Her Counselor (Love Hack, #3)

by Allyson Lindt

  They asked the court reporter to start recording again, and the questions and answers flew. Vivian’s mood soured the more time ticked away.

  Hayden wasn’t the villain here, he insisted. He’d been blackmailed. He made the mistake of asking Dewson for information once, after Vegas, and it was all downhill from there. Hayden painted a stunning picture of a guy backed into a corner for a mistake. After the lawsuit was filed, Dewson threatened to say Hayden had made him talk. Hayden didn’t know what else to do, besides hand over the money.

  Vivian wanted to scream what a bullshit story it was. Legal tried to poke holes in it and twist Hayden’s replies back on him, but he had a counter each and every time.

  Worse, when they called Dewson, he didn’t hold up at all. His story sounded a lot more plausible—a guy turned down for a job he should have had, who made a little extra cash selling secrets to the competition. Even in the course of admitting guilt, he was such a wreck, he sounded like he was lying.

  The conversation with Jared slammed back into her thoughts. She scribbled a note to Brian, the Skriddie head attorney. He gave her a brief nod, and seconds later said, “We’re done talking to Mr. Dewson. We have a couple more questions for the previous witness.”

  If Hayden was shaken by the request, it didn’t show. They dismissed Dewson and reminded Hayden he was still under oath.

  Brian glanced at Vivian’s scribbled note again, and asked, “How did you get around the security holes specific to your crowdfunding sites with the cloud based apps?”

  Hayden’s smug expression twitched, faltered, and then slid back into place. “There are no security holes in our software.”

  “That’s fantastic.” Brian didn’t sound as if it were good or bad. He might as well have been talking about someone mowing the lawn. “Then you wouldn’t be opposed to us running a simple script against the site, to see how it responds.”

  He was referring to the same test the Skriddie quality assurance team had used, to find the issue in the first place. If the script found the same hole, it wasn’t conclusive proof NSS used their code, but it was pretty damn close.

  Hayden shook his head. “Absolutely not an option. Why would we let anything they wrote touch our network? Are you insane or just incompetent? Do you realize what the point of this case is?”

  “We’d let your engineers review the code first.” Vivian chimed in. “A joint venture, if you will.” She locked her gaze on Hayden. “No one does or runs anything anywhere, without everyone’s go ahead. And since your developers are skilled enough to have overcome this issue, I’m sure you trust them enough to okay a simple testing script.”

  Hayden narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist. “We need another break.”

  Half the room emptied, and the Skriddie legal team exchanged a round of smiles. Vivian glanced at her phone out of habit, and her gut sank when she saw the message from Damon.

  We need to talk.

  Déjà vu. And not in a good way. Her hedging sense of victory vanished, and she sent back a single word. No.

  Chapter Eighteen

  IT WAS ALMOST TWO HOURS, before the NSS legal team returned to the conference room. Hayden wasn’t with them.

  “Our client’s gone back to his hotel,” Vanya said as she took her seat. “He’s not feeling well.”

  Vivian kept her face an impassive mask. Despite the turmoil raging inside, about her personal life, something told her this was good news. “I’m sorry to hear it.”

  “Anyway”—Counselor Ridge nodded at the court reporter—“we’re back on record.” When she indicated she was ready, he continued. “We’d like to discuss settlement options.”

  Vivian heard a whispered yes, from Brian next to her, and couldn’t completely hide her grin. In a louder voice, Brian said, “We’re willing to discuss it. What did you have in mind?”

  The next few hours passed in a blur around Vivian. They worked through lunch. A basic round of terms, must-haves, and willing-to-bends were passed back and forth, and five o’clock rolled around faster than she’d expected. Everyone shook hands, said they’d continue tomorrow but wrap up and head home soon, and they were on their way.

  Silence rang in her ears like a bell, threatening to dredge up things she’d rather not think about. Best option was keep busy. Besides, she had good news to share. She let the elation override anything else in her head, and made her way to Jared’s office. He didn’t look up when she paused in the doorway. Whatever he was doing had him furrowing his brow and glaring at his computer.

