“Chanel, hold on,” Jason implored. “We need to fucking talk. You’ve been avoiding this shit for weeks.” The anger was evident in his voice.
“Jason, I need to get to work. We can talk later.”
“Later when? You’ve been ignoring all our calls. X hasn’t spoken to you.”
Dammit. He just had to bring Xavier up, didn’t he?
“Jason, I…”
“Just come to my office,” he stated, pulling me by the elbow.
“Fine,” I agreed.
“Now,” he began as we arrived in his large corner office at the opposite end of the hallway, and closed the door. “You need to explain this, because what I read and saw in that article…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “It’s not making sense.”
I crossed my arms. “What do you want me to explain?”
“Is it true?” he asked, looking me directly in the eye. Jason looked so much like my father that it almost felt like I was speaking to him as well. And I pretty much was, since whatever I told Jason, I knew would get back to my father. The two were that tight; they told each other just about everything.
“Yes.”
His head fell as if he’d been hoping the article was somehow made up, police records falsified and the pictures of my bruised face and body somehow altered or Photoshopped. No. That part of the article was true. So, I decided to focus on what wasn’t true.
“But I’d never let my history impact how I handled a case. Everything revealed about Jacob Wyatt was true, both he and Michele admitted. He owned up to putting his hands on his wife. I was not some bitter attorney seeking revenge against all men.” I needed to make that clear. My brother looked up at me as if I had two heads.
“Nel, I know that,” he responded, using the nickname he used to call me when we were children. “You don’t have to convince me of your professionalism. I always knew you’d make a great attorney.”
That shocked the hell out of me.
“You did?”
“Hell yeah, it’s in your blood.” He cracked a smile. “I remember watching as you used to debate with Ma why you shouldn’t be made to do some chore around the house, or learning to cook instead of joining the debate club.” We both grinned. “But I will say, you shouldn’t be going to clients’ homes and giving out your private cell number to try and rescue them in the dead of night.Thatwasn’t professional. Not to mention, dangerous as hell.”
I sighed loudly. Jason and I had never spoken about that night at Anne Marie’s. “I know. That was my fault and trust me, my bosses came down hard on me for that after what happened to Anne Marie.”
“As they should’ve. That’s not only a liability waiting to happen; you could’ve gotten killed!”
“I know, all right? It won’t happen again.” Why did I feel like a scolded school child? How had this conversation shifted?
It got quiet. Awkwardly so. I knew Jason’s mind had gone back to that article. He wanted me to reveal more about Ethan and what happened between him and me, but I wasn’t ready to go there. So, I did what I normally do when shit gets too deep. I decided it was time to make my exit.
“Jay, I’ll give Tori a call later this week to come over for dinner or something, all right?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You know this discussion is far from over, right? I mean, I haven’t even brought up Xavier yet, who I’ve barely seen in three weeks since all this happened.”
Again. He just had to mention Xavier. That familiar ache in my chest began whenever I pictured those coffee colored eyes.
“I’m not even going there. I have to get to work.”
“And that’s another discussion we need to have. When are you coming to work for Combs and Combs?”
I sighed. “Are you serious? How can I come and work for Combs and Combs after everything that’s happened in the last few weeks?”
“Why not? Robert’s bitch ass doesn’t work here anymore.”
The venom in my brother’s voice at the mention of Robert surprised me.
I shook my head. “We’ll talk later, Jay.”
