She’d been wrong.
Miller was breaking every pattern Astoria had. And instead of waiting for the cruelty and bracing for the moment the tenderness turned into a weapon, Astoria was starting to believe it might not come.
That was the most terrifying thing of all.
She wasn’t ready to call it love. The word felt too big, too dangerous, too much like handing someone a knife and showing them where to cut. But this was more than desire and the temporary obliteration she’d been telling herself she needed.
Astoria had no idea what to do with that.
Astoria pulled into her driveway and sat in the dark. Her house loomed ahead of her. Maeve and Milanka Petrovic, her house staff, had left hours ago. The lights were off, the rooms empty, no one waiting for her who wasn’t paid to be there. Shesat in her car for a long time, watching the empty house, before she finally made herself go inside.
17
Chapter 17: Miller
The Daily Grind coffee shop two blocks from Hartwell & Associates had become their unofficial decompression zone. It’d been Rachel's idea, back when Miller first started at the firm. “Never process a hard case in the building,” Rachel had told her. “Walls have ears, and paralegals have looser lips than they should.”
Six years later, Miller still followed that advice. She just hadn’t expected to be the hard case they were processing.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Rachel said, sliding into the booth across from here. She looked tired in a way that had nothing to do with sleep, the kind of bone tiredness from managing difficult people. “I know you’re slammed with the Stewart evaluation.”
“It’s fine. I needed the caffeine anyway.” Miller wrapped her hands around her mug, grateful for something to hold. The July heat outside made the air conditioning feel almost aggressive, raising goosebumps on her bare arms. “What’s going on?”
Rachel didn’t answer immediately. She ordered her usual—hot black coffee—and waited until the server walked away before leaning back against the worn leather seat.
“I wanted to talk about the Shepry case.”
Miller’s stomach tightened, but she kept her expression neutral. She’d gotten good at that over the past three weeks. “Okay.”
“Valerie is…” Rachel paused, searching for the word. “Difficult doesn’t cover it. She’s been difficult since the beginning, but lately, she’s become something else.”
“Something else how?”
“Fixated.” Rachel’s mouth pressed into a thin, white line. “On you, specifically, actually.”
The coffee turned bitter on Miller’s tongue. She set the mug down carefully, buying herself a moment. “On me? I’ve been off the case for almost a month.”
“I know. That’s what makes it strange.” Rachel shook her head slowly. She keeps bringing you up. Every meeting, every phone call, every email. ‘Miller would have pushed harder on discovery.’ ‘Miller understood what I was dealing with.’ Miller wouldn’t have let them get away with that filing.’”
Miller forced a small laugh that came out wrong. “That’s… I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Oh, it gets better.” Rachel’s tone was dry, but her eyes were sharp and watchful. “She’s started implying that the case was going better when you were on it and that something changed after you left and that I’m not being aggressive enough.”
“Rachel, that’s ridiculous. You’re one of the best family law attorneys on this entire coast.”
“I know what I am.” Rachel waved off the compliment. “That’s not the point. The point is that she’s not just complaining about strategy but asking questions.”
Miller’s heart began to pound, a slow, heavy thud she could feel in her throat. “What kind of questions?”
“Why you really recused. What conflict of interest could possibly have come up mid-case to lead you to step away. Whether something happened between you and her—or between you and Astoria.”
The name landed like a stone in still water. Miller felt the ripples spread in her chest.
“She asked that directly?”
“Not directly to me, but she’s made comments and observations.” Rachel picked up her coffee and took a slow sip. “She mentioned that Astoria seems different lately. Lighter, she said. Less defensive in depositions. And she finds it very interesting that this shift happened right around the time you left the case.”
Miller’s mouth went dry. She thought about Astoria three nights ago, laughing at something Miller had said, her whole face transformed by it. The way she’d looked in the low light of the hotel room, softer than Miller had ever seen her, the armor finally set aside.
