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Chapter 14 - Poker Night

Castle was part of a few poker groups that would frequent his loft on occasion, he had his Gotham city crew and the mystery writers as well. There were a couple of others but those two were his favourite. Tonight though it was his Gotham city crew which he knew would be interesting given recent events that surrounded his new muse.

The group tonight consisted of Mayor Weldon, his dear friend and personal attorney Henry, and Judge Markaway. These weren't the world's best poker players nonetheless they provided good entertainment and discussions that provided him with distractions especially when he had writers' block after killing off Storm.

Nearly a week had passed since Beckett's case of the financial firms so the heat was beginning to die down around it even so his company tonight would no doubt bring it up. The gentleman all arrived at Castle's loft at around eight in the evening the others having had long hard days at work. Admittedly, Castle had spent his day with Beckett at her office going through her latest report to correct any grammatical errors. It was driving her mad at first especially since he was trying to rewrite whole paragraphs until she told him grammar only if he wanted to make it out of the office alive. He served them each a drink before he too sat down with a glass of whisky in hand.

Weldon dealt as seemed to be the case most rounds nowadays, perhaps missing out on a calling of being a blackjack card dealer in Vegas. Alexis had ensured that all the chips were correctly placed in the slots before she had left for an evening out with her grandmother to one of the latest girly shows on Broadway that Castle had no interest in attending with them.

As Castle player first, Henry started the first meaningful conservation following their chitter chatter so far. "So, Castle, how is it going with Beckett?"

Before Castle could answer Markaway put in his two pennies' worth, "yes, Castle, I'm surprised you've stuck it out this long. I would have thought you would have got bored by now."

"I'm enjoying it so far, she's just so fascinating. She had my attention since she first walked in to my life."

Weldon was still unaware of the story behind the union of his friend and one of the highest respected attorneys in the city. "So tell me, Castle, how exactly did you meet her? I doubt you met her on one of your nights out."

"No, I did not meet her on one of my nights out. Given how busy she is I doubt she even goes out." Castle acknowledged as he had seen first-hand how she would be at the office ten plus hours most days. "Henry would be better explaining the beginning of the story as it was a favour to him after all"

Henry explained how Beckett had owed him a favour from when he helped her out when shortly after her promotion to partner her cases had come thick and fast which was just too much for any one person to handle. Then on the night that Castle had called him after being arrested he called Beckett to help out since he was in the middle of a family meal celebrating his eldest son's birthday and didn't want to leave.

At that point Castle continued the story, "anyway, she turned up to defend me which I didn't know until she walked into my cell. Right then I didn't care that Henry hadn't turned up; I had this stunning woman stood in front of me. I then focused on asking to use her phone so I could call you," Castle said nodding to Weldon, "eventually she let me. Even though she was asking me if I really did it as she needed to know if she was going to have to defend me. She was not at all impressed that I had borrowed the horse and decided to cool down, insisting that it was stealing a horse while naked. I don't think she realised who I was until she walked into my cell so was maybe a little star struck but she is clearly a fan of my books so I forgave her silently. When I was taken back to be questioned she made sure the detective didn't get anywhere close before the Captain came in the room to tell him that the charges were being dropped. She wasn't impressed that I was able to get the charges dropped so when I invited her to dinner she declined. It turns out that there was also a pap who snapped a picture. I got a bit of stick for that from my family. When I got home I called Henry to ask if I could follow Beckett so that I could get inside her life to use as inspiration for my new book."

"Yep, he called me." Henry said. "He talked about Beckett as if she was an angel, goddess or something, he just begged and pleaded to help him so that he could follow her. I called John even though I wasn't sure that he would go for it turns out though he was all for it. He wanted the good press."

"So, the next morning I turn up early enough so that I beat her there. I get her favourite coffee from her favourite coffee shop, the information courtesy of Henry, to say she was less than impressed was an understatement. She wanted me gone, tried to do everything to get rid of me that was before she even knew what we had planned. When I told her that I would be following her she was on the verge of exploding, she couldn't believe it so stormed down to Henry's office and shut the door in my face. The rest, as they say, is history." Castle explained.

"She hated him even more later on." Henry inputted remembering their conversation while Castle was refilling the jug during his first sit in on one of her client meetings. "He went and opened his big mouth."

"Yes, she certainly hated me then." Castle agreed. "She hit me even, twice, and it really hurt. Even after I apologised, she was pissed off at me."

"Was it the clients who she was defending last week?" Weldon asked.

"Yep."

"You've got to give the woman credit, she absolutely smashed that case. I don't think I've ever seen someone destroy witnesses quite like she did for a couple of those cross examinations. She was on a mission." Markaway inputted; his opinion valued considering he knew about Beckett from his previous encounters. He had conversed with the sitting judge for the case as he was curious as to how the case was developing as at that point he had not had chance to review anything.

"You should see the amount of clients who are now requesting her services, at this rate me and some other partners will find ourselves out of demand."

"I'm sure you'll be fine Henry. Besides, Castle will still need you to bail him out."

"I would not be so sure about that, Weldon, I have turned over a new leaf." Castle explained. "If I did anything illegal again, I know that I wouldn't be allowed back to follow her which right now is more important than any misdemeanour I might make. After my family, this is the most important thing right now."

"Wow, look at you, Castle. I don't think I've ever seen someone so determined, for more than a few days, to change their ways. She really has captured you."

"Yeah, yeah she has." Castle agrees wishfully, he would love to be more than just a professional partner to Beckett somehow though he doubts at least in the short run that it will happen. The person that she believes him to be right now is not someone that Beckett would want. If, however, he can convince her that he has changed to become his best self then maybe one day. For now though, he will just keep turning up and try to behave the best he can.

"You think that she'll ever go for the prosecution side of things?" Markaway asked. "We sure could do with someone who has got her talents."

"I'm not sure, I know she enjoys what she is doing right now and has higher ambitions. Henry, do you know?"

"Something you have to understand about Kate is that she is crazy smart, she has got where she has based on talent and I know she has bigger dreams. Her next goal is to fight a case in the Supreme Court then I believe that her ultimate goal is to be the first female Chief Justice or simply Chief Justice if a female precedes her. I believe she can do it; so one day she will have to do something on the prosecution side." Henry explained knowing full well what Kate's aims were in the future but she would only do so if it was right for her. "Kate can do anything she wants given the opportunity just make sure she has a good pay packet if she switches over. She'll not enjoy the meagre entry prosecutor salary as she won't keep up the mortgage nor be able to afford the Burberry coats that she adores." Henry jokes light heartedly. It isn't that she was vain, certainly not, the move would need to be right and she definitely wouldn't be going down to entry level.

"Given the opportunity, I would hire her in the blink of an eye." The Mayor tells his friends to which they all agree. Even Henry who has hired her.

The evening continues as the four men play numerous games while discussing general matters and more on his new book. The Mayor is prevented from talking about budget cuts since it is a topic the others have heard many times in recent months such that it has become tiresome. By the end of the evening Castle has actually won some money, Markaway has lost as had the Mayor whereas Henry left with what he came with. As far as Castle is concerned it has been an excellent night as he had not only won money but he had got to talk about Beckett freely with people who knew her also that he had learned about her professional dreams. He could only speculate as to what her personal ones were for now. They hadn't established a relationship that he would feel comfortable asking her and it not be awkward for a few hours after asking the question.

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