by Lexi Blake
Margarita shrugged. “I don’t pay much attention to celebrity stuff. I think the daughter did a TV show for a few years. I remember hearing something about her having a breakdown and leaving the show. And yes, Alicia is going to be there. Another reason David and I are going. We want to make sure she understands that not bad-mouthing you includes doing it in person.”
“Please don’t tell her hello for me.” He shuddered at the thought and was glad his partner didn’t mind putting on a tux and mingling with the rich-and-bored set.
He sat down in his chair, ready to get back to the never-ending paperwork that came with a new firm. He had associates to hire. Hopefully. He had a thick stack of applications, but god only knew if any of them were up to his standards.
“David told me you met a woman while you were on the island.”
He bit back a groan. “David is a gossipy old lady.”
She grinned. “Yes, he is. I think the NFL taught him that. I walked in on him and some of his old teammates the other day and I swear they were gossiping like hens. But that’s not the point. David said you seemed happy with her. He also said when he asked about her now, you wouldn’t talk.”
Because it was over and he tried to focus on the future and not the past. It was the only way to get through life. “It was a vacation fling, nothing more. There’s nothing to talk about. She’s got her life and I’ve got mine.”
And it was damn lonely. He’d sat in his wretchedly expensive condo and stared at the news on the television, half-heartedly eating whatever he’d picked up from one of the fast-food places around him, wondering if she was doing the same thing hundreds of miles away.
Less than five hundred miles. He’d looked it up. Durham was about an eight-hour drive from Manhattan. Less than two hours on a plane.
“That’s a shame.” Margarita stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows. “David said she seemed nice.”
He didn’t understand why David couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “David didn’t really meet her. And she is nice, which is precisely why I should let her lead her own life, far from my madness.”
“Madness? That seems like hyperbole.”
He gestured at the mess of files around him because it wasn’t. It was the truth. “I’m talking about starting up a firm. You know I’ll have to pull eighty-hour weeks for a long time.”
“We don’t have that many clients yet,” she pointed out. “You’ll be lucky to pull a thirty-hour week unless you want to count launching stuff at young Lawless’s head. His office is being redecorated and he’s sitting at a desk in the cubes. He’s so tall his head sticks up, making him a supereasy target. I take turns with the paralegals launching stuff at him. It’s funny to watch him try to figure out where it came from. He’s too polite to blame any of us.”
It was good to know she was having a blast. “You know what I mean. I need to be here. I need to get our name out. I’m the one whose name is trashed. I have to make this right.”
“Ah, there’s the martyr I know so well,” she said with a shake of her head. “It’s not just you. We’re practically the island of misfit lawyers. You married the wrong person and ended up in tabloid hell. Forgive yourself. You’re not the only one who has trouble being taken seriously. David played defense in the NFL for three seasons. Do you think anyone wants a pro athlete lawyer? Especially with his history of concussions. He can get a meeting with almost anyone, but they want him to sign their memorabilia, not represent them. I’m a Latina who looks pretty good in heels. You have no idea how hard it is to be taken seriously. And Lawless . . . poor kid.”
He would give her David and herself, but not Noah. “‘Poor’ is not the term I would use to describe Noah.”
She shrugged. “Well, try being him for a day or two. Talk about a kid who was dragged through the tabloids. It’s precisely why he decided to switch his major from technology to law. He wanted a place where he could make his own name, but no one lets him. No one thinks he’s here on his own merits.”
“He’s not.” He’d softened toward the kid, but it still rankled.
“He’s actually quite brilliant,” Margarita pointed out. “He’s got a different way of thinking about things, and he could prove formidable in a courtroom if he’s got the right influences.”
“Aren’t you the right influence?” There was zero question in his mind that Margarita was here to watch over Noah Lawless for his billionaire brother. She was here to nudge Noah this way or that and to make sure he had an advisor he could trust.
She turned, her eyes narrowing on him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I understand you have some intellectual interest in a start-up firm. Especially one with as many problems as this one has. I know you have a reputation for making things work even when they shouldn’t, but there’s no way you would waste your time vetting my real estate transactions if Drew Lawless wasn’t paying you to watch over his brother.”
“Or I would do it because I thought we were friends,” she said, followed by a long sigh. “At least as much as you can be a friend. Not everyone views the world the way you do. Don’t forget, Henry. I went to school with you. I know your tricks and you’re distancing again. That’s a dangerous thing. Call the woman. Tell her you want more than a summer fling.”
He looked down at his desk, a little afraid he would give himself away. He had to get his game face back on. “Maybe I’m perfectly happy that it ended. How do you know I want more?”
“Woman’s intuition,” she shot back.
Maybe he did need to talk about it with a woman he trusted. He hadn’t talked to anyone at all about Win and it was starting to get to him. Margarita was right. Distancing was a dangerous thing for him to do. Not talking about his problems put his sobriety at risk. “I’ve thought about calling her, but I decided that would be a mistake. I don’t have anything to offer her.”
