happy. They weren’t even sure what they wanted to do with their lives and were in a transitional stage. They might have to give a long-distance relationship a try for a while. What if it didn’t work out? But she cared for them so much. She could see herself loving them if she could just let go of the fear from her past.
“Catalina?” he whispered. “It’s good we met tonight out of the blue.” He smiled.
“I think so, too.”
“Can I buy you a drink and we can talk some more?”
She heard her phone buzzing again and knew she had another text message.
“I don’t think so. I think seeing you, hearing what happened, puts a lot of things in perspective for me. I had a hard time all these years moving on, Paul, and trusting another man, but just recently I found myself in the kind of relationship where trust is earned and the connection is so strong that I feel I can take a chance. It was nice seeing you, though. I wish you all the best. I need to get back to my friends.”
She stared to turn away, and he grabbed her arm tightly, pulling her closer, catching her off–guard, making her collide against his chest. It was so fast, so unexpected as he reached under her hair and neck, pulled her roughly to him, and kissed her. He plunged his tongue in deep and ran his hands along her ass, squeezing her to him, and she struggled to get free. She pinched his side, making him release her lips, and then pushed him away.
He grabbed her arm and tried pulling her down the dock toward the boats. She planted her heels, but the sandals slid along the wood.
“Catalina, stay. Come back to my boat with me. We’ll talk some more. Have a good time.” He pulled her close and started to rub along her back. She was pressed up against his chest.
“Let go of me, Paul. Nothing is ever going to happen between us. Let it go.”
He shook his head and suddenly looked so different, so angry, and bad thoughts went through her mind. He wasn’t the same young man in college she had fallen in love with.
“Don’t do this, Paul. We can end this on a friendly, civilized level, or it can end badly.”
He pressed his mouth to her neck and ear. He held her so tightly she couldn’t move or breathe. She pressed her hands against him, trying to push him away. Then she felt his heavy breathing against her ear and neck.
“You were a way better fuck than your sister. I bet you’re even better now.”
“Catalina, what’s going on?” Shayla asked as she, Destiny, and MaryAnn approached. Catalina was so relieved to see her friends and so angry at his words. He pulled slightly back at the unexpected interruption, and Catalina made her move.
“Let go of me, you piece of crap.” She pushed away, and he gripped her wrist tightly.
“Come with me now,” he demanded, pulling her along the dock, and she heard her friends yelling for him to let go of her.
Catalina made a fist as anger filled her belly, and she decked him right in the nose. Blood splattered, hitting her dress, causing a scene as her friends gasped, and then Paul carried on, calling her names and saying she was a whore like her sister.
“Let’s go,” Catalina said and then held her hand to her chest as Paul’s friends came to his aid. He pushed them off and carried on about needing ice. She went right to the bar with her friends.
“I think that calls for some shots,” she said, and the girls bombarded her with questions as the bartender got her ice and Destiny’s friends who worked there kicked Paul and his crew of friends out.
She was so angry she saw red as she tried to calm her breathing. She’d fallen for his charms, his sad story, and then he tried to talk her into going to his boat. Like she would just forget all the pain and betrayal she’d felt and let him fuck her on a boat? Asshole.
She was carrying on in her head and then filling her friends in on the entire story.
“Here, take the shot,” Destiny said. “There’s more lined up. That shit calls for a celebration. You’ve moved on and have four men that adore you. Forget about Paul, your sister, and all that drama. You’re living in Treasure Town. Life is going to be perfect from here on out.”
She and Destiny clinked the shots together and drank them down fast. Then she looked at her hand and felt it throbbing. It was already bruising and ached, but she felt good, empowered, and as if there was a clean slate. What happened in the past was in the past. Cody, Cooper, Jeremy, and Don were her future, and nothing would stand in the way.
* * * *
Clover watched the blonde. She was a very attractive woman and apparently was romantically involved with Agent Jones and his brothers. She handled herself well against the blond man. It was obvious that they knew one another, but things had turned ugly fast. Her quick reflexes and right hook warned Clover to not underestimate her if his boss chose to go after her to get to Jeremy Jones. He was going to make the call soon. The choice of who got hurt, who lived, and who died would be in Jeremy’s hands. Frederick Price was smart, and he wanted revenge and would get it. Clover just needed to wait to see what exactly his boss had in mind.
He walked out of the yacht club and headed to his car when his cell phone rang.
“Hello.”
“I’ve got another agent you can use to get those names we need, but you need to move quickly,” Frederick told him.
“What about Agent Jones?”
“Him I want to suffer. I want to hit him where it hurts and watch him beg for mercy. He’ll pay the ultimate price for destroying our operation. Everyone else has moved on, but not me. It ends with me and Agent Jones. I’ll send you the address and information.”
He disconnected the call and Clover waited for the text. When he got it, he smiled. Looked like he was heading to New York to kill some agents.
* * * *
Catalina went jogging in the morning, even though she felt terrible. She wasn’t hung-over, but she had drunk a lot and her hand was all bruised from decking Paul. She worried about telling the guys what had happened, but as she’d bumped into Bull on her way back from the boardwalk, it appeared that word spread quickly about the incident.
Apparently when Destiny’s cousins and the owners of the yacht club wanted them thrown out, Paul’s snobby friends called the police and complained, then tried to act as if they would press charges, but they got Jake on the phone, and he had already heard from Michaela about what happened from Serefina, who heard from Eddie and Lance Martelli, who knew the bartender’s brother Al who worked at Sullivan’s. Treasure Town was indeed a small town, and so was Fairway right next door.