“Ah,” she laid back into the sofa again, removing her glaring eyes from me, “I remember Kurt telling me your father is a businessman too. That was one of the reasons I hired you. I mean, you’d understand right? You’re a born rich ass heir. Do things always go down like this in aristocratic families?”
Rich ass heir.
I shrugged. I was a moron. I should not have conceded to the ridiculous demand of meeting the client at two in the night. I should not have come to listen to this woman talk. But what could I expect? I was inspired by Daredevil, honestly. He went in search of cases as a flop lawyer. I had used that.
This was a disaster though.
“Well… I don’t know your family situation Anna, but –“
“Oh, it’s like this –“
“I – I mean, you don’t have to tell me.” I really don’t want to know. “But I think we’re done here. There’s no case, and I think you should listen to your father as well.”
She dipped further into the sofa, “Okay. I won’t pretend to be the gallant daughter. It’s true I don’t want to marry some jackass. I’m worried about Markian, but I’m very concerned about me too. Make it stop, please.”
The please got me.
It would have made more sense if she had threatened me to take the case. But I remained seated because she started to seem depressed. And I have a heart, never mind a very fearful one right now.
“I still think you should talk to Mr. Reeves. Suing him for something that hasn’t even happened is a bit extreme.”
“I’m not going to drag him to court. Just a threat of sorts. He receives so many summons from the court anyway. Mine should at least warn him that I’m serious, right?”
“Like I said, there is no case. But I am curious about something.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you want me to help you? How did you find me?”
“That!” Finally, the corners of her mouth lifted into a flimsy smile, “Peter Brown. Your partner. I know him.”
I was confused, “Then why did you specifically ask for me?”
“Because you guys are new. That means you won’t cost much. I can pay you out of my savings. That was the main reason. I can’t use Markian’s money to sue Markian, that’s that. I asked for you because Brown won’t meet with me.”
I was confused. Satisfied because I didn’t expect integrity from her, but still confused.
“Why does Peter refuse to meet you?”
She full out laughed. It was distracting.
“Brown and I are fellow orphans. I beat him up back when I was five. He’s been anxious around me ever since. Refuses to meet me alone at night. So he suggested I see you.”
Oh shit no.
I couldn’t believe my ears. This woman couldn’t possibly be for real, right?
Chapter 3
Anna
I think I scared the living daylights out of Henry Hathaway. He looked ready to wet his pants again. It was hilarious. Henry Hathaway is hilarious.
He took his leave as soon as he could. It’s a thing with men around me. They’re skeptical, especially if they’ve seen me involved in something violent. I mean, give me the benefit of the doubt now will you? I’m strong, not a nutjob. I won’t hit you just because I can.
My second impression of Henry Hathaway was also nothing favorable. The man was useless. All he kept saying until the end was, “There is no case.” Fine! I know that too. But that’s what I was offering to pay you for. Make one.
Asshole.
Anyway, he took his leave and I feel like Brown needs another punch in the gut. The first time we fought, we were both in the Mary Greene Orphanage. I was five, he was nine. He was bullying Kate Connor, my then best friend. And I think I got pissed because he stepped on my ice cream while calling me fat as well. I went a little crazy and attacked him, but the dude tripped over a waterpipe and ended up banging his head on an iron window rail instead.
And I got to see juvie rehab, thanks to Peter Brown and his stupidity.
I never forgave him, but the ass never apologized either.
We met again by chance when I graduated high school, and I demanded an apology as soon as I saw him. He was scared shitless back then as well, much like his friend Henry Hathaway was today. It’s true I guess. Wusses do stick together.
But the problem now is, I need another plan. I was sure with the RDesigns name and an unsuccessful lawyer, my strategy would work. This Hathaway dude was too uptight. Too bad he was pretty.
Broad chest, kissable lips. Beautiful, beautiful eyes. I also liked how cute his butt looked in his jeans. I must not have been thinking straight when I thought he was unattractive last night. I might have jumped him today if I was still drunk.