“Offer her? I don’t understand what you mean. Does she need a bank account balance before she’ll date you?”
He frowned at the thought. He didn’t want there to be some mistake about Win. “She’s not like that. Not at all. I’m talking about how everything is going to be risky for the next few years. I’ve got to put all my energy into this business.”
“Building this firm won’t mean anything if you’ve got nothing to go home to, Henry. Haven’t you figured that out? You have to have some kind of a life outside this building.”
He gave her a faint smile. “I go to AA meetings. It’s a real social scene.”
“I’m sure it is. But you need more. You need balance and this woman might give you some. It might actually be good that she’s not right here in the city. You can take it slow and easy and see each other when you can.” It was apparent which side Margarita was on.
“I worry it will be different. I’ll be different. You’re right. We don’t have a good client list, and we have to convince some of the most discerning people in the world to trust us with their very lives. It’s not going to be easy, and I need to be more ruthless than the man she met on that island.”
“It would be easier if you would let us sign some celebrity clients.”
He could be reasonable and it was obvious his partners weren’t going to let this go. “Yes to rock stars. Get me some rock stars or rappers. They get arrested all the time. We’ll totally rep them. Athletes. Love athletes. Actors can kiss my ass. I hope they all go to jail.”
Her head fell back on a groan. “You’re so stubborn. Listen, I’m meeting with Bellamy Hughes tonight. That’s why I’m going to the gala. He sent us an invitation and I wish you would go with us. He’s a good man to know. You know how often that disgusting pig of a son of his gets into trouble. That kid is a gold mine. I’ve also heard he’s had some corporate spying issues and wants to look into how to curb it.”
“That’s not what we do here.”
“No, but we do ge
t a finder’s fee from McKay-Taggart if a client signs with them.”
McKay-Taggart was a global security firm known for handling things like corporate spying and—if rumors were true—real, actual spying from time to time. Noah’s only sister had married into the Taggart clan, so 4L had deep ties with them and those ties crossed over to their new firm. McKay-Taggart would handle all their vetting of employees and would assist in investigations if needed. “I do see your point.”
“It should also buy us some goodwill because you know that firm will handle things properly,” she said. “If they’re happy with the security firm, they’re likely happy with us. Then we’re standing right there when one of those privileged fuckers screws up again. Hell, it might not even be Hughes who hires us. He could refer us if we’re in his orbit. He’s got a wide range of friends who do some shady things.”
“Are you talking about Hatch? Because I was hoping this one was the real thing.” Noah Lawless strode into Henry’s office. There was a pained expression on his face. “Tell me she didn’t turn out to be crazy. I think Hatch honestly loves this woman. I might love her. She’s the aunt I never had. Don’t tell me she’s horrible. You know this is why people hate lawyers. We always deliver bad news.”
Bill Hatchard was Drew Lawless’s partner in 4L. At least twenty-five years older than everyone in the Lawless clan, he served as the crazy uncle of the family. Hatch had proven to be an excellent sponsor in AA, even if he did get pissy when Henry called him at four in the morning.
Hatch also was looking for a lady to spend his twilight years with. Henry had been carefully vetting each potential bride. Unfortunately, Hatch liked ex-strippers. The first two he’d brought home had turned out to be gold diggers. This time was different. She was a nice woman closer to Hatch’s age and with her own money and seemed to be the perfect match.
“Slow down, Noah. She’s everything she said she is. Nothing came up in the reports except she has terrible taste in men. I think you’ll have a wedding this time around.” If someone like Bill Hatchard could find a partner, why couldn’t he?
Noah smiled. “Excellent. That makes me happy. True love wins. In that case, I’m heading over to Rikers to meet with a potential client. He’s accused of drug trafficking, but the kid has no priors. I think he’s being set up. The public defender is a whack job who didn’t even contest the million-dollar bond for a first-time offense.”
Henry felt his brow rise as he contemplated the young Lawless. “Does he have money? Obviously not if he can’t make bail. You know you only need about ten percent to get a bondsman.”
Noah went slightly pink. “You told me I could take pro bono cases.”
Damn do-gooders. This was when he laid down the law and explained to Noah that their job was to make money, not waste everyone’s time on a kid who was likely guilty anyway. They had to concentrate on people who could pay. If they couldn’t bill hours, they shouldn’t waste the time or the resources.
He sighed because he could guess what Win would say to that.
“All right. Make sure you know what you’re doing. Get everything you can out of the cops and I’ll go through it myself.” He’d been so much better at this when he was a drunk.
Noah practically ran out the door, his enthusiasm near infectious. Like Win’s.
“He’s awfully excited. It must be his first time to go out to Rikers.” The kid wouldn’t be excited after he realized he was going into a dank hellhole and might need antibiotics. “Please go with him and make sure he doesn’t touch anything.”
“I will, but think about what I said.” Margarita headed for the door. “Women need very little from men as long as they’re honest. You might be surprised. She might be every bit as busy as you are and more than willing to take what time you have. You won’t know until you try.”
