Unless he’s been making fun of you this entire time and you didn’t see it.
She pressed her palm to her forehead, to squash the doubt.
Ignoring your instinct won’t make it any less true.
No. Nonononono.
Her phone buzzed with two messages. Identical, from Josh and Dylan.
Worried about you. Leaving here in 15. Coming to find you.
Because they cared. Because they could make this right.
Because they want to poke fun at the fat girl who thought two sexy as fuck men not only liked her, but were willing to share. Who does that?
She sobbed and knotted her fingers in her hair, yanking until her skull ached.
You can’t ignore this. Deal with it now, and it will hurt less.
It wasn’t true. Dylan hadn’t... Neither had Josh. That wasn’t who they were.
You don’t know Dylan. Except that he’s been fucking Josh for the last three years.
That didn’t matter. It might to some people. She was not only fine with it, she was great with it. They were happy together.
Without you.
No. She wanted to scream again, but would it do her any good?
“Sydney?” Dylan’s muffled voice carried through the front door, followed by a knock.
She clenched her jaw, to hold back the surge of doubt-induced nausea.
“We want to know what happened,” Josh said.
Because they cared.
Because the joke isn’t done.
She wasn’t listening to that voice. It was a liar and an asshole.
You’re going to let them in, looking like this?
She smoothed her hair the best she could, ignored the question, and went to open the door.
Dylan’s expression softened when he saw her. “Fuck, Syd. What happened?” He reached toward her.
She stepped away instinctively.
Hurt splashed across his face. Or a scowl.
He’s upset that you’re not playing along.
She hated herself when she got like this. Then again, that was the point.
“Can we come in?” Josh asked.
She was too frazzled to do anything besides open the door wider and step aside.
“Did you come here to reinforce Laurie’s threat?” Sydney’s question came out raw.
Josh frowned. “She threatened you?”
Maybe they didn’t know what happened.
Of course they know.
She clenched her fist until her nails dug into her palm. “She told me if I ever stepped foot in your law offices again, she’d have me arrested.”
“What? Why?” Dylan’s shock looked genuine.
Sydney wanted to believe it was. “Do you really not know?”
“I quit before your appointment. I wasn’t in the office. Dylan only heard the shouting.” Josh stepped closer. He flexed his fingers.
She wanted to fall into comfort from both of them. It was so tempting. They could tell her this was all a big mistake.
They could lie.
She forced steel through her veins and grabbed her copy of the contract from the briefcase she’d discarded by the door. “Read the section about rights and compensation. It’s not what we talked about yesterday.”
Dylan grabbed the paperwork, and Josh read over his shoulder.
Their frowns deepened, and silence stretched through the room, until Sydney couldn’t ignore the ringing in her ears.
They didn’t expect you to catch it so soon.
They didn’t know it was there, or they would have told her.
You should have read before you signed. What were you thinking?
That regardless of what she thought of Laurie Hunter, the woman ran a solid and reputable firm.
Either that’s not true, or you’re just stupid.
Sydney tried to yank herself away from the hole she was plummeting into.
Dylan finally looked up. “This isn’t the contract you were supposed to have.”
“I figured that out. Thanks.” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her voice.
He thinks you’re stupid.
Shut. Up.
Josh flipped to the last page. “But you signed it.”
“Figured that out too. We’re all on the same page now?”
“This isn’t right.” Dylan alternated his gaze between her and the contract. “Did Aaron tell you changes had been made?”
“Yeah. And I signed my life’s work away anyway.” Bitter sarcasm oozed from her reply. “No, he didn’t fucking tell me. No one did.”
“Well make this right,” Josh said.
Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t say it.
Say it.
“Was this all fun and games for the two of you?” She hated herself even more when the words slipped out. “Fucking with my head? Making me think I was special? If you wanted to fuck me without lube, there were other ways to go about it.”
Anger splashed across Dylan’s face. “We didn’t know about this.”
“Yeah. Okay. You just happened to run into me right before this negotiation. You just happened to not know who I was. You just happened to be willing to give me all sorts of free legal advice. That just happened to be a completely and total fucking lie.”
“That’s not how it went down.” Dylan’s tone was turning hard. “I’ve always been sincere with you.”
Bullshit.
Sydney didn’t know anymore. She couldn’t tell which of her thoughts hated her and which wanted what was best for her. Her chest ached, and her eyes ached, and her heart ached. “You need to leave.”
“If that’s what you want,” Dylan said.
Of course he caved that easily. Because the game is over. He never cared.
Josh shook his head. “We’re not going.”
“Get out.” Sydney screamed so loudly, her voice cracked.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Josh didn’t move, and he wasn’t going to let Dylan go either. He’d seen this Sydney before, and a fist clenched around his lungs, squeezing his breath out, that she was falling into this.
The doubt. The disbelief. The years of external pressure, telling her so many things that weren’t true. They’d worked through it when he and she first dated. He knew better than to ignore it or to walk away from her when she was like this, and he remembered how much it tore her apart both during and after.
