River’s mouth twitched, and I was sure he was going to smile, but he stopped himself. “I see. That wasn’t a good idea, was it? You and our former mayor would get along well, do you remember Midberry?”
Judge grimaced and nodded.
“Judge is my student,” I admitted, wincing at the sharp look River gave me. “He’s the one I told you about. I had no plans to grade his work. I was going to pass it off to another instructor.”
“That isn’t the point, Flynn,” River said gruffly. “You were having a sexual relationship with a student.”
“There was nothing in my contract to expressly forbid it.” I ran a hand through my hair. “And I like Judge. I don’t regret it.”
River muttered something I couldn’t hear, then sighed and tapped his finger on the desk. “Well, that is easy enough to fix. You work here.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he glared at me. “Don’t backtalk. I have enough trouble with Madden and his smart-ass mouth. I know you don’t enjoy the criminal cases, and you’re all about helping people, so we can come up with a compromise. I need to do some pro bono cases to make my law firm look good, right? So, you can do them, and you can see people who can’t afford much but need help. The little man, so to speak. I’ll pay you decently because I won’t have you going through the bullshit West did at his last law firm.”
My stomach warmed and I smiled at him. I opened my mouth, but he slashed his hand through the air.
“Don’t get all gooey on me, Flynn. It’s strictly for my benefit. When we’re swamped, you’ll be helping with the shit work around here.” He shoved his glasses up his nose with his thumb. I didn’t miss the pinkness in his cheeks.
“Liar, but thank you anyway.”
He shrugged. “You helped me get in contact with your cousin. That’s what friends do. Besides, I need the help.”
I glanced at Judge again, and he gave me a supportive smile. “Which reminds me, Chris is back in town. The house is in his name, but we split the bills for years, and he’s claiming I don’t have the right to a damned thing. He tried to crawl into bed with me while I was asleep, and when Judge stopped him, he called the cops.”
River fell back against his chair and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m beginning to really hate that man.”
I snorted. “Me too. This is why I texted you and asked to come in. But I’m sure Jayce already told you because he was called to the house.”
River shook his head and straightened again. “We leave our jobs at the office. Even though he knows you’re my friend he won’t disclose what happened, not unless you told me first and I ask.” He rubbed his hands together. “Either way, don’t you worry about Chris. I’ve got him by the big, hairy balls.”
“You do?” I asked surprised.
He smirked, proud of himself. “The problem with social media, Flynn, is that if you’re going to flaunt something like a new relationship, don’t splash what you’re spending your ex-partner’s money on all over Instagram. He should’ve known better, but I always thought he was a terrible lawyer.”
“But there is no proof it was my money,” I whispered, heart aching.
“Did you not say your money manager called you to tell you he’d cashed in your stocks and run off with the dough?”
“Yes, but—”
“There are no buts. She knew about the money, which makes her a witness. Now, it’s harder because you and Chris were never married, but if we can prove that you shared financial obligations, we could get that bastard right where we want him.” River narrowed his eyes in thought. “We’re treating this just like a divorce. I sent West on the hunt for every piece of paperwork in existence that could have had signatures on it from both you and Chris. It’s funny that you mentioned the house, because West turned up something hinky at the City Register’s Office. Tell me about the mortgage on your home before I share what West dug up.”
I frowned. “We had the mortgage in our names when we first bought the house, before we refinanced, and then last year we chose to place it all in Chris’s name for a better interest rate.” My heart ached and I rubbed my chest. I’d been stupid, young, and naïve. I believed he would never hurt me.
“The deed and paperwork for the first mortgage were never filed properly with the Register’s Office.” River sighed.
Stunned, I blinked at him and could barely breathe. “How?” I whispered. “So... this is it. He gets everything. His name is the only one on any official paperwork.”
River scowled. “Fuck no. Stop that feeling sorry for yourself crap. As for the mortgage and deed not being filed properly?” He shrugged. “Probably the answer is the usual bureaucratic nonsense. Incompetence. We can’t rule out intentional fraud, though, given how things have taken a turn for the ugly. It doesn’t take much to get your way around New Gothenburg. Some money greasing the right palms often leads to paperwork that doesn’t make it into the official files.”
River sighed and smacked his hand on the desk. “At the very least, I think Chris knew about the issue before he convinced you to refinance the house. Given the timeline of Chris’s departure with his piece of ass, I’m convinced he was trying to fuck you over. We need to produce every piece of evidence we can to prove that you have a claim on the house. Bills in your name? Bank statements? It’s easier in this day and age to get digital evidence, but it’ll be a pain in the ass to get the information from the bank. They’ll beat around the bush and it could drag out for months. It’s better if you already have something solid so we can cut Chris off at the knees now. We don’t want to give him time to formulate any new bullshit on his end.”
Hope made me sit up straighter. “Yes, I have everything in the filing cabinet at home. But he’s there.”
River smiled sadly. “You need to go get the paperwork, Flynn. It’s important. A copy of the first mortgage and deed would be a magic bullet to kill the house problem. We could nail his balls to the wall now and have you rolling around in restitution pay by Christmas.”
We talked for another half hour, going through ways we could get Chris right where we wanted him, until River got a call from Jayce asking when he would be home. We said goodbye, and Judge held my hand on the way out. I’d always been jealous of River’s confidence in his job, but he was a high-earning lawyer for a reason.
“I’ve met a cousin and a good friend now,” Judge said as soon as we got back out to the car. “Does that mean we’re serious?”
I chuckled and leaned against him, and he met me halfway, slanting his mouth over mine. His kiss was slow and he sucked on my bottom lip, with my face caught between his large hands. “If you want to be, but I want the long haul, Judge. I’m older than you by a lot. We may want different things.”