She left and he was alone with a ton of paperwork, and file after file of potential employees to go through, including a stack of applications to be his personal assistant.
He slumped into his chair. He hadn’t wanted to deal with it to this point, but it kept coming up. She’d stopped texting when he hadn’t replied. If he let it go another couple of weeks, she’d totally get the picture and move on with her life. He would become a memory, a few wild weeks she would forget about when she found a man who could take care of her properly, someone she could love and raise a family with.
Or he could call her and do exactly what Margarita had told him to do. Tell her the truth. Tell her he was kind of lost without her and wanted more. He could talk to her, explain what he could and couldn’t give, and maybe that would be enough for her for now.
When he thought about it, they were both busy. Maybe a long-distance thing could work for them. They could see each other once a month. The Lawless kid believed in true love. He could pony up a private jet.
It might work.
He needed time to think about it. No more than a day or two. If he talked about it with his sponsor and thought about it, and it still seemed like something a doesn’t-only-think-of-himself nonasshole would do, maybe he could call her.
Maybe they could see each other.
Maybe they could have a future.
He picked up the phone because anytime he had to make a hard decision, he wanted something more than time.
“Hey, Henry. You doing okay?” Bill Hatchard never failed to answer his calls. Not once.
It was good to have someone to rely on. Someone who had been where he’d been. “I’m thinking about Scotch.”
“Ah, then you’re worried about something. Let’s talk,” Hatch said.
Henry sank back into his chair and started that most important part of his therapy. Connection.
* * *
“You look lovely, dear,” Uncle Bellamy said, handing Win a glass of champagne. He was resplendent in his tuxedo. Behind him, the lights of Manhattan sparkled like jewels against the velvet night. “The gala went beautifully. I hope you don’t mind I invited a few more guests to our after-party. I made sure their names were on the list. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get your lawyer friend here.”
Win stopped, her heart threatening to pound out of her chest. She’d spent the entirety of the past two days in a state of near panic, but that was to be expected. She’d flown up from Durham, leaving behind her quiet town house because she had to be hands-on for an event like this. There was only so much she could leave to planners and assistants. Parties like the gala, where she’d entertained more than two thousand people, never ran smoothly. The key was to make it look like they did.
She’d expected that panic. She hadn’t expected this. “You invited Henry?”
It might have been possible to avoid him at the gala. The ballroom had been massive and crowded. She’d mostly been behind the scenes, ensuring everything went well.
But here there would be only a hundred of the wealthiest donors, and a few of her close friends. There would be maybe twenty celebrities brought in to impress the big donors. There was no way she could miss him if he were here, and then he would have questions she had no idea how to answer.
Not that he cared. It was obvious, given his silence, that he’d been serious about not seeing her again.
Somehow, even though he’d explained it plainly to her, she had expected him to call. Or at least to reply to her. She wasn’t angry with him, couldn’t be. He’d been up-front and honest. But that didn’t make her heart ache less.
“I did, but apparently he’s got better things to do. He’s a hard fellow to get hold of,” her uncle said with a frown. “One would think he would want a connection with someone like me. Anyway, I’m meeting with one of his colleagues. She’s got deep ties to 4L Software. Now, that’s a family I wouldn’t mind having connections to. Is it really over between you and the lawyer?”
She nodded but smiled, unwilling to let him know how much it hurt. “We agreed to a few weeks. Nothin
g more. I had a lovely time but I’m not going to see him again.”
He stared at her for a moment, and she could practically feel the sympathy oozing off him. He finally sighed and reached out, patting her shoulder. “Well, he’s a fool, then. I’m going to get another drink. Tell those idiot friends of yours that if they ever touch my Scotch again, I’ll have them brutally murdered. I know people. I’m only tolerating them tonight for your sake.”
She winced. “Yeah, I might have mentioned that you wouldn’t take that well.”
He shook his head, looking fatherly in the moment. “I’m glad you’re putting some distance between yourself and that group. I know you’ve been friends with them for a long time, but you have to see you’re on a different path from them. You have a future that doesn’t involve being a washed-up half star. Quarter star, really. Why a person would want to be famous for being an idiot, I have no idea.”
He’d made it plain that he hadn’t liked her going on Kendalmire’s Way. He’d even threatened to cut her off, but he’d finally decided the publicity would be bad for everyone. “Well, sometimes we have to make mistakes to know what we want in life.”
“Yes, we do,” he replied, more softly than before. “I’m quite proud of you, Winnie. Your parents would be, too. I blame myself for you falling in with that crowd. I should have paid more attention to you. I was far too busy trying to run the company. It was a choice I made. I’m good at running a company. I’m obviously not the world’s most nurturing father.”
“No, you aren’t, are you?” Brie turned the corner. She’d changed from her elegant ball gown to a cocktail dress, one that barely covered her ass. It was her usual black, and she’d exchanged the diamonds she’d worn earlier for a harsh-looking black collar. There was nothing soft about her friend’s look, but then she was playing a role—tough rock chick.