Stay With Me - Maya Banks Page 0,19

so damned sad. Worse, she looked resigned. She didn’t see any other option other than leaving.

Panic knotted his stomach. He couldn’t wrap his brain around a future without Catherine. No, he hadn’t been around much. He and Rhys had been throwing themselves into their company. Making it a success. Never had he imagined that it could cost him the one person who’d loved him when he’d had nothing, been nobody.

He exchanged glances with Rhys, and Logan could see the same despair in his friend’s eyes. Sex wouldn’t fix this. Catherine was right about that much. Hell, he didn’t even know what would fix this.

Or if it could be fixed at all.

He opened his mouth to speak. To say something, anything, but nothing came out. How could he possibly make up for years of hurt and neglect in a few days’ time?

It seemed so simple now. He could have done so much differently, but she was right. He and Rhys had taken her for granted. She’d always stood by them, supported and loved them unconditionally. And now they faced losing her because they’d squandered her gift.

Rhys reached out and took Catherine’s hand. She glanced at the other man, pain burning brightly in her eyes.

“Don’t give up, Cat,” Rhys said in a voice that sounded very close to pleading. But hell, right now Logan would beg if that’s what it took, and he and Rhys had never begged for anything.

“We’re here now. Give us the vacation we promised you. It’s a starting point. We have a lot to work out, but we can’t do that if you aren’t with us.”

“No cell phones, no email,” Logan interjected. “Just you and us. Give us a chance to work this out, Catherine. I won’t let you go without one hell of a fight.”

Her eyes widened as she turned to stare at Logan. “Can you do that? Don’t you have deals to work, people to stay in touch with?”

Logan cursed under his breath. Then he reached out to cup her chin. “You are more important than all of those things, baby. I know we haven’t acted like it, and we have a lot to make up, to prove to you. But it starts now.”

Indecision flickered in her expressive eyes, giving her a fragility that inspired every one of his protective instincts. And then he nearly laughed. Protective? When had he protected her? She’d been fending for herself for years.

“Give us a chance, Cat,” Rhys asked softly. “Please.”

“Answer me one question,” Logan said, still holding her chin. His thumb stroked across her cheek and then over the fullness of her lips. “Do you still love us?”

Liquid emotion surged and welled in her eyes. Beneath his touch, her lips trembled and quaked.

“Because we love you, baby,” he said softly. “That much hasn’t changed. Will never change.”

“I do love you,” she whispered. “But sometimes…sometimes it just isn’t enough.”

“It will be,” he said firmly. “I swear it will be.”

Logan dropped his hand away from her face, and she glanced between him and Rhys. She drew in her bottom lip between her teeth, her brow creased in concentration. It bothered the hell out of him that she had to stop and consider for so long whether she was willing to stay with them.

“Catherine?” he prompted.

“All right,” she said. “No cell phones, no emails, just us on vacation.”

Chapter Eight

Rhys curled his arms tighter around Cat, but she didn’t even stir. She was warm and soft against him, and he realized how long it had been since they’d lain like this. No hurry, no meetings to go to, no early a.m. flights or conference calls.She was right. He and Logan had dropped the ball in their relationship with her, and it sickened him that he hadn’t seen it until it was too late. Too late to prevent her hurt and sadness.

He wouldn’t allow that it was too late for their marriage.

He glanced up at Logan, who was preparing to phone in the room service order. “She’s exhausted,” he murmured.

Logan frowned as he held the phone to his ear. “She looks different. I can’t put my finger on it. Somehow she seems more fragile. I don’t know, like she could break at any time. I don’t like it.”

Rhys didn’t respond because Logan broke off to place the food order. He was right, though. Cat looked fragile. Dark shadows rested in the hollows beneath her eyes. Hollows that didn’t used to be there. She was thinner too. There was a sadness that hung over her,