Leading the Witness

by Chantal Fernando

  “This is ridiculous. I don’t know why I have to . . .” He goes off on a tirade that’s full of the same shit he’s been spouting since he came in here, and I have to take a deep breath. I put my pen down to rub my temples, cursing Derick for this batshit crazy client. He so fucking owes me.

  “You don’t have any children?” I interrupt, picking my pen back up to make a few notes.

  “No,” he replies, sounding thankful for the fact. Probably because otherwise he’d be paying child support out of his ass. “It’s just us. And our dog, which I know she’ll want.”

  “Is it her dog or yours?” I ask. Going by his tone, he doesn’t really care for the animal.

  “Hers. She can have the dog, I don’t care. As long as she signs over everything else to me, and I get all the money. He’s just shitting and digging holes all over my garden, anyway.”

  Charming.

  “Okay, this is a start. If she wants the dog and we give her it, then she’ll be willing to take less—”

  “I just don’t think it’s fair that I lose any of my money when I made it all myself.” He cuts me off.

  I sigh as I look at my watch and see that it’s time to go into mediation. “Mr. Rodgers. Look, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First we need to meet with her and her lawyer for this mediation session to see if we can solve this outside of court. We don’t know what she’s asking for yet, so why don’t we see what that is and go from there?”

  I know he doesn’t like the fact that he’s going to have to part with something, but too fucking bad. He shouldn’t have gotten married then. Or he should’ve had a prenuptial agreement. I tell everyone to sign a prenup before they get married, but no one ever listens to me. It’s all “we’re in love” and shit, but then who do you think they come crawling to when things go wrong? I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on them since they are the reason I have a job.

  “Fine,” he agrees, and we head to the big conference room. I hate attending these things, but it’s an easier and more cost-effective option than running straight to court with accusations flying. It’s also good for both parties to lay their cards on the table to see what each other is asking. If we can solve things out of court, everyone can save time.

  When we arrive, my client enters first, and I step in behind him and casually glance around.

  I have to do a double take, not believing my own eyes, when I see who is sitting on the opposite side of the table. Dark hair falling past her shoulders, knowing hazel eyes that I’ve looked into many times over the past year, now filled with surprise, framed in thick, dark lashes. The black blouse she’s wearing fits her perfectly, buttoned up to the top, giving her a harder, professional-type vibe. She looks away, then back at me.

  The two of us don’t know what the fuck to do with ourselves right now.

  Riley had better have become a fucking lawyer since I’ve last seen her, because otherwise that would mean that she is Jeremy’s soon-to-be ex-wife. What. The. Fuck.

  Now, I consider myself a good poker player, I can bluff and hide my expressions with the best of them, but I know that this time I can’t conceal the surprise on my face.

  Or the anger.

  Oh, the fucking anger.

  I honestly did not see this one coming, and I’m so pissed I can barely think. I look away from her and take a deep breath, knowing I need to get myself under control.

  Be professional.

  I think I’ve got it under wraps, but when my eyes land back on her impassive face, I feel my blood begin to boil all over again. I feel betrayed somehow, I don’t know how else to explain it.

  I didn’t even know she was getting a divorce, or hell, having issues in her relationship.

  She never said a word.

  I’m a fucking divorce lawyer, and her friend, and she didn’t even tell me. I would have saved her from all of this, I would have fucking helped.

  And I sure as hell wouldn’t have taken her husband as my client.

  Fuming, I try to school my expression once more, especially when I see her glance down at her hands. She’s probably feeling shitty right now, and she doesn’t need me making this worse.

  The woman is so stubborn she wouldn’t ask for help. I can’t believe her. Anyone who knew about this and didn’t say anything is also on my shit list—my friends and hers.

  The best course of action right now is for me to stay in lawyer mode and pretend this is just any other day at work.

  Pretend that the woman sitting across from me isn’t the one I’ve had a thing for ever since I laid eyes on her. She’s tough on the outside, but oh so sweet inside, a heart of pure untouched gold. Why she married this idiot, I have no idea, but I’m glad she’s getting rid of him.