  “Plans tonight?” she asked.

  His head jerked up, eyes wide, and he blinked a few times before focusing on her. “Yeah.” His voice was strained. “I had to let my head IT guy go. I’m seeing what kind of cleanup I have to do.”

  Right. That answered the question about Dewson’s fate. “I’ll help. Point me in a direction.”

  He waved a hand. “We’ve got it, but thank you. Did it at least pay off, or is it too soon to tell?”

  She let out a light laugh. “NSS caved. It’s still early, but it looks better than it has in a few years. I was thinking we’d all go celebrate when you were done.”

  “Tomorrow night?”

  “Absolutely.” Anything to fill her calendar and act as a temporary salve for the longing she refused to admit mocked her. “Do me a favor though—don’t tell Tate.”

  “Your victory, your news to break. Just don’t wait too long.”

  “Heading over there now.” A call would work, but she wanted to see baby Holly now they were home from the hospital, check on Alyssia, and surround herself with people. Not a fair burden to place on them, but she’d be careful not to overstay her welcome. She bantered a bit longer with Jared, then told him goodnight, and asked him to let her know if he needed help after all.

  As she headed to the parking garage and her car, she dialed Tate.

  “Hey. I’m glad you called.” He sounded tired, but happy. “How’d it go?”

  “I’d rather say in person. Are you okay if I drop by?”

  “That good or that bad?”

  “Well...” She liked teasing and joking with him. It felt normal. “We still have a company.”

  “Very not helpful. I was going to ask if you were free tonight anyway. Come over. Lys wants to ask you something.”

  The way he phrased it and the shift in his tone drew Vivian’s curiosity to the surface. “Like what?”

  Tate laughed. “You have your secrets, I have mine. We’ll share when you get here.”

  This was what she wanted. The thing she enjoyed about the life she’d built. Great friends, a good job with an honest company, and knowing her own decisions had led her here. The knowledge and reassurance didn’t erase the ache behind her ribs, as she drove to Tate and Alyssia’s house. The gnawing reminder of the text message from Damon that morning made her feel like her phone glared daggers at her, from its mount on the dashboard.

  Apparently, it didn’t matter how many times she told herself she’d made the right choice, it was going to be a while, before the sharp pain eased to a dull throb of longing.

  Regardless of how many ways she rolled the situation over in her head, Damon really couldn’t have told her about Dewson, but his keeping it secret might have cost her, Jared, Tate, and everyone she adored, everything they’d worked for.

  And as much as she tried to reconcile all that, she failed.

  DAMON SAT IN THE HOTEL coffee shop, staring at the wall, his drink cold and untouched. He could have sent Vivian text after text this morning, even after she told him she didn’t want to talk. Explain what he knew about Dewson was nowhere near what there was to know. Plead with her to listen. Dump his entire thought process on her a sentence at a time over digital lines.

  He wanted to do it in person. Needed to see her face when he told her, even if her answer was that she never again wanted anything to do with him. The problem he kept running into was how to approach her. Stopping by the office wasn’t really an option. Sh
e’d been in those depositions all day, and something told him he wasn’t welcome there. She didn’t need the complications of explaining an out-of-place visit to her colleagues.

  He could drive by her condo, see if she was home, and pray she’d buzz him up. He’d already done one loop, and her car wasn’t parked there. Too many more passes by, and the stalker-ish feeling brewing inside would be amplified exponentially. Speaking of creepy stalker behavior, the fear she’d take it that way was the only thing keeping him from his last idea—seeing if she was with her friends. He had everyone’s addresses, as part of the case files. If she hung with Jared and Mikki, she was probably out on the town, and he wouldn’t find her tonight.

  The odds were better Tate and Alyssia would be home. New baby and all that. Which was a situation he really didn’t want to intrude on.

