by Bella Bennet
Omega's Attorney
Baby Makes Three
Bella Bennet
Copyright © 2017 by Bella Bennet
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
Cover Designer: Cosmic Letterz
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Created with Vellum
This book is dedicated to Kate McKeever
who has been my cheerleader the entire way.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Also by Bella Bennet
Chapter 1
The tune of Ballbreaker filled David’s office. He closed his eyes as his shoulders slumped. He had worked hard all day. Why, why did his mother have to call? Couldn’t he get a break?
David opened his eyes and looked at his cell phone like it was a cranky rattlesnake. He knew he had to answer it though. He had been ducking his mother’s calls for several days and knew she would up the ante to reach him if he did it any more. The joys of an overcontrolling mother.
“Hello, mother. I’m here, but I’m the middle of— "
“You say that every time I call. I know you’re just making up that excuse because your Aunt Gina told me she drove by and no lights were on in your office. So stop lying to your mother.”
David closed his eyes and regretted the day he ever showed his mother the location of his new office. She had never gotten it right since. He had wanted her to be proud of him. To acknowledge the guts, blood, sweat, and tears it took to get admitted to law school, to pass the bar on his first try and to make ends meet as an attorney with his own office. All in spite of his family.
“David. David! Are you listening? I swear if you set the phone down again I’ll—"
“I’m here! I’m listening, and it was just that one time three years ago when I had told you not to call because I was studying for the bar.”
“—I don’t know why you can’t talk to your mother. It’s not like I didn’t spend twelve hours in labor and the best years—"
“Oh my God, mom.” This was why he hated picking up the phone when his mother called. He’d been on so many guilt trips, he had frequent flier miles. If only he could use those miles to get a one way ticket to Bora Bora. He’d be happy living on the beach, sipping drinks with little umbrellas and being waited on hand and foot by a nice cabana boy with the most amazing hands.
“Now, you know I love you David. And you’re not getting any younger.”
Oh God, here it comes. David bent over and laid his head on his desk. Every week it seemed, his mother was trying to set him up with someone. Last time it was her hairdresser’s cousin’s son. He could find his own dates, thanks. He had no problems in that department. It was finding a guy that didn’t want him for A) the notoriety, B) his family’s money, C) his money or D) introduced to the family, that was the problem.
He was rolling his head back and forth, wondering why he couldn’t have been born in a nice, normal family that would be proud of their son. Just a nice family. Nothing crazy, just… you know, not in the mafia.
“You seem to have trouble finding a nice omega boy to settle down with. I want grand babies, how can I spoil grand babies when I don’t have any?”
“Mom. You have two grandkids by Dom, and one on the way with Gabby. You. Already. Have. Grandkids.”
David rolled his head back and forth again. He fought his way into and through law school, had to prove that he wasn’t part of his family’s business or in any other criminal activities. He had to swear he wouldn’t use his degree to help his family.
No one wanted him to succeed in an honest profession, except himself. He wondered, like now, why he didn’t just move to another country such as England and practice law. He’d wouldn’t have to deal with the constant crap about his family, the constant disbelief he was not involved with his family’s business, and that he could find his own boyfriends!
“Honey, honey, none of them have your gorgeous hair. I love your hair. I don’t know how you got your hair and I swear, like I’ve told your father a thousand times, that it must have come from great-grandfather Antonio, God bless his soul.”
He was the only one in his family, and his extended family that had blond hair. Sure with his Italian skin and blond hair he could pass for Scandinavian and he stuck out on family photos. His mother loved his hair. Wished he had been a girl because of his gorgeous hair. Blamed herself and her mothering for him turning out gay. David rolled his head back and forth again. Like that had anything to do with being gay.
His father had to get used to his middle son being gay. He finally had to accept it when he caught David and his squeeze making out in David’s bedroom closet. It was at one of the Sunday night dinner with lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, yelling and no one would miss them. But they hid in his closet just to make sure. His dad stared at David leaning over his smaller boyfriend, with David’s hand down his boyfriend’s unzipped pants, panting and red faced. His dad had shut the door and left. Later, much later that night, he told David that “at least he was an alpha”.
David rolled his head on the desk again. He wondered if he did it enough, would there be a dent in his desk? Would it cause him to pass out and not have to listen to the rest of this phone call?
“So anyway, when you come to the family dinner this Sunday dress nice and don’t be late like you’ve been for the last several years. You act like you don’t want to be with your family!”
He had to cut this off fast before she went into detail on everything the family had done for him. Which was to give him a massive headache at their interfering. He was sure they meant well, but their brand of helping was too aggressive and unethical where he was concerned. Especially when he wanted to keep practicing law.
