He catches me without a word, even though he has every reason to let me fall on my ass. “She’s not fine,” he grumbles. “Tell him, or I will.”
“Fine,” I grit through my teeth. “But can we please get out of the bathroom?”
Jackson follows us to my office, taking his time to catalog the damage, snap photos, and look for any evidence. As he’s leaving, I think I’m in the clear, but he stops in the doorway to lean against it.
“So, what’s going on with you?”
I glance at Hayes, and he’s staring at me seriously, making me roll my eyes.
“Since moving here, I have been having fainting spells. It used to be less frequent, but now it seems like it’s happening every few days.”
“It happens every time this punk messes with you,” Hayes adds, and I cut him a glare.
“Doctors think it is stress-induced,” I clarify.
“Liv, if this case is going to affect your health, we can pullyou from it. Judge Fulton can call in some favors, get someone else to prosecute.”
“No! This is my case.”
He holds his hands up. “Fine. You’re my colleague, and you’re also my friend, but if this gets out of hand, I’ll go over your head.”
“It won’t. I have it handled.”
He nods and leaves the room and the mess to us.
“Do you have it handled?” Jensen looks at me as if he’s still expecting me to keel over any second.
“We handled it a moment ago, didn’t we?”
He scoffs. “Liv, you scared the shit out of me. That was not ideal.”
“Now you know for the future.”
“Right, I know that cold water and cinnamon candy help to wake you up. But what if it’s worse?”
“Lying down with my feet up also helps.”
“Dammit, Liv! This is serious.”
“I know! But no one gets to take this case from me. I need it.”
“Why?”
I turn my back and ignore his question because I am too prideful to admit the truth.
I need this case to prove that I didn’t make a mistake by coming here. I need to prove that I can handle this career without the cushion of a bougie law firm.
I need to prove that I am accomplishing all my dreams before I walk down the aisle and lose myself.
Because the truth is, I’ve already started to.
Chapter Sixteen
Hayes
“What exactly is your plan?” Lochlan asks as we sit around the fire pit.
Liv is spending the night at Thea’s, a seemingly normal endeavor, and I needed the opportunity to catch up with my real boss. Lochlan’s been chill about my comings and goings, but I think it’s because he knows what having Liv back in my life means to me.