  He had to talk to Vivian, though. Not to make a scene, but to ask for one more chance to be heard. That meant going with the stalker option—driving by Tate’s house, looking for a familiar car, and hoping he didn’t get bounced at the door.

  It was after seven, so he needed to do this now, or go stir crazy for another night, sifting over more ideas. He tossed his coffee in the trash, programmed the address into the GPS, and took off. Forty-five minutes later, he turned down a street lined with lush lawns, huge yards, and houses to match. He was probably in the right place. Vivian’s car parked in the driveway was another good indicator. Damon took the empty spot next to the familiar sedan and strode to the front door. He wasn’t surprised when Tate answered, but the smile he received caught him off guard.

  “You get lost on the way to the airport?” Tate asked.

  “More or less.” Damon wouldn’t let himself think, because that would lead to over-thinking and second-guessing. He’d done too much of that recently. “Is Vivian here?”

  When Tate opened the door and stepped aside, Damon’s shock grew another notch. He hadn’t expected a warm reception or anything short of a cold shoulder. Tate nodded toward a pair of glass doors leading to a patio. Vivian sat outside, holding an infant and chatting and laughing with a woman who looked a lot like Jared, but attractive. The sight stole Damon’s breath for a moment, and his mind went blank.

  “If I were a different man, I’d give you the same advice V gave me a year ago.” Tate’s comment shattered the wall around Damon’s thoughts.

  Damon mentally shook himself back into the present but couldn’t pull his gaze from the scene outside. “I’m intrigued. What kind of advice?”

  “She told me not to mix business with pleasure.”

  That sounded like her. Damon smiled. “She’s a smart woman. Way I understand it, that didn’t stop you.”

  “How do you know that? Do the people at NSS talk about anything besides us? That’s got to be the most boring fucking place on the planet.”

  “Vi told me...” Damon hid a wince at the slip. He hadn’t meant to use the nickname, or mention they had that kind of conversation. Then again, he stood in someone else’s foyer looking for her, when he was supposed to be back home, so one could draw a lot of conclusions. “Anyway, NSS isn’t boring, necessarily. It’s more like... a daycare, run by a kindergarten class.”

  “I like that.”

  For the most part, Damon’s attention stayed outside. He watched Vivian play with the baby, smiling, looking very much at ease.

  She couldn’t have that for herself. The thought came out of nowhere and jabbed him. “You guys are more like the geeky high-school kids everyone is picking on, so you’re going to destroy prom with your own weather-controlling machine.”

  “I’ll accept that. I’m pretty sure one of us tried to do that, and my money is on Mikki.”

  “So, the advice... If it was so memorable and repeatable, why didn’t you listen?”

  “I’ve always loved Lys, and I’ve always wanted this. I stopped lying to myself, and let the past go.”

  Damon was caught off guard by the honesty. His past with Tate was relegated to tame insults and name calling. He always suspected the guy had depth, but he didn’t figure he’d ever be in a situation to see it. “We’re not close enough to be having this conversation. Besides, I’m not lying to myself.”

  “Never said you were. This is about me.”

  “Always is with you, kids.”

  Tate snorted with laugher. “Yeah, because you’re so old and wise. Since I’m pushy and curious, are you here because the home office told you this was winding down?”

  Winding down? Damon liked the implication. “There’s no home office anymore.”

  “Love to hear that story sometime.” Tate pushed away from the wall. “What are the odds I’ll have the chance?”

  “That’s not up to me.” Damon would respect Vivian’s wishes, even if it meant leaving her to her life and never seeing her again. God, that would hurt like hell.

  “I’ll grab her.” Tate stepped onto the patio and closed the door, cutting off all sound.

  Vivian looked back at Damon and drew her lips into a thin line. She handed the baby to Alyssia and shook her head. Tate shrugged and turned back toward the house.

  Damon’s heart hammered against his ribs, and his entire frame clenched in anticipation of a no.

  Vivian grabbed Tate’s arm before he could open the door. She stood, and they exchanged a few words, before he squeezed her hand and stepped aside, to let her in.

