Knight: Over The Edge Part 20

I'm lifted off the seat, and he plants a kiss on me that curls my toes. He sits down with me on his lap. This isn't awkward at all. A grown a.s.s woman sitting on a man's lap in public. Several woman swoon with Cole's gesture. Rocco rolls his eyes.

"There's a perfectly good chair over there."

I motion toward the empty chair at our table.

"I like my seat" he says with mirth. "And I especially like what's in my lap."

His eyebrows wiggle at me. My eyes roll into the back of my head. Cheeseball!

"You're lucky I like you."

"Oh you more than like me, but that's okay... I love you."

I may have swooned then. Cole admitting he loved me in front of Rocco was a big deal.

Cough Cough "Did I just hear you right boss?"

I chuckle at Rocco calling Cole boss. It's hard for me to think of Cole as "boss" He is and will always just be Cole to me. The man I love with every fiber of my being.

"Yes, you did. I love Katarina Roberts and this time I want the world to know just what she means to me. I was a f.u.c.king idiot letting her walk away five years ago."

I melt into his body at his words. My head turns toward his face.

"I love you too."

"Oh G.o.d, I'm going to throw up," Rocco says scooting back and exiting his chair. "I'm going to go stand over there, he motions to a smoking area."

"Kitten, I mean every word I say. I love you and I'm not making the same mistakes I did years ago."

His arm encircling my waist squeezes a bit tighter.

"I want you to be my one and only. I want us to be able to date, get married have kids and grow old together one day."

"Um Cole..."

"Not right away. We have time."

"That's great seeing I haven't been back a week. I still have an apartment out west that'll have to be packed up and moved. Not to mention aren't you moving a tad fast?"

"As long as you agree to only be with me from here forward... the rest is details."

I smile at Cole who is looking at me so adoringly that I couldn't say no if I wanted too.

"I guess I can be your girlfriend."

I tell him with a small nudge into his shoulder with mine. A huge grin covering my face. The heat crawling up my face is a sure indicator that my cheeks are tinted pinks as well.

"I'm glad you see things my way. It makes it so much easier for us."

"Jerkface, way to ruin a moment."

My body shakes as I chuckle.

"Love ya fatty."

I bust out laughing at his words. The last thing I am is fat.

We make our way over to the smoking area with Rocco. Cole lights up a cigarette and we continue talking this time he asks about Drew's condition and I tell him about Gracie's home life.

"I had no idea of her situation. Why didn't Drew say something?"

My guess is she hasn't given him full disclosure on how tough it is for her at home.

"I know in her shoes I'd be afraid to tell a guy how rough I have it at home. Trying to help my mom raise my younger siblings. "

"You plan to keep working for us?"

"Well duh! I didn't get a college degree for nothing."

I smirk at my boyfriend. A little flutter happens in my chest thinking about him as my boyfriend again.

"Fine, hire her to be your personal a.s.sistant. Y'all can work out of the east side office with me."

"Are you sure you want us working together Cole?"

"I want you as close as possible at all times."

He grins at me.

"I'll send a text to my secretary to begin setting up an office and reception area for you. I have a feeling Dad is going to use you more now that your home."

"s.h.i.+t, I got to tell everyone I'm staying don't I?"

There is laughter from the guys as they watch my face.

Justin is going to give me a hard time. Julie, Bruce, and Seth will be ecstatic. Trish and I will end up at blows with one another. I wasn't staying at Bruce's long, not with Trish around.

"I'm going to need an apartment."

"What's wrong with the family home? Dad would let us have the second floor suite."

"That's not the problem. The problem is your b.i.t.c.h of a stepmother. I'll kill her."

"It'll be fine. Do you remember the family suite?"

I shake my head up and down.

The first time Julie showed me the suite in the family home comes to mind. You open beautiful ornate double doors into a living room with a kitchenette to one side. The living area held an overstuffed beige chair and couch. The kitchenette was small, but had a full size stove and fridge. A four seater pine table sits on the tiled floor. There is also a half bath off the living room. Another set of double doors on the far wall lead into a luxurious bedroom with a huge King size bed. There are French doors leading to a private balcony with stairs to the backyard and pool. A beautiful marble bathroom with a walk in shower and huge Jacuzzi tub are also a part of the suite. The suite is much like a one bedroom apartment within the house.

I remember the room Cole is talking about well. I thought it was a beautiful suite. I could actually picture it becoming Cole's and mine little haven in the Knight mansion.

"I can't believe I'm actually thinking of living with you in that suite" I say half joking.

"I can't believe how sickening you two are back together."

Rocco says while looking back and forth between us.

"Y'all need to fight... be normal."

"I'm sure we'll have more than our share of fights. Don't you remember last night?"

We share a laugh remembering Cole toting me up the stairs after I punched him.

