#1 Rival

by Gephart, T

  “Lauren.” My name used in place of a hello.

  “Mr. Anderson.”

  “Uh-uh, I told you, it’s Chase.” He didn’t do the last name thing, saying it messed with his Chi or some other shit.

  “My apologies, Chase.” I was glad he couldn’t see me roll my eyes. “I take it that Anita has gone over the options I presented.”

  “Yeah, she did.” I heard the rustling of papers. “It was very detailed.”

  We were only minutes into the conversation and I was on my second eye roll. “Well, Chase, it’s my job to be detailed. Are you any closer to making a decision?”

  It was pushier than I usually was, but I wanted anything associated with Roman Pierce eradicated from my life. And that included the stupid account he’d given me when I’d lost the bet, and the implication that had come with it. Besides, Chase had been dragging his feet for months on this, with three other associates previously vetting for him before he “shelved” the idea for another time.

  I wanted to be the one to close him after all of them had failed.

  “I have.” His answer almost knocked me off my chair. “I want to go with Focus Solutions, have the paperwork drawn up and make them an offer. And no offense, Lauren, but I only deal with partners when I sign.”

  “Of course, if that is what you prefer.” I fought the urge to cheer, just stopping short of getting on my knees and giving thanks. “I’ll speak to Mr. Carter and schedule a meeting once Focus accepts the offer.”

  “Good.” I was ready for his goodbye when he added. “By the way, Anita was really impressed by you and she doesn’t get impressed easily.”

  “Well, thank you, please extend my thanks and best wishes to her.”

  Anita had barely cracked a smile during the whole meeting so it was surprising to hear she was impressed. It had been strictly business, refreshing considering most meetings were filled with the usual male posturing.

  “Is there anything else?” I added when he hadn’t ended the call.

  He cleared his throat. “Actually, yes there is. This is . . .” Pause. “Well, it’s kind of a delicate matter and I’m not very comfortable discussing it to be honest.”

  My eyes lifted to the celling and asked God why.

  What was it about me and sensitive matters? And how did I always find myself in the middle of them? First, it had been Roman with Eric and Tia’s prenup, then there was Tia’s pregnancy scare at her wedding, and now it was Chase Anderson’s who knows what.

  Maybe I smiled too much, or there was something overly friendly about my face. But the last time I checked I didn’t have an advice column.

  “Chase.” I shook my head cursing myself for not ending this conversation when I had the chance. “Anything you tell me is confidential. Whatever it is, it’s privileged information that I can’t and won’t share.”

  He took a deep breath. “And how does that work with sharing information in your firm? Especially sharing what I tell you with other lawyers?”

  What?

  While it wasn’t a question we got asked a lot, a few of our more seasoned clients didn’t like their information shared. Some were delusional, believing California law offices were rife with corporate espionage. Others had legitimate reasons, like they played golf with one of the partners and didn’t want their dirty laundry aired.

  But Chase Anderson talking about limiting authorized disclosure was the exact thing I’d lied about to Roman at Eric and Tia’s wedding.

  This had to be some kind sick of joke.

  “Lauren?”

  Shit.

  “I’m sorry, Chase, yes, I’m here.” I shook my head, still not believing the coincidence. “Of course you can limit how your information is shared in the firm and that includes with who. So, yes, anything you say to me will be kept confidential even with members of my firm.”

  “Good. Good.” He blew out a breath. “Because it is about Roman Pierce.”

  And just when I thought this day couldn’t get any worse.

  “Okay, Chase.” There weren’t enough middle fingers to deal with this conversation. “Tell me about Roman.”

  The phone call with Chase Anderson was extremely enlightening. Answered a lot of questions too. Like why the hell Roman seemed to dislike him so much, and why he had been so eager to palm it off on me.

  Anita Anderson.

  Roman and the COO of ITP had met a little over a year ago before he’d started with Moss, Byrne and Carter. And apparently one drunken night was all she needed to fall in love with him.

