Jenna and I lock eyes across my living room. She’s perched on the edge of my couch; fingers wrapped around a mug of coffee she hasn’t touched. The weight of what we’ve done hangs between us like a physical thing. And now Ethan’s about to make it heavier.
The pounding shifts from floor to door.
“King! Open this goddamn door!”
I move toward it, my body feeling strangely distant, like I’m piloting it from somewhere else. Twenty-four hours ago, I was just a father fighting for his daughter. Now I’m a husband to a woman who hated me not so long ago.
When I open the door, Ethan practically falls into my apartment. His black tie is crooked, blond hair standing up like he’s been running his hands through it for hours. He’s always put-together—the team’s unofficial problem solver, the one whomakes scandals disappear before they hit the press. Usually, it’s Riley turning him into this mess. Not me.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” He doesn’t wait for an invitation, pushing past me into the living room. His eyes land on Jenna, and he throws his hands up. “Both of you? Completely insane?”
“Good afternoon, Ethan.” My voice comes out steadier than I feel.
Ethan paces a tight circle, his expensive shoes making angry little squeaks on my heated marble floor. He wears a suit as always. I don’t think he has anything else in his wardrobe to be honest. We always joke that he even sleeps in those things. “Marriage? You got fucking married?” He stops, jabbing a finger at me. “I told you to hire her, not put a ring on it.”
Jenna sets her untouched coffee down with a sharpclickagainst the glass coffee table. “I’m sitting right here you know?”
“Yes,lawyer, unfortunately, I can see you.” Ethan runs both hands through his already disheveled hair. “What I can’t see is how someone who graduated top of her class thought this was smart legal strategy?”
I step between them. I just can’t stand anyone speaking to her like that. I guess I’ve got a soft spot for her. “Ethan. Enough.”
“No, no—let’s hear what the Iron Lady has to say for herself.” Ethan crosses his arms, staring at Jenna. “How exactly does lying help your client?”
Something flickers across Jenna’s face—embarrassment, maybe. It disappears so quickly I almost think I imagined it.
“I...” She straightens her shoulders, but her voice doesn’t have its usual courtroom sharpness. “I lost it for a moment.”
Ethan’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh. Okay. You lost it. Sure.. You, who makes junior associates cry during depositions? You, who once made opposing counsel vomit before cross-examination,lost it?”
“It was food poisoning,” Jenna mutters.
“It was fear,” Ethan corrects. “Jesus Christ. The judge was going to give you custody anyway. We were almost there.”
She shakes her head. “Judge Brennan was sympathetic, yes. But he was hesitating. Goldblatt knew what he was doing, and I already saw Livy gone. And the idea hit me and I went for it…”
I clear my throat. Gone. My throat tightens at the memory—my daughter’s infected cut, her unwashed hair, the way she clung to me like I was the only solid thing in her world.
“I couldn’t send her back. Not again.”
“So instead, you commit marriage fraud? Both of you?” Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose. “Do you know how many laws this breaks?”
“Seventeen,” Jenna says flatly. “Depending on how you count the subsections.”
I look at her, surprised. She shrugs. Fucking shrugs.
“I had a lot of time to think about it until now,” she says, biting on her bottom lip.
“Okay. Okay. The shit is done anyway. I can’t undo it, and we can all agree you’re a bunch of idiots. I must’ve been a terrible person in a past life, because dealing with all of you has to be my punishment for something…” Ethan starts pacing again, but it’s different now—more purposeful. This is the Ethan I know, the one who finds angles when everyone else sees walls. “Maybe... maybe we can work with this.”
Jenna sets her jaw. “There’s no ‘we’ here, Ethan. This is my legal mess to fix.”
“No, he’s right. It’s our mess,” I correct automatically. I don’t miss the sharp look she gives me.
“Actually, I’m not proud of it and I hate you both for it, but I know how to make this real.” Ethan stops pacing. “I know someone at legal registration who owes me a favor. Big favor.”
Jenna stands up. “If you’re suggesting document falsification?—”
“Three days ago,” Ethan interrupts. “That’s when you got married. Not today in a panic after the emergency custody hearing. Three days ago, after a whirlwind but private romance that’s been going on for months. We pretend those nosy fans were right and that they caught your relationship early.”