  Her lawyer and I make small talk, and I quickly learn that she’s not very good at what she does. With the questions she asks, and what she gives away, the woman should not be practicing law.

  Fuck.

  She must have gotten her degree online.

  When she hands me a piece of paper, I quickly read it once, and then twice, unable to believe the information I’ve just been given.

  Fuck.

  All Riley wants from this man is her dog.

  Her dog.

  He has more than a million in his bank account, several properties, and a fucking yacht, and all she wants is their Alaskan malamute, Bear.

  And Riley’s.

  I don’t know whether to shake her for being so stupid, or kiss her for being so strong, so independent and unbreakable. What other woman would walk away from so much money? She’s entitled to half of it, yet she doesn’t want a cent from him.

  Riley is one of a kind, and if I didn’t know that before, I certainly do now.

  I turn to Jeremy, who uncharacteristically has remained quiet this whole time, and slide him the document. He reads it and says out loud, “She isn’t getting the dog.”

  Wait, what?

  My head snaps to him. Fucking asshole.

  I’ve never wanted to punch a man more in my life than I do right now. This dog obviously means a lot to Riley, and an animal is priceless. But Jeremy just wants to keep the dog to hurt her. He’s not emotionally attached to him; he just wants the dog because he knows she does. I know I can talk him out of this, tell him it’s either the dog or he pays up. Fuck, this is getting so complicated already. I have to have his best interests in mind, not Riley’s, even though it’s her I want to help more than anything.

  Is it ethically wrong for me to advise him to give her the dog? It’d be a bargaining chip, one that would mean he could pay her less money. Giving her the dog is the best decision for him to make.

  “Bear is my dog, Jeremy. He’s my best friend, and you know it. He doesn’t even listen to you because I’m the one who trained and raised him,” Riley says, her expression giving nothing away. I’m so proud of her in this moment, even though I’m unable to give any indication of that.

  “I left him with you and trusted you to take care of him until I found a place to rent. You agreed to it. I was at my mother’s for two weeks before I found my place, and when I came back to pick up Bear, you wouldn’t let me take him.”

  My hands clench to fists under the table. How can he be so cruel? I just don’t get it.

  Or maybe he knows that he lost something he won’t be able to replace, and now he’s taking it out on her, trying to make her life hell. I’ve seen it all before.

  “Considering my client isn’t asking for alimony, or half of everything you own, Mr. Rodgers, surely giving her the dog is a compromise.” Riley’s attorney finally says something spot-on. She took the words right out of my mouth. Jeremy has to choose his battles, and if he isn’t going to give her the dog, if I was her I’d go for what I can get from him anyway, because if he wants to be spiteful, two can play that dirty game.

  “Give me a moment to confer with my client.” I lean over to the asshole and whisper in his ear. “Let’s give her the dog and the pub, and then call it even. You won’t
owe her any money.” I internally cringe at what I’m doing, knowing Riley is entitled to so much more. But even turning her back on all the money, she’s gaining more by getting rid of this asshole.

  “So you want the dog and your stupid pub? That’s it, and I don’t have to pay you anything?” he says now, addressing Riley and her lawyer, the smug look on his face making my eye start to twitch.

  “She’s choosing not to take anything else,” Riley’s lawyer says, and going by her tone, she disagrees with Riley’s decision. At least she learned something in law school. “If she wanted to, she would at least get a sum of money, and a property perhaps. If you didn’t want to part with anything, you should have signed a prenuptial agreement.”

  Riley looks Jeremy in the eye then and holds his stare without flinching. I want to shield her, protect her, but this is her war, and she wouldn’t let me protect her anyway. She must want to do this alone, and even though it’s going against my instincts, I’m going to give her that.

  “I wish it were so easy. Technically that pub is mine,” Jeremy says, tone smug.