“Mom, mom. I love you. I love everyone. I work hard and a lot of hours because I’m an attorney. That’s what we do when we’ve opened our own office within the last five years.”
Penny, his administrative assistant or secretary as he thought of her, opened his door and let him know he had his next appointment waiting. She had been his close friend since college and could be counted on in a pinch to do anything. Like even procuring a fake cast and a wheelchair to get him out of showing up to his distant cousin Tony’s “welcome home from jail” party.
David blew her a kiss, and she smirked. She knew all about his mother. They were like oil and water. It had been hysterical until David had worried for her continued good health. Then he didn’t bring her around to his family dinners anymore.
“Mom, my next appointment is here, and he’s a potential new client. You know how you need to schmooze and I learned from the best, so I need to prepare.”
; He heard his mom’s smile in her voice. “You sure did Honey, how else do you think I got your father, huh?”
David closed his eyes and swore as images flashed in front of his eyes of that one time he walked into his parent’s garage and saw his mother doing her best to schmooze his dad in their Maserati Spider. No matter how much he drank that evening to forget, and he drank a lot, it would pop into his brain every time his mother referred to schmoozing his dad. God help him.
“I love you, mom, I gotta go.” He ended the call before she said anything else. If only someone made brain bleach. He would buy stock in the company and have gallons on hand.
He shook himself, pulled the next client’s folder towards him along with a legal pad and got to work scanning the notes he had made.
Henry looked down at his hands. He peeked up at the secretary and hoped she didn’t notice he was picking dirt out from under his nails. Henry looked back down and shook his head. He should have known Ned would force him to make the divorce attorney appointment. Ned pulled up, dragged Henry out of the garden and shoved him in the car. Henry guessed he should be glad for a friend like Ned, but he didn’t want to be here.
“Mr. Bianchi is ready for you now.” Henry looked up at the secretary, dressed like a 1950’s pinup, and smiled. Greg, his soon to be ex-husband, always gave him grief for being friendly and nice to strangers, especially those that he considered there to ‘serve them’. It was a bone of contention their entire relationship and marriage. Henry would not stop being nice and pleasant. He couldn’t understand how Greg had got that attitude with his family being not poor, but frugal. Or maybe they had been poor and Henry hadn’t realized it.
Henry sighed and stood up. Well, he had to face the facts. He had a divorce summons in his pocket and would meet with an attorney in a few seconds. Henry did not want to be here. Anywhere else but here. Ned tried to assure him that his attorney friend was fantastic and had made a name for himself in the less than six years he’d had his own practice. Six years didn’t seem long to him.
Henry walked into the large office and tried to avoid looking at this attorney, Mr. Bianchi, until the last moment. He didn’t want to see the judgment for the dark circles under his eyes or the dirt on his gardening clothes. Henry had tried to brush it all off outside when he saw how nice the building was. He hated judging things by their cover, but with a marble building he expected the office inside to be fancy.
The office was nice, the traditional big wooden desk, comfy leather chairs, bookshelves with lots of important looking books. From what he’d seen of attorney offices in movies, it looked right. But then again, the few times he had been in an attorney’s office he remembered nothing except the carpet. Two times in attorney offices, both for the worst events of his life. Not a good track record, there.
He looked at the man standing behind the desk. Wow. Well, hello there. Ned recommended Mr. Bianchi and should have given him a warning. Ned didn’t realize Henry would react the way he did. Henry didn’t know he’d react the way he was. He had thought he was too tired and jaded to be interested in anyone else.
According to the nameplate on the desk, his full name was David Bianchi, esquire. The tingling in his lower abs relieved him of his fear that his libido had up and gone. It had been a fear of his for the past several months. Turned out he needed a hot divorce attorney to wake it up.
Henry shook Mr. Bianchi’s outstretched hand and all the clichés he had heard seemed to be coming true. He’d have to apologize to Ned the next time he saw him, because tingles zipping through your body just from hand contact was a real thing. Henry would have never believed it unless it had just happened to him.
He hoped he wasn’t blushing as he turned around to sit in one of those comfy leather chairs in front of the desk. He sank into the cushion and sighed. It was more expensive than his brown recliner in the den at home. The leather chair was so soft and comfortable that he relaxed and breathed in the delicious pine needles scent. He closed his eyes and smiled. It reminded him of winters in the forest, walking through the fallen snow in the peace and quiet, smelling the scent of the woods and admiring the surrounding beauty.
