“Wait, October? You’ll be pregnant at your wedding?” Kitty asked.
Jessie scrunched her nose. “Yeah. This wasn’t the plan, but we’rehappy anyway.”
“Mommy, that’s great news!” Nicksaid, attacking her in a hug.
“I told you guys I can keep secrets,” Mikey beamed. “I’ve waited a whole damn month.”
Guy broke out some drinks to toast to our friend group of couples and Mikey and Jessie’s big news. Though the evening had started in crisis, I ended the night feeling like maybe my life was no longer falling apart.
Chapter 39
Annie
MARCH | Balance: $45,397
“Annie, could you meet me in my office in five?”
Bill, the founding partner of Athlore, poked his head in my office door.
“Sure! Do I need to bring anything?”
“Just yourself. I’m going to grab a drink and meet you in there.”
My gut swam with nerves. Bill hardly ever talked to me. I did most of my work with the younger partners. I’d hardly heard more than a grunt out of him.
This was it. Dev must have ratted me out. Not that I could blame him. He’d almost caught me getting railed by Nick in my office, and he’d seen us out to dinner. We couldn’t be more obvious.
On shaky legs, I wobbled to his office door.
“Close the door and have a seat.”
I worked hard to fix on the Markham Smile. It had gotten me out of many-a bind over the years. He was an older white man; surely it would work this time.
“Why don’t you tell me why Paxton Marshall signed with SportsGlobe?”
My eyes widened and I breathed a soft cuss. That’s why the little punk didn’t return my calls.
“Language, young lady. It’s unseemly.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I’m genuinely surprised. I’ve been following up since his visit. Everything seemed to go well, though he was a little shaken up when I said goodbye. The guys I know on the team said everything was fine.”
“I’m glad the guys on the team seem to think everything was fine,” he said thickly. “I got a hold of Marshall’s mother, and she said they bullied him.”
That didn’t sound like Nick or Romelski or any of the guys that I knew. “What?”
“She said they bullied him about you. Made him say filthy things about you to haze him. He said it was so disgusting that he had trouble looking you in the eye when he left.”
“Oh my God, Bill. I’m at a loss here. That really doesn’t sound like the guys at all.”
“Just you wait, there’s more.”
My chest heaved and a wave of dizziness passed through me. “M-more?”
“He said that Nick Oberbeck was exchanging text messages with you, and that the text chain was full of things like ‘XO’ and ‘angel’ and ‘baby.’”
My mouth was suddenly full of cotton. I willed my cheeks not to turn pink.Be an attorney, Annie. You are one. Now’s thetime to turn it on.
“As you know, we expect a certain level of professionalism at Athlore.”
