“Sorry, Juliet. I can’t. Maybe next time.”
“Well, damn, guess that means I’ll have to find someone else to satisfy this itch,” she says.
“Guess so.”
“Call me if you change your mind.”
“Will do.”
Ending the call, I pocket my phone and walk back over to the table.
She doesn’t look up from her laptop when she asks, “IsJulietupset you won’t be fucking her tonight?”
A smug satisfaction curls through me at her obvious jealousy.
“You don’t get to ask me that.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” She closes her laptop. “It’s late. I should go.” Shoving her things into her bag, she grabs her purse. “I’ll be back in the morning. We can figure out our next move then.”
Every instinct has me wanting to stop her, to pull her into my arms and demand to know why. Why did she give up on us so easily? How could she be in the same city as me for six months and not tell me?
Hand on the knob, she stops, keeping her back to me, head bowed. “I know I hurt you, Benson. I can’t change that. No matter how much I wish I could. But please don’t punish me,” she murmurs, her voice shaking a little. “I’ve punished myself enough.”
Then she’s gone.
I stand there stunned, her words settling like a rock at the bottom of the Potomac. Does she regret leaving me? Does she regret walking away from me when I promised to give everything up to be with her? And what did she mean about punishing herself? The only person who should be punishing her is me.
Guilt gnaws at me. I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have answered the call. I knew why Juliet was calling, but I wanted a reaction, and damn if I didn’t get one.
Just not the one I wanted.
Asharp, icy jealousy clamps around my ribs, squeezing the breath out of me as I slip inside and twist the lock shut. Even my fidget isn’t working to tame the snarling emotions consuming me. I know Benson has been with other women since me. I’m not naive enough to think he’d be sitting around pining for me after all these years, but that phone call incited emotions in me I’ve long since buried. Because if I didn’t, I’d still be in that cold, dark place I was in before.
The sound of my phone ringing pulls me from my heavy thoughts, and the name lighting up the screen has another wave of anxiety coursing through me. I’ve been expecting his call all day. No doubt he’s already heard about what happened. I’m surprised he waited this long.
“Hey, Dad,” I greet, steeling my spine.
“What’s this I hear about you resigning?” he asks, voice laced with disappointment.
Straight to the point, just as I anticipated. As a newly elected state senator, he knows everything. Not that it’s ever stopped him before. My boundaries are invisible to him.
Picking up my fidget, I squeeze it in my hands and take a seat on the edge of the couch. “There was a conflict of interest with my last case.”
“I see,” he says, his hollow voice saturated with disappointment.
I’ve always been a disappointment to him. I’ve spent my life trying to be what he wanted, to make him proud, to earn his love, but despite everything I’ve accomplished, it’s never been enough.
“And how, dare I ask, was it a conflict of interest?”
I swallow hard as I force the words out. “I know the suspect personally.”
Silence.
Silence so loud it’s deafening.
“And you didn’t think to disclose that beforehand?”
I sigh. “It’s complicated.”
