She nodded. “Yeah, baby, I’m fine, but we have a situation.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Long after the party was over and they were back at Cree’s place, Tristan couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation in Nyla’s office. When he’d been searching around for her during the party, Nyla had been the one to tell him where she was.
Tristan had gone looking for his wife, thinking she might’ve been sick or something since Nyla hadn’t known why she’d needed the office. What he hadn’t expected to find was her in there with Milton. It was a good thing they’d left the door open. Otherwise, Tristan probably would’ve jumped to the wrong conclusion despite trusting Cree.
Who he didn’t trust was Milton. It didn’t take a genius to know the private investigator was attracted to Cree. Who wouldn’t be? His wife was sexy as hell and attracted attention from the opposite sex like honey attracted bees.
Tristan had witnessed the man’s appreciative glances at Cree the first time they saw each other in her office. Cree assured him there was nothing going on between them. But tonight, for a brief moment, Tristan had wondered if that was still true.
Cree quickly cleared up any misconceptions when she explained why she’d been meeting with Milton in private. Now all Tristan could think about was whether she was in danger. He found it hard to believe a partner at her firm was having someone spy on her. The pictures were disturbing and invasive. The worst part? Neither of them realized anyone had been following them. Tristan was sure that going forward they’d be more aware of their surroundings.
But why had Warren, who Cree suspected of being behind this, wanted to spy on her? What was he looking for? Cree insisted she would talk to the guy Monday, but Tristan wanted to hunt the bastard down tonight and get answers.
“Sweetheart, it’s almost three o’clock in the morning,” Tristan said as he released a loud yawn. “Can’t whatever you’re doing wait until the sun comes up?”
He was lounging on the sofa in her home office while she was sitting at her desk going through documents. Every so often, she’d take notes on her legal pad but then go right back to reading.
She glanced up and looked at him. Considering he was crazy tired, she looked like she was getting her second wind. She had dozed off for about twenty minutes while he drove them back to his place, but the moment he pulled into her parking spot, she’d been wide awake.
“I could wait, but I want to take advantage of being pissed off. I work better when I’m in the mood to rip someone’s throat out, and let’s just say Warren is lucky he’s not here.”
Tristan snorted and went to her. “But you don’t know yet if he’s behind any of this.”
“I’d bet a year’s salary that it’s him, and I’m going to get him to admit to it.”
When she went back to reading, Tristan positioned himself between her and the desk, nudging her chair back in the process. Which also forced her to set down the papers.
“Tristan,” she whined.
Now that he was closer, he could see she was just as tired as he was. Shortly after arriving, he had showered and climbed into bed, thinking she would do the same. But after falling asleep while she went through her nightly routine, Tristan had awakened to find her side of the bed empty. She hadn’t been to bed at all, and this was where he’d found her.
His gaze raked over the light blue lounge set she was wearing. The top was baggy with long sleeves and a very deep vee in the front, and his body stirred at the way her pert nipples pushed against the garment.
As exhausted as he was, he should be too tired to make love to her, but Cree had a way of keeping him turned on. Even more so considering the way she was currently checking him out. Her hungry gaze was taking in his bare, muscular chest, and he smiled.
She had a love-hate thing going when he roamed around the house shirtless, especially if she was trying to get work done, like now.
“Dammit, Tristan.” She rolled her chair forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, then placed a lingering kiss near his navel and just above the waistband of his lounge pants.
His dick twitched, and he groaned. “Now you’re playing with fire. Don’t start nothing you ain’t planning to finish.”
After a slight hesitation, she chuckled and dropped back in her seat. “You’re so damn tempting, but I need to go through every line of this contract before I talk to my lawyer in the morning.” She glanced around him at the clock on the laptop, then sat back again. “Well, considering it's already morning, I’ll be talking with her in a few hours.”
“On a Sunday?” Tristan asked.
Cree nodded. “I made a decision. I’m leaving the firm, but it’s not as easy as handing in a letter of resignation. Since I’m a partner, I technically need to give a sixty-day notice. Which I actually thought was ninety days, but after going through that portion of the contract, it’s only sixty. Still, if I don’t like what Warren has to say when I confront him Monday, I need to be prepared to walk away.”
She explained the complexity of dissolving the contract between her and the firm. Especially if she ended up leaving with short notice, like she was planning. It was clear this was something she’d been thinking about doing, but not this soon and not because some asshole had hired a private investigator to tail her.
Listening to her talk about all that would need to happen before she could leave, Tristan was thinking it might actually take those ninety days to wrap everything up. There was a lot to take into consideration, especially when it came to her clients and transitioning them. At least those who would be interested in following her. Just because she could take them with her, there were steps the firm required in doing that.
At some point, there would also have to be an emergency meeting called between her, Warren, and their other partner, Felicia Watts, which posed a problem. Watts was on medical leave, and though Cree hoped the woman would be able to do a virtual meeting, she wasn’t sure that would happen.
Cree also had to be prepared financially to cover her portion of liabilities and any fees attached to her breaking the contract. As she ticked off one step after another that would need to take place, Tristan’s admiration for her spiked. He had always loved her brain and was fascinated in how quickly her mind worked.
“I’m glad you’re ready to go out on your own. You have an office you can move into whenever you’re ready, and you already know I’ll be right there with you every step of the way,” he said, brushing her long bang away from her eyes. “Also, if you have to buy your way out of the firm, we can do that. I’ve already added you to all my bank accounts. So use the money, Cree. Whatever you need to do to get your freedom.”
