We separated on the sidewalk. Grady took the subway uptown, and I walked the few blocks downtown to my office. I prepared the divorce filings for Patty Engle, and put in a call to Weston.
“Bailey, baby, when my client told me you were his soon-to-be-ex’s lawyer, I was so happy. Our first case together.”
“West,bubbale,yourclient might not be so happy after I tell you he can kiss mytuchusif he thinks he’s going to fleece mine.”
His deep chuckle filled my ear. “Listen, I’m not defending the little shit. Any parent who walks out on their kid is garbage in my eyes. There’s no prenup, though.”
I winced.Shit. “My client is happy to do a lump sum payment, but nothing else.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred fifty thousand, payable monthly over two years. Full custody to the mother. Fifty-fifty expenses for school and camp, but Patty will pay for the full-time nanny. Chase gets one weekend per month and one holiday per year, to be decided by my client.”
“Hmm. That’s mighty generous of your client.”
“She’s angry with him, but she doesn’t want to punish her daughter by denying her the chance at a relationship with her father. Best and final, West. We know the score here. He used Patty to get into her social circle, and abused her trust. Patty is a totally sympathetic figure and was the one wronged.”
“I agree. I’ll prettify the language so he sees he’s getting a good deal. I’m not happy with this guy.”
“Why take him on as a client? You said he’s garbage. Jesus, West, come on.”
“His girlfriend runs tons of studios all across the city. Her best friend married a son of one of the senior partners, so they bumped it to our division, and lucky me, I was next up.” He made an ugly sound. “I’d never represent a dirtbag like that normally, and you know it. I had no choice.”
And that was the exact reason I chose to remain my own boss. I might have to scrounge for clients sometimes, but I got to decide whom to represent.
“All right, West. I’ll talk to my client, but I don’t anticipate a problem. Talk to you soon.”
“Hold up. We were sorry you had to leave early. How’re you and Keston doing?”
A smile played on my lips. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I teased.
“Well, yeah, that’s why I’m asking.” Weston snickered. “You two make a hot couple. I could totally see you together.”
“Don’t tell me you think about Keston and me? Does Brenner know?”
“You know what I mean. All the years we were at school, you never had a serious boyfriend.” His voice gentled. “I’m happy for you, Bailey. Really. You’re a good person, and you deserve to be loved.”
Whoa. That was not what I’d expected. “Uhhh…thanks. But it’s not—”
“It is,” he cut me off. “He does. I’m not wrong. You’ll see.”
And in typical Weston Lively fashion, he ended the call and left me hanging.
My email dinged, and I pulled up the files Grady sent me. I read the initial police report, looked at the photos and evidence, and something made me stop and return to the initial write-up from the arresting officers.
“Hmm…”
Chapter Twenty-One
Keston
“Starting the morning with a smile?” Ambrose leaned against the front counter, his eyes questioning.
“Yeah, well, I’m still thinking about my brother and his girl getting engaged. She’s a pretty awesome lady.” I was also thinking about all the time Bailey and I had spent together since then, but wisely, I kept silent on that.
“Nice. Glad it was fun, even if you were stuck with a bunch of lawyers.”
Ignoring his dig, I booted up the computer. “We were so busy yesterday, I don’t think I thanked you for taking the weekend.”
