“And what is that supposed to mean, Robert?” We’d just come out of a deposition for Michele and Jacob Wyatt. It’d taken place at Robert’s office, which meant I was at my father’s law firm. I wanted nothing more than to get out of there. But some revealing facts had come to light regarding Jacob and the way he treated his family. I highly doubted he or Robert wanted any of that made public, which I was sure was why Robert was trying to corner me now.
“It means this was a private deposition and if any of what was just revealed in that office is made public, there will be a penalty.” The look of hostility on his face alarmed me.
“Robert, as you know, I received the same education in law school that you did. I am aware of attorney-client privilege and the need for discretion. I’m not interested in losing my license over making anything public. However, as you well know, these records will be made public eventually, so I suggest you prepare your client for the fallout when they are.”
“And secondly, I suggest you don’t ever threaten me like that again. I don’t give a shit who you work for,” I whispered, glancing behind me as a woman walked past, giving us a curious eye. We were standing outside the conference room we’d just exited, and I wasn’t looking to make a scene. “You don’t get to threaten my client or me becauseyourclient is an abusive piece of shit, but loves to pretend he’s a devoted family man to the public.”
“Ha, abusive,” Robert retorted in a whisper, but filled with venom. “A few pushes or a slap here and there doesn’t make him a cold-hearted abuser. Maybe you just have some vendetta against strong men.”
I pulled my head back, peering at him in absolute disgust. “A few pushes or slaps? You know what, this is ridiculous. I suggest you prepare your client to finish this divorce process quickly. Michele has been very generous with her demands. She only wants the house to raise their children, a reasonable alimony, and child support. He owes her at least that much. Either convince him to agree, or we’ll see you in court.”
With that, I turned and walked away, not bothering to look back, but I could feel Robert’s heated gaze on me. I was more than ready to get out of there. I hadn’t bothered to stop by my brother or father’s offices.
I headed straight back to my office to finish up some work before I left a little early for the day. As I was searching for a pen in my desk, I felt the letter that I’d shoved in my drawer than two weeks ago. I’d opened it and reread it a few times since receiving it. I didn’t know what it was, but something was compelling me to hold on to it.
I took it out, opening the letter once again and reading the same words I’d read over before. And instead of refolding the letter and placing it back in the envelope, this time I turned to the computer on my desk, opened up my email and typed in the address that was on the card that had come with the letter.
Ethan,
I received your letter. If you still want to meet, I am available this Wednesday at lunchtime from 12 to 1 to talk. There’s a small deli not too far from my office.
My hand hovered above the keyboard, reading the words over until finally I hit send. For a long while, I simply stared at the screen, wondering if I’d just done the right thing.
“Chanel,” my phone’s intercom buzzed, startling me.
“Yes, Liza?”
“There’s an Anne Marie on the line for you.”
“Oh, put her through.”
“Right away.”
A few seconds later, Anne Marie’s voice came through on the other end of my phone.
“Chanel,” she sounded hesitant.
“Anne Marie, how are you?” I greeted.
“Um, well, not good. I—I wanted to know if you’d still be willing to take me on. I got scared before, and Michael promised to change, but he hasn’t. And seeing you a couple of weeks ago, I just think—”
“Anne Marie, you don’t have to explain. Of course, I’ll take you back on. When can you come in to meet with me?”
I spent the next forty minutes talking with Anne Marie about how we could proceed with her divorce in a way that would keep her and Noah safe. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this case worried me. Anne Marie seemed to be even more scared than she’d been a couple of months ago. Michael had gotten laid off and was taking his anger out on his family. His violence was escalating, according to his wife. She didn’t want to go back to the women’s shelter, so we had to come up with an alternative place for her to stay when she finally did leave.
After hanging up with Anne Marie, I did a little research to find out what housing alternatives I could look into for her. I also had a memo I needed to get done for another client, and a phone conference with another. Before I knew it, it was close to four-thirty, well after the time I’d wanted to leave.
I sighed, and decided to shut down my computer, gathered a couple of files I wanted to look over, and notified Liza to send any calls to my voicemail for the rest of the day. Soon after, I was on my phone, ordering from my favorite Indian restaurant. Xavier had tried to convince me to allow him to pick up dinner from one of his places, but I declined, not wanting him to do anything. I’m sure he’d been running all weekend, and I didn’t want him to have to do much besides getting a car from the airport to my place.
When I glanced at myself in my rearview mirror, I knew Gabby’s words from that weekend were true. I didn’t think I’d ever felt this giddy about anyone, especially not this early on in the relationship. I decided to suppress the fear that began to rise in my belly at that thought. That night, I didn’t want to think about fear or anything else. I just wanted to see the man I’d been missing something serious over the last three days.
****
“You look tired,” I told Xavier as he sat on my low-sitting, brown leather couch. He looked good in his dark blue tailored pants that matched the suit jacket he’d swung over the edge of the couch. The sleeves of the crisp, white button-up shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and his tie hung around his neck. His lids lowered, legs splayed apart comfortably, looking like my dream. But he seemed tired from working all weekend.
“I’m good. Come here.” Goddamn, the sexy rumble of his voice bowled me over and my feet started moving in his direction. As soon as I was within arm’s reach, he pulled me down onto his lap, pressing me to him to nuzzle his face in my neck. I giggled at the contact of the short whiskers on his chin and cheeks tickling me.
“Are you hungry?” I genuinely meant that question, but with his head on my neck and hands squeezing my hips and ass, it came out as more of a moan.