  Roman Pierce didn’t share the sentiment.

  So, while Anita accepted they weren’t destined for a life of eternal happiness, she still harbored feelings of wanting to rip his balls off.

  I totally understood the compulsion.

  And while yes, she’ll admit he never led her on, and she had mistook their one-night stand for more than it was, she refused to work with a man who, in her mind, broke her heart. And the mystery of ITP dragging their feet on the fiber options acquisition was solved.

  Anita wanted nothing to do with Moss, Byrne and Carter as long as Roman was part of the firm. And our initial meeting had been set so she could string me along like she had the other associates who had come before me with no intention of us ever closing. But for some reason during our meeting she changed her mind.

  Chase hated Roman because he hurt—however unintentionally—his sister. And from what I’d learned about him, he probably saw a lot of himself in the situation. His string of flings with young, smart and beautiful women was well documented, which was why Roman would wrongly assume he’d be interested in me. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an insult, but unlike Roman, Chase Anderson didn’t date women he worked with. Smart man.

  Instead, he allowed Anita to have her fun, torturing whoever Moss, Byrne and Carter sent over, even if it did mean they were slow on an acquisition. I think she was secretly hoping Roman would one day show up. I couldn’t even guess what the outcome would have been.

  Millionaires, what’s a few hundred thousand dollars lost when you had a grudge to settle?

  But now the deal was almost done, and with Anita no longer interested in playing the game, ITP was out. And what Chase needed was me—because I had nothing better to do than be dragged into everyone else’s problems—to find an amicable dissolution of the professional relationship. Because obviously he didn’t want to admit he was wasting the firm’s time, or advertise that his sister was slightly vindictive and emotional when it came to a certain someone.

  It took me most of the day.

  I’d told Moss and Carter the great news about the ITP acquisition, and made an offer to Focus. Of course, they accepted because it was either be welcomed into the ITP family or be taken over by administrators. The lesser of the two evils it seemed, was to get into bed with Chase.

  Next point of business was finding a way to sever ties with ITP, but not have it be obvious. At least it wasn’t as boring as the data I had previously digested for them, and it gave me a reason to be stuck in my office all day.

  Roman, and all the things he made me feel, were avoided as I buried myself in work. The hurt, the anger—how easily I’d fallen for him, all got brushed aside. It was easier to be good at my job than to accept how much I sucked at choosing someone to love me.

  And unlike what he’d had with Anita, Roman let me believe we’d been more.

  I was still hunched over my desk even though the clock on the wall said seven o’clock. I was secretly hoping that when I did eventually leave, Roman would be long gone and I’d be spared seeing his stupid, gorgeous face.

  My ITP file was open on my computer as my fingers curled around my phone. “You need to buy Mack Media.”

  “The app developers who had that game Crazy Fish and haven’t done anything since?” Chase asked, who was also still at his desk. “Why the hell would I buy them?”

  “Because we have MicroTech as clients. And they are the parent company of Dime Time, th
e developers of Fish Frenzy, which is the direct competition to Mack Media’s game. It would be a conflict of interest for us, and MicroTech was one of Carter’s original clients. There is no way he’d let them go, which means—”

  “I would gracefully bow out, thank Moss, Byrne and Cater for their service, and take my business to a new firm who doesn’t represent a shitty app about fish.” He took a deep breath. “Anita was right, you really are something.”

  “Crazy Fish is still making money, there are worse things to have in your portfolio. Who knows, maybe you can inject some new ideas into their development team and launch the next addictive app.”

  It was the best solution and one that meant no one had to know anything about anything.

  Except for me, who lately had become the keeper of all secrets.

  Pity it hadn’t worked out to be a good thing.

  “I’ll get Anita to start the ball rolling, contact the firm once we’re in final talks and let one of the partners break the bad news to me. There’s no need for you to get your hands dirty on this.”