Any other time she asked him to go, he would. This had to be the exception. “We’re not leaving.”
“Now.” She spoke through clenched teeth.
“No.” Dylan stood by his side.
Josh was a little surprised by that. Dylan didn’t do complicated or drama. But Sydney was different.
Josh itched to reach out to her, but he wouldn’t do that yet. She needed to believe his sincerity first. “We’re staying until you feel better,” he said.
“Why?” Her question came out in a choked sob.
“I can only speak for me. I’m staying because I love you. I’m not making that up. I’m not saying that to poke fun at you. I love you so much. I’ve never stopped.” He poured his heart into the words. This was one of those things he should always mean, and he’d done a shitty job of showing it in the past. “I was wrong back then, to set you aside the way I did. You mean so much more to me than that. I took us for granted, and you deserved better. You still do.”
Her eyes glistened, and she scrubbed a hand across her cheeks.
He wasn’t done yet. Now that the words were flowing, he couldn’t dam up three years’ worth of regret and missed opportunities. “When I tell you you’re stunning, I mean it. Gorgeous eyes. Amazing body. Beautiful mind. Enviable, fuckable brain.”
“Liar.” Her protest was weak.
“Whatever your mind is telling you right now, it’s the one lying.” He didn’t know if it would work, to be this direct. It might backfire on him. She might not be in the mood to hear it.
“Takes one to know one.”
“I broke so m
any promises,” Josh said. “I’m sorry. It was never because of you. What you and I had was incredible. The best thing ever, and I surrendered it. I was wrong.”
“Please stop.” She was begging now. “Don’t make this worse.”
This time he reached for her, placing a finger under her chin to look her in the eye. “Sydney, I mean everything I’m saying. I’ll repeat it from now until eternity if that’s what it takes to make you believe it. I love you more than anything—besides Dylan, but there’s no competition there—you have a special place in my heart that no one else will ever fill. Whatever this is that you’re feeling, whatever happened today, we’ll plow our way through it. I’m on your side. I don’t care what Ms. Hunter has to say. We’ll make this right.”
She stared back, eyes filled with unshed tears.
He was out of words, but he’d start over.
“I signed the contract.” When she finally spoke, he let out a breath. “I didn’t even read it. I trusted you both that it was what you said, and it wasn’t. I walked in there this morning and signed my game away. I’m such a fucking idiot. I thought...”
Josh wasn’t going to let her finish the thought, because that was the tip of the slide. He brushed his lips over hers and pulled back to meet her gaze again. “We didn’t know. I swear to you. This is all wrong. Everything about the contract. But it doesn’t have anything to do with how I feel about you.”
“Same for me.” Dylan spoke up. “This doesn’t change my feelings at all. I mean everything I’ve always said. You’re not a joke. You’re... amazing.”
Josh glided his hand down Sydney’s arm, to grip her fingers. He tugged her closer and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re not stupid. This isn’t your fault. And we weren’t involved.”
“I don’t...” She sighed. “I don’t know anymore.”
“I do. And you don’t have to come up with answers right now. You need to pause. And think. And probably eat. You skipped breakfast, didn’t you?”
She ducked her head. “I was too nervous.”
“Come on.” He tugged her into the kitchen, pulled out a chair, and nudged her into it. He knelt at her feet and kissed her knuckles. “One thing at a time. There’s no reason to force any more than that.”
“I guess.” Most of the waver was gone from her reply, and exhaustion had moved in.
Every inch of him pleaded to wrap her up and hold her. Not until she was ready, though.
DYLAN WASN’T CERTAIN what he’d just seen, but he had some assumptions that felt pretty right.
There was one thing he was sure of—Josh and Sydney may think they broke up, but it was more like a three-year hiatus. Whatever flowed between them in her living room, while she stood on the ledge of doubt and Josh talked her down, was more real and sincere than anything Dylan had ever seen.
When she’d started screaming without giving them a chance to explain, instinct told Dylan to walk away.
The only desire he had with Sydney was to stay, though. It was equal parts because he cared, and because she was right to be furious. She’d just gotten fucked over hard.
Josh moved around the kitchen like it was his own. Knowing which cupboard the bowls were in. Where the spoons were. Where to look for the cereal.
They ate Corn Flakes in silence, with Sydney so drawn into herself, she looked like she wanted to hide in that oversized shirt.
Dylan could only guess at the rules of this, but the quiet didn’t sit well with him. “This wasn’t an honest mistake.”
Sydney looked up from her food, eyes wide. Was she startled that he’d spoken or by what he said? She swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“Aaron Jorgensen is an incompetent asshole. We cover for him... always. Because he’s sleeping with the boss.” Dylan knew that didn’t answer the question, but he was still sorting out his reasons for the declaration.
Sydney looked between them. “So the whole extreme-anti-nepotism thing stops at blood relatives?”
“Yup.” Josh sighed. “But what Dylan’s talking about... If Aaron did this, he’ll be disbarred. He’ll be shunned. This is career-ending shit.”
