“Yes.” My tone is sour as I grab the popcorn bowl off the coffee table and start walking toward the kitchen. The week after Helena attacked me, the AXC legal team made quick work of tearing Cynthia’s lawsuit to shreds. Her claims of unfair compensation and breach of contract couldn’t hold up, considering she had no paperwork to substantiate a single one of her claims.
At first, she put up a fight, but when Wyatt personally threatened her with a countersuit for years of manipulating my career and pocketing earnings without consent, she backed off faster than a vegan at a steakhouse.
“She can’t seem to turn down any opportunity to exploit me. This must be the third talk-show she’s booked in the past two weeks. Plus, all the tabloid stories…”
“They’ll lose interest in her eventually,” Wyatt assures me. “Once the hype dies down.”
“You see that happening anytime soon?” I snort. “My life is a circus. I think us cancelling the rest of the press tour made them evenmorerabid for stories about me, not less.”
“Eventually, things will calm down. Don’t let it get to you, baby,” Wyatt advises, grabbing a handful of popcorn before I dump it into the sink.
“I’m not.” I sigh. “I just thought, if I stayed out of the public eye for a few weeks…”
His brows lift. “That your life would go back to how it was before all this? I’m sorry, baby, but that’s never going to happen. There’s no going back. This is the new normal.”
My lips twist in a scowl, but I don’t argue. I know he’s right. Setting the bowl on the counter, I spin around and catch sight of a tell-tale brown paper bag on the countertop.
“No!” I hiss, turning my glare on him “Not takeout again.”
“Baby, be reasonable.”
“I’vebeenreasonable for weeks. Now, I’m done being reasonable. I want to go out. I want to breathe fresh air and see people again.” I look up at him, pleading. “I love you. And I know you’re worried about me. But I’mfine. Helena is locked up in a psych ward. My cuts are healed. The baby is okay. We’re okay. You have to relax.”
His expression darkens as he pulls me into his arms. “I worry.”
“I know you do.”
“I think about what almost happened…”
“Don’t.” I squeeze him tighter. “Don’t think about the past. Think about all the exciting things in our future.”
Turning in his arms, I catch sight of the refrigerator. The sleek stainless steel is interrupted by a small black and white photograph, taped in the center. My latest sonogram.
“Come on.” Wyatt laces his hand through mine and leads me upstairs.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you out to dinner.”
“Really?” I squeak. “You mean it?”
He nods. “I want to protect you. I want to keep you safe. But that doesn’t mean I want you to feel trapped. I’ll never smother you, Katharine. If you say you’re fine, I believe you. If you want to go out, I’m not going to keep you prisoner against your will.”
Guilt washes over me.
I’m a bitch.
We’re halfway up the stairs when I tug him to a stop. He glances over his shoulder at me, brows raised.
“What?”
“Have I thanked you lately?” I ask, stepping up so we’re on the same level. “For everything you’ve done for me?”
“Baby…” He swallows, eyes dilating as they sweep over my face. He reads the desire in my eyes. “You don’t have to thank me.”
I slide my hands around his waist. “I do, though.” I press a kiss to his neck and he groans. “I do have to thank you. And you haven’t been letting me.”
“Katharine…”