  Riley loses her composure and jumps out of her chair. “What? I used my inheritance on Riley’s. That is mine. Take your homes, your fancy yacht, take it all. Just give me what is mine.” Her face is full of emotion, but I can tell she’s doing her best to rein it in.

  “Tsk-tsk,” Jeremy muses. What an asshole. “Without me there won’t be a Rileys’ anyway.”

  “What do you mean?” Riley asks him, frowning.

  “Who do you think owns the building?” he asks her, cackling to himself. “I’m your landlord. I own the company that you pay rent to. If I want to kick you out of that building, I can do it in an instant.”

  And there it is.

  The trump card he was hiding up his sleeve and didn’t even tell me, his own damn lawyer.

  Now I can’t just tell him to hand her the dog, because she needs to have her business too. She wanted both, and she will get both. I don’t know how yet, but I will have to figure something out.

  “Can he do that?” Riley asks her lawyer, voice cracking. He finally got to her, and I don’t like it one bit.

  Her lawyer looks concerned but doesn’t reply, probably because she doesn’t know. She will probably do a Google search when we leave.

  The session ends without anyone agreeing to anything. In light of this new information, we all need to figure out the best strategy. But it pains me to admit that he has the upper hand here. He knows what she wants, and he’s going to taunt her. I don’t feel great with her having this lawyer of hers. There is no way this woman can go against me, even on my worst day. I want to help, but the independent woman in her will murder me with her bare hands if I try to intervene. As Jeremy’s lawyer, I can’t help her anyway. This is all too much. Today has taken a fucked-up turn, and I don’t know how to fix it, or if I can.

  I have to be smart with Riley. She doesn’t like help; that much is crystal clear considering the position we’re in this very moment.

  We all exit the room, and I shake Jeremy’s hand goodbye, even though all I want is to break it. As soon as he drives away, I stalk to Riley’s car, open the passenger side, and get in before she can get away.

  I’m so angry I almost don’t even want to say anything, because I don’t want to say something I’ll regret. I don’t want to upset her, but I just don’t understand her train of thought or why she’s done what she has. This all could have been so much easier for her, but she’s decided to make it so hard, on everyone, just because she didn’t want to come to me, or hell, one of the others at the firm.

  I don’t want Jeremy as my client, but I’m locked into representing him because we signed a representation agreement and I gave Derick my word. I can’t bail now; it would turn into a really shit situation, especially if Jeremy found out about my friendship with Riley. I should be Riley’s lawyer, fighting for her, not against her.

  “What the fuck, Riley?” I grit out through clenched teeth, turning to her. “What were you thinking?”

  She tightens her fingers on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. “That I wanted my business to be my own? This is my problem, Hunter, and I didn’t want anyone else involved in it. You never even told me what kind of law you do, how was I meant to know you specialize in divorces?” she says defensively. It’s true, we never really discussed my job, past basic details anyway, but that’s not the issue here. She had to have known that one of us, any of us, would have helped her. This is what we do. She should have come to us for advice. I exhale deeply.

  “I get that; I do. But am I your friend, or not? This is my territory, my domain, and if you’d asked anyone, they would’ve told you that. I’m the best in the city, Riley, and now your ex has hired me. I think you need to let that sink in, so you know just how fucked-up this situation is.”

  All I can keep thinking is that she doesn’t trust me, even as her friend. And fuck if that doesn’t hurt, not because I don’t want to be just her friend but because she’s not even giving me that. It’s finally hitting me that Riley is now single . . . well, almost. I guess she will only be officially single once the divorce is finalized, but she’s separated, which means she’s free to do what she likes. This whole year I’ve been secretly pining over someone I knew I couldn’t have. And now that she’s free, I find out she doesn’t trust me. Not even as a friend. And without a friendship, there’s no point hoping for more, even down the line. Friendship is the foundation of a good relationship. Great, now I sound like a fucking episode of Dr. Phil.