The guys finish their smokes and we make our way back into the hospital. Bruce had Drew moved into a private hospital suite as soon as it was allowed medically. It reminded me of the time Julie was in the hospital after being kidnapped. Rocco takes up his post outside in the hallway.

Cole and I knock before walking back into the room. Gracie is fussing around my brother. He is scowling, but not saying a word. My brother and I are not use to warm and fuzzy. I understood his pain with someone being that way with him.

"Hey guys."

Gracie greets us.

"Hey, what's going on?"

I ask trying to fight back laughter.

"Your brother was complaining, so I'm just making him comfortable."

Cole wants to talk to Drew some about family business, so it's the perfect time to talk to Gracie about the job offer I have for her.

"Hey Gracie, can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Drew gives me an evil look and I discreetly signal its all-good nothing for him to worry about.

"Sure."

I pull us into the kitchenette in the room.

"So I was talking to Cole before we came up to the room. It looks like I'm going to be moving my office to Belmont permanently, so I'm going to be in need of a personal a.s.sistant I can trust. Would you be interested?"

Tears fill her eyes, her head begins shaking yes before her mouth ever utters a sound.

"Yes! oh thank you... A Monday thru Friday job with normal hours, benefits and I'm sure better pay then tips. h.e.l.l yes."

"Great. Cole said it'll take about a week to get the office set up for me. Plus I have to get all my stuff on the West coast packed up and s.h.i.+pped here, but tell the diner to shove it. Starting today you'll earn a paycheck from me."

"I can't take a paycheck if I'm not doing work yet."

"Oh honey, you'll be working these next couple of weeks. Helping me move, helping get the office set up, not to mention taking care of grumpy bear in there."

I motion toward where my brother lies in the bed.

Gracie's arms come around me in a huge hug.

"Thank You Kat. You won't regret this."

I smile. Oh I might, but not because she won't be a good employee. It just means my brother's ugly face will be around my office a lot.

Chapter 20.

Three weeks later...

Drew was released from the hospital last week. Bruce had a state of the art hospital and recovery room waiting on the first floor of the mansion. There was a nurse on duty twenty-four seven and all Physical and Occupational therapy was done in the home. Bruce spared no expense when it came to Drew's recovery. Drew was an eager patient. He was determined he was going to be a part of the takedown on Martin.

The day after I hired Gracie I put her to work right away. Her first job was to coordinate with my a.s.sistant back in California to start packing up my office and apartment. It took the two women about week to get it all coordinated and ready. I flew out to California with Luke and Cole for three days. I oversaw the loading of my belongings on to a moving truck, and while it began its week long journey across country, we hopped a plane back to Belmont.

Before going out to California, Gracie and I met at the East side office and were shown the area that would be our new offices. We made several notes of changes and I tasked Gracie with hiring the decorator and making sure that changes began immediately. By the time I arrived home from Cali, the office was almost ready for us to move in.

The truck finally arrived with my belongings and Cole immediately told the movers to take everything to the suite. Anything marked for the office was then sent over with a couple guys to be sorted through when I went to work the following week. Cole was determined we were going to live together in the suite.

"Kat. You get to move into the suite?" Seth asks as we watch the movers bring in box after box.

"Yea, Cole wants us to live there together."

"Is that a good idea? You two fight a lot?"

I sigh.

"Seth baby, your brother and I... We love each other. We just are a lot alike and it makes us argue more that's all."

"If you say so, but he makes you mad a lot."

"We make each other mad a lot. That's going to never stop. We're too much alike."

I can tell Seth is still not fully grasping the way Cole and I work, but he will as he matures.

For a few days after the arrival of my belongings, I am confined to the mansion. I am directing the maids on where to put my clothing and toiletries. I am making a pile of things I didn't know what to do with except put them in storage. It took roughly two days to have everything unpacked and in its new home. It is nice having my own clothes, jewelry, shoes, and even shampoo again. The suite is home to me now.

I just hoped that in the end I didn't regret giving my heart to Cole so easily. There is a part of me who knows he and I still need to talk a little about the change in him since I have been gone.

I heard some of the guys talking one night in the family room, and Knight's Castle was mentioned a lot in the conversation. It didn't take me long to figure out Knight's Castle was an exclusive s.e.x club the guys all visited. It didn't surprise me that Bruce would have money invested in a club like that. He would invest in anything as long as it made him money. The conversation I overheard told me a lot, but it didn't give me the whole picture. Cole had been a frequent partic.i.p.ant at Knight's Castle until I came back to Belmont a month ago.

A commotion outside my office door gets my attention, bringing me back to the present. I walk out to Gracie's desk. She and I have been at the office setting up for me to take over bookkeeping for Bruce. Gracie and I have been having fun working together the last couple of weeks.