“Honey, I told you to?—”
“Okay, fine, I’ll take you on,” I blurt out without thinking first.
Colton freezes. His is arm half-raised to check the time, but then his gaze bounces between his daughter and me.
“Papa,” she whispers again. He remains stone-faced.
“Come in, sweetheart,” I say, voice suddenly soft and warm in a way it never was once with her father. “We’ll be done in a moment. Look, there are some toys back there.”
Colton spins around as if he’s just realized she’s here and I’ve agreed to take the case.
“Livy,” he says, then adds something in Russian.
She nods, closes the door, and obediently roams to the toys. As she turns, I notice more tangles. Yeah, she’s not well cared for. I make a mental note: take photos later.
“Why the sudden change?” he asks.
I catch my breath in his eyes—the same as his daughter’s. Unreachable. Beautiful.
“Stop asking stupid questions. You should be glad I am. I have conditions. I’ll only take you if I can tell you exactly what I think of you to your face. Always.”
He just narrows his eyes.
“No formality—no ‘sir,’ no small talk. Annoy me, and you’ll hear it. Understood?”
He grunts, crosses his arms like a caveman.
“And you’ll pay me well above my rate.”
He blinks. “What?”
I shrug. “I have no capacity for a new client right now. With your evidence, I have to practically pull this case out of thin air to win, and I always win. I’m not stupid. You have money. Ergo: if you want me, you pay.”
He grunts again and checks on his daughter again. She’s lost in tiny plastic horses and animals.
“How much?” His Russian accent sharpens. Maybe emotion does that.
I scrawl a jaw-dropping figure on paper, fold it into an envelope, and hand it to him with a triumphant grin.
He hesitates, reads it, opens his mouth, then shuts it.
I grin wider as his face clouds.
“So—deal?” I extend my hand.
He grunts one more time—but to my surprise, shakes it. He’s really willing to pay that much? Fine. It’ll be nerve-wracking couple of weeks, but maybe I’ll have some fun with him, too.
“Perfect.”
I glance at Livy one last time. Yes. The right decision.
My heart tightens, resolve flooding me. I will protect her. I will fight for her, no matter what. Even if her father’s an asshole and I’d rather not work with him, I know I can help her and I will.
My phone buzzes.
Home at 6. Make dinner, I’m starving.
I sigh, check the clock. Why can’t he just get food himself? I hate cooking for him, but if I don’t, he yells and…
