My Lustful CEO

Chapter 12

Kris POV

I will say that I am surprised that Kane has agreed to my terms so freely. Usually people get pretty upset about my rules because they have secrets that they don't want to share with me, which I can understand.

"I already told you about Lilliana and the schools. She has petitioned for more visitations and we should see that clear by the beginning of next week. Mateo is our PR guy and he has been able to stall the major media outlets to not run the story until 2 PM tomorrow in exchange for your side of the story."

"Tomorrow?" Hunter freaks out and looks over at Kane to see his thoughts, but he is utterly unreadable at this point. Does he always do that or am I losing my touch? That's going to be frustrating.

"Yes. Tomorrow. This means we need to prep you for the interview tomorrow morning. You will have tonight to look like a distraught father."

"Done." Kane states with absolutely no feeling in his voice. The other boys look astonished, if not worried, about Kane's serious demeanor. So maybe he wasn't always like this.

"And I got the court to move up your hearing to one month from now. We will have a meeting once a week with the judge for updates."

"That soon?" Liam exclaims in bewilderment. We thought this was going to be dragged out, but I guess not.

"I think it would be wise to get finished as soon as possible."

"Agreed." Kane says simply before looking me hard in the eyes. "What do you need?"

"Write down your email address for me. Mateo already prepared a statement for you with answers to questions that they will probably ask. If they ask you something that we have not prepared, I will end the press conference with some urgent matters."

"Sneaky." Elijah smirks over at me and I give him a polite nod.

"And the cost?" I turn to Hunter and flip over the contract to the page I need.

"$500,000 is my base fee for such a high-profiled case. This includes the preparation from everything on my end. If your case becomes more complicated, then we can discuss that further." I stand up and lead them towards the door. Handing Kane my professional card, I shake his hand firmly. "This is my personal number. Since this case requires a lot of prepwork, feel free to call or text me anytime of the day."

"Anytime?" Liam quips up and I nod to confirm.

"It's always on if you need anything."

"I need a moment alone." Kane gestures for the other four men to leave the office as I gently shut the door behind them. He looks at me curiously before finally speaking. "I have a rule of my own. No bullshit. I don't need to be coddled like some child."

"Then you came to the right place. Henry has been informed that you are under new representation. As for your odds, there's too little about the case right now for me to give you a concrete answer. But, you should prepare for anything." He nods before he takes his leave. The moment my office door closes behind him, I finally let out a breath of much needed fresh air.

Kane POV

"That's all the questions for now." Kris stops the next reporter mid-question when she senses something wrong with it. Leading me back into my office, she pulls out a file and places it on my desk.

"Everything you need to know about your kids should you be asked." Opening up the file, I see very detailed information about Asher and Mason. Someone definitely did their homework and diligently too.

"Not bad." Hunter practically applauds as he enters my office. "The media loves the idea, but it's going to take a lot more than one press conference to get us out of this."

"Well, it's time to go shopping. Once the media sees that you're renovating your house to fit your children's needs, they'll eat it up." Her confident voice makes me look up from the files to see her body nicely fitted in a professional black dress and black heels to match. She is definitely not like other women.

"I trust your tastes. Do it without me." I hand her my platinum card, but she doesn't take it.

"Though I appreciate the trust, you need to make an appearance that you are putting in an effort. Having a secretary or assistant going out to buy you these things does not have the same level of emphasis as you personally doing it." She's right. Damn, no wonder she has such a high base fee.

"Fine. I'll drive. Hunter, will you take care of my investors meeting this afternoon?" He gives me a nod and ushers us along. We both get changed before heading out. I am in a white t-shirt and light blue jeans with a pair of white sneakers. Kris comes out of the bathroom in a pastel pink tank top and white jeans with a pair of nude sandals. Her sunglasses and pushes on top of her head. With her tote on her shoulder, she gestures for me to take the lead.

Driving in my white Porshe 911, Kris looks around the car and then mumbles a small string of words that I can't catch. She starts texting on her phone and I can sense that she is unnerved about something.

"What is it?" A ding from her phone takes away her attention. She reads her message and then lets out a disappointed sigh.

"You don't have a single car that is appropriate for children." Oh. s**t.

"I have the Rolls-Royce but it's meant for roadtrips." I'm not sure if that even works.

"No, I have the perfect car in mind with your image. We can swing by a BMW shop on our way to the furniture store." She reroutes the GPS to take me to the car shop.

"How did you and Nora meet?" I breathe in and out slowly twice before I consider answering her question. I know that I have to.

"We all grew up in a small town in Virginia. She lived down the street from me."