  She locked her gaze on Damon’s, as she closed the distance between them, but she didn’t speak until she stood less than a foot away. “So, now that NSS wants to settle, you can track me down?” Her tone was ice, and her expression matched. “Work out some kind of weekend agreement, where you get laid and we pretend there’s no conflict of interest? Ignore that what you knew and kept to yourself could have cost Skriddie everything?”

  No wonder she didn’t want to talk to him, though the confirmation the case was ending in Skriddie’s favor sent a wave of relief through him. “Do you really think this was just about sex?” Not what he wanted to say. He had to know before he told her anything else, though.

  She clenched her jaw and bounced her leg, and took several seconds to answer. “No.”

  He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Can we talk outside?”

  She glanced over her shoulder, at the couple trying very hard to look like they were doing something besides watching them. “I should tell you no.”

  “But you’re already here...”

  “Yes. We can.”

  He held the door for her, and she paused on the front porch, to wait for him, arms crossed.

  She started talking before he could. “I can’t do this, Damon. I can’t walk this line with you. Seeing you sometimes. Pretending it doesn’t have the potential to cost us our jobs. Watching you leave again. On top of that, for a while, I was terrified that, if you asked me to choose between my life and yours, I’d throw mine away. But I can’t do that either. And just because you have control in the bedroom, doesn’t mean I could ever give up me outside of it. And...” She dragged in a shaky breath. “Before I say any more I’m going to regret, why are you here?”

  “I didn’t know until I got here that you were in settlement discussions.” He was shooting from the hip at this point, and that was as good a lead-in as anything. “Just like I didn’t know everything about Dewson.” She opened her mouth, and he held up a finger. “I knew he was their fallback witness for the conversation in Vegas. That was it. That’s what I meant, when I told you I knew.”

  “But you know now.” She uncrossed her arms, and shifted her body toward his. “Why do you know that and not that we were in settlement? Why are you even still in Atlanta?”

  “I quit this morning.” It felt good to say it. Better than it should, considering he needed to solidify his work future. “After I found out what they’d been hiding about the insider and realized I don’t agree with the way they run their business. Besides I’d much rather be with you, if you’re interested.”

  “
I—” She worked her jaw up and down, and then bit her bottom lip. She furrowed her brow. “I can’t ask you to do that. I wasn’t willing to do it for you.”

  “Except you didn’t ask, and I’d never want you to do that for me. You belong here. I don’t belong there.” He reached for her, and relief flooded him when she leaned into his touch instead of pulling away. He drew a thumb across her cheek. The simple contact quieted so much inside. “I love you, Vi. I always have. Since that very first day in the bar, when you challenged my fake ID. You need to know that.”

  She ducked her head, but not before he saw her frown. His pulse jammed to a stop when she didn’t reply.

  Chapter Nineteen

  HAPPY FLUTTERS SPREAD through Vivian, and it was a struggle to keep the elation from her face. She hadn’t realized how much she needed to hear this. How desperate she was for these words, from him. She felt guilty he’d quit his job, but he sounded certain, and she believed him when he said it was what he wanted. She finally met his gaze again, and asked in a quiet voice, “You’re not just saying that?”

  “What kind of sadistic fuck do you think I am?”

  “Really?” She raised her brows, and her smile slipped out.

  “Maybe wait to answer that until we get back to your place.”

  “I love you too.” She closed the last few inches between them and brushed her lips across his.

  He grabbed her wrists, gripping until it hurt, and held her close. “Tease.”

  “Yup.” She didn’t try to pull away. The possession in his grip tantalized and enticed, and heated her from the inside out. “But we’re not doing this on their front porch.”

  He dipped his head, so his lips were next to her ear, and whispered, “Some of the neighbors might like that.”

  “Probably.” She tugged, not to get away, but to urge him toward the driveway. “You’re driving this time. I’ll grab my car later.”

  “Tate’s not going to ask questions if you leave it here?”