  “Thank you.” I’m sure the partners wouldn’t have been thrilled at the loss of ITP’s business, but it did mean we were able to pursue some other clients in the same industry. And after the loss of company time in recent months, I’m sure no one would be too sad to see them go.

  We said our goodbyes, with Chase letting me know if I ever wanted to leave and become their in-house counsel, there was a place for me at ITP. I politely declined, not wanting to sentence myself to Tech Hell for all eternity.

  Plus, there wasn’t a chance in hell I was moving to Palo Alto.

  I shut down my computer and grabbed my handbag, breathing a sigh of relief as I looked at the clock.

  I’d survived.

  It still hurt just as much, and I was still just as angry, but I’d made it an entire day. I didn’t crumble or cry, and from the outside looking in, I had my shit together.

  Much to my disgust, my body still ached for him, still wanted to feel his kisses. Trust me, I was just as appalled as any sane person would be. But while my heart was shattered, thankfully my mind was still intact, which reminded me why I would never allow him to get close to us again.

  In any capacity—body, mind or heart.

  As I left my office, I noticed his door was closed with the light spilling between the gap on the floor.

  He was still there.

  Shit.

  Shaking my head and thankful at least I didn’t have to see him, I flipped off the closed door and took the elevator down to the lobby. If I hadn’t seen him by now, the chances of running into him tonight were slim.

  Thank God for small mercies.

  “Hi!”

  It seemed my thanks to God were somewhat premature.

  Standing in front of me was a tall blond with large breasts. I couldn’t even call her cute because she was so far removed from that. She was beautiful, stunning, and gorgeous in ways I didn’t think were possible.

  And unfortunately, I had seen her before.

  “Hi Carla, how are you?” I managed to force the words out, knowing none of this was her fault and yet hating her all the same.

  Her pouty pink lips spread into a smile. “Great thank you, Lauren. Is Roman still upstairs? We’re supposed to meet down here but I’m a little early.”

  “Yeah, I think so.” I shrugged trying to sound like I really didn’t care.

  Walk away, Lauren.

  Leave him and his whatever and go home.

  “I thought you guys got together on Tuesdays.”

  Shit, it came out of my mouth before I’d had a chance to stop it.

  “Ha, yeah.” She laughed, her nose wrinkling. “But it’s been a while, so I guess he couldn’t wait.”

  Yeah, I guessed so.

  “Well, it was good seeing you again,” I lied as the pain throbbed in my chest. “Have a good night.” I waved, nodding to the security guard as he let me out.

  It had been two days.

  Two days since the wedding and two days since . . . Roman and I broke up. And even though I knew we were no longer together and he had every right to be with whoever he wanted, I still couldn’t believe he’d called her so soon.

  Like I’d been nothing, replaced without a second thought.

  And all the ways I’d told myself I’d been a badass all day unraveled as I cried the whole way home.

  SUCCESS AND LIVING A GOOD life was the best revenge.

  The person or people who had wronged you would suffer more from seeing you rise above than they ever would from whatever petty retribution you had planned.

  So, as hard as it was, I put on my sexiest work outfit, made sure my makeup was on point. And I went to work looking like I didn’t want to murder the man who tore my heart into a million tiny pieces.

  I made sure I said hello to everyone, cheerily waving as I floated down the hall, and even stopped right outside Roman’s open doorway.

  “Hey, Pierce.” I smiled, leaning against the jamb. “I hope Carla found you okay last night. I would have walked her up here myself, but I was in a hurry.”

  I wanted him to know that I knew.

  I didn’t care if Carla had mentioned our little meeting or not, I wasn’t going to pretend I hadn’t seen or known what her reappearance meant. And while he probably didn’t care either way, it made me feel empowered to stand there and tell him, and force him to look at me when I did.

  “Harper.” His eyes rolled over the length of my body, slowly making their way back to my eyes. “I—”

  It was the first time I’d ever seen Roman Pierce speechless.

