“Honestly, I don’t even know at this point. I can’t tell with him. In court, he’s either calm and composed and the brilliant lawyer he’s supposed to be, or he’s absent-minded and quiet and forgetful, which is when I need to step in. Fortunately, it’s my case, so I call the shots, but this evidence failure nearly cost us the case. Bill Bancroft is absolutely furious with him.”
Kaleb looks confused. “Why doesn’t he just fire his sorry ass?”
“I have no idea. And it’s not my main concern right now,” Vivian gives me a soft smile. “You are.”
“You’re too kind, Viv, as always.”
“And you!” she snaps at my brother. “Get your head out of your ass. Make peace with Alex, Max, and Vincent. Why did you quit your job? It was your dream job, the launching pad for your dream career, complete with endless opportunities and amazing mentors!”
“After what they did to my sister?”
“They didn’t do anything I didn’t want done,” I cut in.
“They also kept it from me. I thought we were friends. Alex should’ve said something,” Kaleb insists.
“Like what, ask for your permission?” Vivian scoffs. “I’m not sure you noticed, but your sister is a grown-ass woman and perfectly capable of making her own decisions.”
Kaleb takes a deep breath. “I thought we weren’t talking about this anymore, for Raina’s sake.”
“I changed my mind because I can’t believe how uptight you are about all this,” Vivian shoots back. “Raina was happy with them, okay? There was no telling where it might lead, but the four of them wanted to make it work. Who the hell are you to tell her she can or can’t do something?”
“Her brother?”
“Kaleb, being her brother doesn’t mean you have any sort of ownership over your sister. It means you support her when she needs supporting, and you protect her when she needs protecting. You’re not her master.”
I’m watching the exchange like it’s the most exciting tennis match since Federer and Nadal at Wimbledon, damn near holding my breath. My brother scoffs and shakes his head slowly. I wonder if it’s a game point for Vivian.
“Iwasprotecting her. That’s why I went there in the first place. The message said?—”
“The message was a ruse!” I cut in. “You should’ve realized that the moment you walked in on us, and I kept trying to reason with you, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“I was crazed with worry, Raina. I thought something had happened to you.”
“But when you saw that she was with Alex, Max, and Vincent, that she was okay, you should’ve backed down,” Vivian calmly replies.
“I didn’t. I couldn’t. I know what the guys are like, okay? They share women and they’ve never talked of settling down. I don’t want that for my sister.”
“Gee, you have such an open mind, I can’t imagine why they would have never talked to you about what they want,” I say sarcastically. “If they are as good friends as you keep saying they are, you should give them a little more grace.”
He has the good sense to look chastised.
“And you should give me a hell of a lot more than that. I’m a grown woman. I appreciate all you’ve done for me throughout our lives, but you don’t get to make my decisions for me. You need to respect me the way I respect you.”
Vivian points a finger at him. “You need to talk to them, as well. Apologize.”
“Apologize? For what?”
“For punching Alex?” I shoot back, “for quitting without giving notice, for acting like an angry teenage boy and not the man I know you are.”
Kaleb runs his fingers through his hair and sneaks a glance at Vivian. “I may have let my temper get the better of me. But you have to understand, Raina. I thought I was coming to save you.”
“Jeremy must have sent that message just to stir shit up,” I tell him. “I wasn’t in any danger. I was never in any danger with them. Actually, I feel safe with them.”
He gives me a surprised look. “How can you feel safe, given their line of work?”
“I’ve seen how they operate. It’s strictly business for them, I’m telling you. They only ever had eyes for me, Kaleb. And they make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.”
A knock on the door ends our conversation, and the three of us turn our heads at the same time, just as the on-call doctor comes in.