Pieces were clicking in Dylan’s head. “Only if he gets caught. What was wrong with that last contract we fixed for him?”
“Everything was out of order. The formatting was screwed up.” Josh pushed away his empty bowl. “Do you think... Was he doing the same thing there?”
It was a big assumption to make. Dylan couldn’t proclaim Aaron was fucking with contracts without proof. But he and Josh helped implement the current document management system. Could they find proof? “Maybe. If he did this on purpose with Sydney, it can’t be the first time. He didn’t wake up this morning and think, I’m going to cheat the system for this single client.”
“He might have.” Sydney didn’t sound as pained as she had even a few minutes ago.
Dylan gave her a half-smile. “It’s possible. But I don’t think you’re the only victim here.”
“If you’re saying that to make me feel better, it’s working.” Some of the tightness in her face melted away. “But someone would catch him, right? You said disbarment. What’s worth that kind of risk?”
“Typically money.” Josh cleared away their dishes, rinsed them, and set them in the sink.
How perfectly domestic was this, in the midst of this fucked-up day? Dylan didn’t want to linger on it, but the simple actions left a warm glow inside, where he expected jealousy.
“How do you prove it? How can I help? Can I get my game back? Can I...” Sydney’s scowl was back. “How can I help?”
What else was she about to say? “I can go in the system and compare changes. You two can’t. Non-disclosure and all that.”
“Okay, so... while it seems like a weird time to start caring about that conflict of interest line, I also understand this is more than a little bit of on-the-side legal advice,” Sydney said. “But why can’t Josh help you?”
Josh leaned against the counter near the sink. “Like I said. I quit this morning.”
“Why?” Sydney asked.
“Because...” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Because I’ve never liked working there. And because I choose you.”
“Oh.” Sydney puffed out the reply on a soft sigh.
It was certainly one way to drive home the I’m sorry, and here’s proof I’ll never do it again point. Dylan couldn’t argue with Josh’s logic.
“There is something you can do.” Dylan wanted to get to the bottom of this. He also needed to make sense of his own feelings. Whatever was happening between the three of them was more than just a casual hookup. It wasn’t a simple let’s all date and see where it goes. Something changed this morning, and he had to process.
Sydney leaned in. “Tell me. I can’t... Sitting here, wallowing, will drive me insane.”
“If Jorgensen has done this before, it’s probably been in other cases like yours. People who came in without their own attorney. Smaller companies or individuals who couldn’t afford to fight. And someone has probably bitched about it online.”
“You want us to go play on the internet while you compare documents? That sounds grueling for you.”
“It’s not.” Josh kicked away from the counter. “The system does ninety-nine percent of his work for him. We have to sift through search engines and blog posts and Reddit forums for our answers. And if we find proof, we have to hope my mother is willing to listen.”
Dylan didn’t want to doubt that part of the plan, but their past history of complaints about Aaron spoke for itself. This needed to not be for nothing.
And he had to figure out how to give Sydney the next bit of bad news. Best case scenario here was the publisher said whoops, our bad, we didn’t know either and had her sign the correct contract.
Aaron didn’t do this on his own, though. There was no gain in that. This was a long-term client who he’d bill hourly regardless of how this one contract went.
If the publisher didn
’t back down, Sydney wouldn’t get the money promised, and she probably wouldn’t be able to touch her game, either. Not while the contract was in dispute.
There was no way around that, no matter how desperately Dylan wished otherwise.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sydney was grateful that Josh stuck around. She was on the other side of the emotional chasm now; this feeling was as familiar as the one that came before. Now that she’d moved past her doubt and self-loathing, there was a new voice.
You overreacted.
She was better at ignoring this one. It was typically accompanied by sanity. Josh’s being here helped too. His presence was another reminder of the reasons she adored him, and all the things he’d said warmed her from the inside out.
“How are you feeling?” Dylan asked.
Not secure enough to spill her guts to him, but happy he was here. “Heading toward better.”
He tugged her to her feet, wrapped his arms around her, and pressed his lips softly to hers. “I know everyone says this, but I mean it—if you need me, I’m always here to listen.”
“Not everyone says it.” But she still made those who did prove it. It was safer that way. “It takes a while to get there, but thank you.” She could sink into his embrace, though, and that felt wonderful.
He held her a little longer, then kissed the top of her head before loosening his hug. “I’m going back to our place, to get our laptops. You’re in good hands, and I’ll be back soon.”
“Thank you.” She stole another squeeze and brushed her lips over his. After he left, she turned to Josh. “I’m sorry.”
Josh crossed the distance between them in a few steps and pressed his fingers to her lips. “You know how I feel about that.” He meant the apology.
“And you know I can’t help it.”
“In that case, apology accepted.”
The only thing that would silence the voices was time. But when Josh pulled her close, it helped.
“Thank you.” She gripped his shirt in her fists, enjoying having something to hold onto. “Thank you for not walking away today. For pulling me out. For sticking around after. And for whatever comes next.”
Roll Against Betrayal Page 15