Free SECRETS Vol. 4 by H. M. Ward, Ella Steele Page A

thought?” She leans her chin on her hand and stares at us like we’re zoo creatures drinking coffee in her kitchen.
    I swat her. “Stop it. It’s not that strange.”
    “He’s twice your age, and everything you hate. Of course it’s strange . And it’s wonderful, because I’ve never seen you so happy before. I expected you to tell me that you regretted last night, not this.”
    I smile and snuggle into Cole’s strong arm s . His chest is bare, but he has his jeans on. He looks at Anna and says, “You’re the one who told her to sleep with the boy?” Cole doesn’t say Jesse’s name.
    “Yes, and it was a good plan to get her over you.” Em shrugs, “although it looks like your plan to show up and sweep her off her feet worked better.” She takes a swig of coffee and puts the mug in the sink, and heads toward the shower.
    When the water turns on in the bathroom , Cole pins me against the counter, holding me in place with his hips. He’s dying to talk to me about last night. “Did I hurt you?”
    “No,” I answer , shaking my head , looking into his bottomless blue eyes . I lower my voice to a whisper, “I liked it. I think I may be a little bit of a nympho.”
    He grins, “That’s my girl.”
    __
     
    I spend the next hour with Cole. We talk about me and my studio, although I never get around to the fact that I quit grad school and walked away from my diploma. I don’t want him to think it was because of him. I want to find the right way to tell him at the right time. We are sitting at the table and he’s leaning back, one arm over the back of his chair, grinning at me. I love that smile.
    “Come to my place later.” He’s not nervous at all. He says it like a command, like he can snap his fingers and I’ll just show up. Honestly, after last night that’s all it would take.
    Leaning forward, I bat my eyelashes at him, “Sounds good to me.” Then I straighten up in my chair as a question forms in my mind. “You still have your city apartment?”
    He nods. All the witty banter deflates and is gone. “Yeah, my lawyer is trying to hold onto the studio and my home. She seems to think it ’ s worth fighting for.”
    “But, you don’t think it’s worth fighting for?” I ask. This doesn’t make sense. He worked his whole life to achieve this and for some reason he seems like he’s letting Sophia win without a fight.
    “It’s not that easy.” He leans forward. His bare chest was distracting me before, but now I can’t tear my gaze from his eyes. They look haunted.
    “Try me.”
    Cole’s eyes flick up to meet mine. His lips remain pressed together, and then he decides. I see it flash across his face and his body relaxes a little bit. “If I engage Sottero in a lawsuit, it invokes my family’s right to repeal use of my name.” He takes a deep breath and says, “Basically, i f I fight Sottero , I could lose the right to my last name.”
    I blink rapidly. This doesn’t make sense. “I don’t understand. You’re basically rolling over and letting Sophia screw you so that you can keep the last name of people you can’t stand? Am I missing something?”
    Cole looks torn. Hi s eyes shift from side to side and he won’t look at me. His brows come together forming worry lines between his eyes. Finally, he says, “It’s the only thing I have, the only thing they gave me. Cutting off my name is like losing an arm. I could do it, but it’s not the kind of thing I’d volunteer for.”
    “So, what then, you let Sottero take everything you have so you can keep your name? Then what?”
    He looks at his hands on the table. His gaze lifts to meet mine, “Then I start over. I did it before. I can do it again.”
    For some reason this is making me irate. He won’t fight back. “You can, but you don’t have to. I love you Cole, and so take this with that in mind, but why do you want to keep the last name of the man who disowned you? What’s the point? It’s a name. It’s not who you