  “I wanted to face this on my own, and then forget about it,” she admits, and the way her voice cracks a little lets me know that this is harder for her than she’s letting on. “I just want my dog, and for Jeremy to get the fuck out of my life. I want my divorce finalized as soon as I can. And I thought I could handle it all by myself. He told me I could have Bear anyway, so I didn’t think this would be that big of a deal.”

  Fuck, that doesn’t surprise me after the hours I spent with him this morning. That guy changes his mind at the drop of a hat. “I know you do,” I say slowly, jaw tight. “You’ve just made this so much harder and complicated than it needed to be. I just really wish you had come to me, Riley. I don’t want your ex as my fucking client and now I don’t know how to get out of this. I should be in your corner, not his.”

  She lets her head fall back against the headrest and closes her eyes, exposing her slender neck. “I didn’t want you to see me like this, Hunter,” she admits in a whisper. “I don’t want anyone to have to see me like this. I feel weak, vulnerable, and I’m only hanging on by a thread. I didn’t want anyone to know the details of my marriage—do you know how embarrassing that is? These are my personal matters, and I don’t like asking for help, okay? Especially when it’s for something so . . . exposed for me.”

  “I’d never see you as weak, Riley,” I tell her, reaching over and taking her cold hand in mine. “Everyone needs help sometimes. Everyone. Do not for one second think this makes you weak. You are one of the strongest people I know, but everyone has a breaking point. And during this time, it’s okay to lean on the people around you who care about you. You are not invincible; no one is.”

  Her eyes open and she turns her face to me. “Why did he have to hire you?”

  “I’m the best,” I state without sounding smug. It’s just a fact. “Which is why I should be yours.”

  In more ways than one.

  She sighs, and I can see as her eyes soften that she finally lets her guard down a little, the reality of the situation hitting her. Without knowing it, she just put us on opposite sides of her divorce. “What am I going to do? I had no idea he was my landlord. Why would he do this? And behind my back? What is wrong with him? He knows how much I love my pub, and now he’s using it against me.”

  “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” I tell her in all honesty. “Let me think about it, okay? I’ll try to come up with a solution.”

  Eve
n though I know there are only two options here. One, I tell Jeremy I can’t be his lawyer anymore, which is something I’ve never done before in my career. It’s unprofessional, and something I wish I didn’t have to do, but it’s a conflict of interest. I can’t give him my best when I’ll be looking out for Riley’s interests instead. Option two is that I keep him as my client, do my job, and try to minimize the effect on Riley. All she wants is the dog and her business, and if that’s all Jeremy loses, he’s still winning, and I’m still doing my job. Riley gets her dog and her pub, but Jeremy walks away with the rest of his assets. The biggest issue is that Jeremy owns the land. If I can find a way to give Riley that land, then he’d be out of her life for good. Since Riley isn’t asking for much and he wouldn’t be giving her much, it won’t look like I’m being unreasonable by telling my client to give her what she wants.

  The biggest detail, though, is that Riley isn’t committed to anyone anymore.

  This changes everything, yet with me as Jeremy’s lawyer, it also changes nothing at all.

  Fuck.

  chapter 5

  RILEY

  I CLEARLY HAVE THE WORST luck in the world. The one person I didn’t want knowing about this now knows and has somehow gotten dragged into it. Hunter is right; I should have just pushed my pride away and approached him for his advice before I went and got myself another lawyer. I can see why he’s not happy with me. I know I can be stubborn. I wanted to try and handle it on my own. I would have handled it on my own.

  I also didn’t want Hunter knowing about my past, and the details of a marriage I just want to forget. But now nothing will be simple anymore. Hunter will find out things about me, things I don’t want him to. There’s no way Jeremy will stay quiet. The truth is, after my cousin died, I was not in a good place. I had a period where I turned to drugs to get me through, a period of weakness, and Jeremy is the one who got me out of it when I met him. Every time he got mad at me, or we fought, he’d throw it in my face. And when Hunter finds out, he’ll never see me the same way.