"And how did you guys end up dating?" Kris scribbles down some notes on her iPad as I continue driving. Her voice is soft and nonthreatening that it makes it almost easy to tell her.

"She came over to my house for tutoring one day. The next thing I know we are having s*x in my room."

"Did you prompt it or did she?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. At that point in your life, you didn't have all the wealth you did now. I assume if you are this attractive in high school that she could have prompted it." So, Kris thinks I am attractive. That's good to note.

"No." I grip the steering wheel hard as I make the turn into the dealership. "She prompted it and I didn't stop her. Nora was popular in high school. Cheerleader. President of the Celebacy Club if you can believe it. I, on the other hand, was invisible in high school. And I liked the attention."

"You liked that she chose you." Kris corrects me as I turn to face her. Already looking in my direction, I can tell that she is trying to figure me out.

"Yes, I did." I confirm for her as silence fills the car. Her wondering eyes take a moment to search mine. Our comfortable silence is interrupted when a car salesman walks up to my side of the window.

Quickly choosing a BMW X7, I have it shipped to my place by the end of the week. Kris is looking around at some of the other cars as I fill out the paperwork. Signing the paperwork, I grab Kris so we can get to the furniture shopping. Again, once we are in the car, Kris begins to ask more questions.

"How long were you guys dating?"

"Two years." It feels strange talking about Nora and our estranged relationship considering how hard I tried to forget about the whole thing.

"How did you know she was sleeping with your family?" I should have seem this question coming from a mile away.

"I would rather not share that information." Gritting through my teeth, I receive flashbacks as to what happened so long ago.

"Kane, you know the rules." Kris reminds me softly before placing her hand on mine as I now realize that I haven't said a word for a while and my grip on the steering wheel is making me swerve on the roads.

"Sorry." I loosen my grip on the wheel and she takes her hand off of mine. "I have two brothers, Jonathan and Michael. They made a s*x tape. Apparently they had a bet going that they would be able to convince Nora to sleep with them while she was still dating me."

"And you stayed anyway?" I start to get irritated and I can see that Kris stops putting pressure on this topic as we arrive at the store.

"How does your husband feel knowing that you ask these intimate questions of your male clients?" The mood in the car gets a thousand times more solemn with the awkward tension growing. She doesn't answer the question and gets out when the car is finally parked.

For the next thirty minutes, she doesn't even look at me. She is either busy talking to an associate or texting away on her phone. We both have a*****e gun to put things on our list that I need to purchase. However, the pressure between us is growing with every passing second and I can't risk losing her as my lawyer.

"Kris." She holds a finger up to me as she continues to type on her phone and then goes around to see some beds for the boys. I grab her softly by the hand and then lead her to the back of the room inside a walk-in closet of one of the bedroom setups. Closing the door for some privacy, I make her look up at me. "I am sorry if I upset you."

"It's fine. Let's continue shopping." Kris' cold voice tells me that it is not fine. I don't understand why that question took such a serious toll on her.

"No, it's not." I stare at her face, her beautifully structured face with light makeup. Her fluttering long eyelashes are a tell tale sign of her nervousness. "I am sorry if I upset you." I repeat again with more sincerity to my voice. Her hands are a bit shaky and I grab a hold of them to rub against them, but that's when I notice it. She's not wearing her wedding ring.

"Kane. We need to go."

"You told me that you would be truthful to me too. Is that right?" I argue back against her. She's not letting this go, so if I have to give up some uncomfortable information, so be it. She is right. Without trust, we have nothing.

"Yes. But not if you're going to ask me an inappropriate question. This is my job." I understand that it is, but she isn't reacting what I would expect out of anyone else that I ask that of.

"I stayed with Nora after their little s*x tape because she told me that she loved me and I believed her. She said it was a mistake and that she would never do it again. I loved her enough to believe anything she told me. I was stupid and young and I made a mistake." I admit to her and she blinks down before looking at me again.

"Okay." Her voice is again soft and even sympathetic before she forces me to let go of her hands. "I understand."

We get out of the closet to continue our shopping. Having all of that off of my chest was a huge relief that I didn't know I needed. Kris may be pushing my buttons, but I think I can finally see some clarity as to why she is doing it. After a couple more hours of looking at home decor and toys, the store is about to close.

Kris and I hop into the elevator on the fifth floor and start to head down as more and more people start squishing into the elevator. Without thinking, I turn my body over in the corner of the elevator to face Kris who is at the very corner. I separate her from the rest of the crowd piling into the elevator. My head tilts down to see if she is okay, only to be met with her big brown ones looking back up at me...