  I wasn’t sure if it was the outfit, my attitude or being called out for being a piece of shit. Maybe it was a combination of all three. And it felt awesome to toss him a wave and tell him, “I’ll see you later, I have work to do,” and stride to my office like a conqueror.

  For the whole day I held tight to the fake-it-until-you-make-it mentality. Looking him the eye every single time our paths crossed and acknowledging his presence. And by mid afternoon the smiles were no longer forced, my mouth spreading into a grin at the sight of him and knowing he didn’t break me.

  By the next day it was even easier.

  Another killer outfit—I was pushing the boundaries of my corporate wear but nothing to get me hauled in by HR—and an even bigger killer attitude.

  Daniel had even designated a new case, calling us into his office for another meeting and I hadn’t backed down once. Showing both of them exactly what kind of lawyer I was.

  But later that Wednesday, everything changed.

  The door slammed behind him. “We need to talk.”

  I looked up from my computer, not expecting him but not all that surprised either. He might have the most amazing poker face I’d ever seen, but I could sense he was cracking.

  “About what, Roman? I have a mountain of work to get through and I don’t have time to chat.” My hand waved to the pile of files sitting beside me.

  His jaw tightened as he took the few steps from my door to the desk. “You know about what.”

  Unfortunately, I didn’t.

  The topic of conversation could have been anything, starting with him being a dick. Or it might have been about the Anderson account that soon would no longer be ours. Or it could have been about the ChemCal suit we’d been given two days ago, where I’d argued and proven that my direction for our defense was by far superior to his.

  Or possibly, that he was a dick.

  “Roman,” I sighed, shaking my head like I pitied him. “As much as I would like the ability to possess mind-reading skills, I don’t. It’s something I thank God daily for, considering I work so closely to you.” I leaned back into my chair. “I think I’d go blind with all those tits and ass floating around in my head. How do you get anything done?”

  Just like old times, only this time around I was smarter, sharper and about one thousand times more prepared for his bullshit. I’d almost built a wall around my
heart he would never penetrate again, the security it gave me making me feel brave.

  His eyes caught on mine with no hint of a smile. “I had dinner with Tia and Eric last night.”

  Oh, so that was the conversation he wanted to have. The one where he found out the truth and realized what a horrible and hurtful prick he’d been. Funny how I knew it would eventually come, I just wasn’t sure he had the balls to face me when it did. Especially not come into my office and demand anything from me considering what had happened.

  “Are they well, Roman?” I gave him nothing, not even an inch of an opening. “How’s married life treating them?”

  He had the nerve to look sorry. “Lauren—”

  “Don’t fucking, Lauren me.” I slammed my hands down on the desk, the sound of my name making me snap. “Walk out the door, Roman. Turn around and go back to where you came from because we have nothing more to say to each other.”

  I’d been doing so well and holding it together, but him calling me Lauren was not something I would allow. He didn’t get to do that anymore. He’d given up that right.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” He raked his hand through his hair in frustration. “Why the hell did you let me believe—”

  “I didn’t let you do anything.” I couldn’t stand it anymore. “You controlled what you thought and what you believed. And if those conclusions were so easy to come to, then you never knew me at all. And you already told me that you hadn’t cared about me. So it’s not like we could argue that someone who gave a shit might give another person the benefit of the doubt.” The laugh ironic as it made its way up my throat. “There are times in life when you have to make choices, Roman. I made mine that day. I chose to help someone else, and I don’t regret it. It’s not my place for me to make yours.”

  He stepped back, eyes peeled open in surprise like I’d punched him right in the gut.

  I’m sure he wasn’t expecting me to fall to my feet and forgive him the minute he walked through the door, but I think deep down he hoped for it. Maybe for me to leap out of my chair and gasping between kisses how much I missed him. Funny thing was, I did miss him, and the ache to kiss him was so real on my lips that I had to beg myself not to.