Valentina’s head turned slightly, just enough to let me know she’d seen it. “You always ignore him like that?”
I didn’t look at her. “Depends.”
“On?”
“Whether I feel like answering.”
She let out a quiet laugh—the kind that wasn’t really amused. “Doesn’t seem like the kind of guy you just ignore.”
“He’s not.”
“So,” she said, shifting in her seat, “why do you work for him?”
“Work is work.”
She hummed. “There are a lot of jobs out there. You could’ve been a mechanic. Or a plumber. Or literally anything else that doesn’t involve babysitting drunks.”
I let out a short, humorless laugh. “That’s what you think I do?”
“Turn here,” she said, directing me before adding, “Am I wrong?”
I turned my head slightly, just enough to catch her eye. She was watching me like she was waiting for something.
“You’re a liability, Valentina,” I said simply. “Max keeps tabs on his liabilities.”
Her lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “And you’re happy being one of his attack dogs?”
I should’ve let it roll off me. I should’ve ignored her like I’d ignored Max’s call.
But I didn’t.
“You’ve got a lot of opinions for someone whose entire life depends on Max’s goodwill.”
She scoffed. “Max’s goodwill is about as reliable as a dollar-store pregnancy test. Valuable when it’s convenient,” she complained, looking right at me. “Worthless when it’s not.”
“And yet here you are, banking on that worthless goodwill to keep you afloat. Funny how that works.”
“I’m not banking on anything,lawyer. That money was supposed to be mine, alcoholic or not.”
She was talking about her inheritance. “Your husband didn’t make you sign a prenup?”
I could feel the heat of her eyes even before I looked her way.
“Unlike you, he wasn’t obsessed with contracts and conditions.”
Did she know her husband at all?
“Clearly, he wasn’t obsessed with self-preservation either.”
“Don’t act like you knew anything about him,” she said finally.
“I knew enough,” I replied, focusing on the road. “I know he left you in a mess you couldn’t climb out of without Max stepping in. I know he was involved with the Callahans, which makes him either stupid or suicidal.”
What did that make me?
Her eyes narrowed. “You think you’re so much smarter, don’t you? Like you’ve got it all figured out.”
“I think I know better than to get into bed with the Callahans,” I shot back.