Henry opened his eyes and found he was caught by Mr. Bianchi’s stare. It wasn’t a hard stare, or an intense one, just a curious stare but there was something else. Something Henry had a hard time defining. He furrowed his brows trying to figure it out.
“We have a mutual friend, or acquaintance from college in my case, Ned Patterson. He called me and asked me to take your case. I’d like to hear about the basics before I take the case. Does that sound agreeable with you?”
Henry was surprised. He tried to remember what Ned had told him, but he had been wallowing in grief at the time and didn’t pay attention. Especially when the words divorce and attorney were thrown around. If he had to convince this man to be his attorney, then he wanted assurances he would be taken care of.
“Yes, that sounds all right. I’d also like to know your stats with cases, your winning percentage and, uh, whatever else is used to determine whether you’re good at your job.” He closed his eyes and tried not to blush. Henry wanted a hole to open. Right now. Just swallow him up and take him down to China or whatever was at the other side of the world. He sounded like an uncultured bumpkin, just what Greg had told him he was. Which was funny because he was the one from the country.
Henry chanced a look up and found David smiling. Not an indulgent, what an idiot smile, but an actual amused big smile. Henry rose his left eyebrow. Then he realized he shouldn’t do that with an attorney. How did you act with an attorney?
“I like the idea of attorney’s having stats, like baseball players. Win percentages, number of cases, years in practice. There should be attorney cards with stats and photos, right?”
Henry smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah. Sorry about that, but I know little about attorneys and whatever you all do.”
Henry blushed. Especially when he realized what that other look was in David’s eyes. Attraction. Appreciation. Want. He blinked a few times, but the look was still there. Along with a small smile. Well, I’ll be.
“I’ve been practicing family law since I left the big firm and went out on my own. With divorces I have an above average rate of getting what my clients want. If an agreement cannot be reached and we go to court, I’ve done well there also.”
Then David smiled. This smile could only be referred to as a smile that belonged on a shark. Henry almost laughed. It was fitting, considering attorneys were called sharks. Henry could see David as a great white swimming along in a sea of other smaller sharks, no worries at all as he was the biggest and baddest out there.
“Now tell me about your situation. All I got from Ned was that your alpha is a piece of work and he didn’t want to see you screwed over by him. So give me the basics.”
David sat forward and his previous relaxed pose disappeared in an instant. He was now intent on Henry with a pen poised over a legal pad. Sunlight glittered at his wrists and Henry noticed the cufflinks. He had known no one to wear cufflinks. But on David, it worked. A lot worked on David. That fitted gray suit with the pale green tie for starters. It brought out the green in his eyes. Eyes that were staring at him, still showing attraction. Maybe that was how he looked at all his clients?
Henry cleared his throat, looked down and picked at some bit of fuzz on his jeans. He regretted not listening to Ned and changing his clothes before he came, but he didn’t know the attorney would be striking. Or that Henry would react to him like David was the most beautiful hibiscus and Henry was a hummingbird wanting what he had, wanting to come in and sip from his beauty.
Henry peered up through his lashes at David, just to see if he was still looking at him the same way. Now, there was heat in his eyes. Henry looked back down though a little smile crept on his face. He was wanted! Warmth curled through his body especially through his lower abs and that part of him he had thought had curled up and died. Lots of surprises today.
“Well, Greg and I got married about two years ago after being friends, I guess for nearly a decade. I was friends with his brothers first, and he was just always around. We dated a year and a half before we got married. It was—"
Here Henry had to look down and sadness rolled through him. It had felt like being part of a family again when he married Greg. Greg’s parents had helped him through those years after he lost his own parents. Greg’s brothers were like his brothers. So marrying Greg was natural, but made it official, that he was part of the family. And now he was not. The knife in his heart struck again. It was such a physical pain.
“I can tell this is hard for you, Mr. Cooke, can I call you Henry?” Henry nodded his head without looking up.
“It’s always a surprise when things don’t turn out the way we expected. There will always be hurt and pain. But like I tell all my clients, it will go away. To make the emotions go away faster, recognize each one when it comes, acknowledge it and then move on and think of something else.”
Henry wondered if all divorce attorneys were part time therapists. Or maybe that was why David had such a good winning percentage. He could get into the heads of people and know how to beat them or help them in the case with his clients. Henry nodded his head. He wanted to move on.
“So, we were married. Everything seemed fine, no problems. Then the sex fell off because he was tired from working too much or just wasn’t home those nights. I didn’t—"
“I’m sorry, but I will need to interrupt to ask questions. Could you explain what you mean by those nights regarding the marital relations?”