I think it was because the thought of Henry’s physique was stuck in my brain that I didn’t realize when Markian came in. I was still lying on the sofa and contemplating my next move, when he announced his arrival.
“Anna.”
I was pulled out of my reverie. His face stunned me for a second and my first instinct was to feel fear. I hope he hadn’t heard me talk about my plan to Henry. I shrugged.
“Hey dad. Morning.”
He is an old man who is probably fifty and terribly in love with his dead wife. Rhea had passed away when I turned fourteen, which was six months after the couple had adopted me. I don’t know how Mark was when Rhea was around, but the servants in the house tell me he was a bright and cheerful man back then. Now he was just somber and broody. The years had only made him worse.
To be honest, I don’t really understand it. I think he could have moved on if he really tried. But I wasn’t someone who could talk him through it. I could barely talk myself through my teens.
He scowled at my state.
“Did you get drunk again Anna?”
I nodded, “Yeah.”
“I told you to stop.”
“I told you to stop too.”
“Anna, you will have to get married someday or the other. How long can you keep living like this? You’re drunk every night. You get into trouble every other day. You’re notorious for not being wanted. Do you know how troublesome it was to get Shayne to agree to a marriage date for you?”
Shayne was Mark’s business associate. Shayne’s son was supposed to be my future husband. Definitely over my grave.
I mean, it’s funny how hypocritical all of this was. Mark had spent the last nine years of his life grieving Rhea, and here he was explaining to me how I couldn’t survive alone. I pretty damn well could. I didn’t need marriage to live. I thrived alone.
“Anna.”
“I heard you.”
He was getting angry. I could see his brows furrow into a frown.
“You didn’t. Also, would you care to explain to me why Earnest Hathaway’s son just walked out of my door?”
I flinched at that. Had he seen Henry?
My second thought of course was the names. Earnest and Henry. What era did these gentlemen belong to?
“He’s the friend of a friend.”
I don’t think I’ve seen Mark fume so remarkably before. His nostrils flared and he was clearly pissed, “I’m glad you didn’t get into trouble with Henry. But you are no friend of any Hathaway, Anna. Cut him out.”
Woah. Where was this coming from?
“You and Ernie are rivals, Mark?”
“ERNIE?”
I practically laughed my ass off. They were! This was a jackpot.
“Henry’s a dear friend dad,” I said as casually I could, “I can’t just cut him out.”
“Anna, I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Anna!”
My head hurt. I was hung over and I was having fun with this conversation. But there was no need to yell. What is it with old gentlemen?
I like the word gentlemen.
“I can hear you perfectly fine. Why hurt your guts by hollering dad?”
He clenched his fists. I stood up and grabbed his hand. He resist
ed for a minute but gave in when I pulled him to the sofa and made him sit. He gave me a warning glare and whispered under his breath, “I hate Earnest Hathaway. I don’t want you to stay in touch with him.”
I was done with having fun. My old man was serious, and usually I don’t distress him. He suffers from hypertension so goading him for fun has to be done within a limit.
I almost said okay, but he didn’t let me.
“Anna, I also want you to meet Shayne’s boy. I’ve heard he’s decent.”
“You haven’t met him?”
“You meet him first.”
Way to go.
“Why do you want to get rid of me Mark? I don’t think I’m that huge a liability to you.”
He predictably sulked, “You’ve never been a liability. That’s what makes me a little sad. You stopped asking me for money when you were fifteen. You keep getting in trouble and you keep getting out of it by yourself too. You’ve never let me spoil you.”
“Honestly, none of that is reason to complain.”
He chuckled, “I’m not complaining. Just that if you had let me spoil you, my threat to cut you out of my inheritance would have worked better. That’s how the usual rich ass families and their kids work.”
Well.
Markian Reeves is a self made man. His fortune was built on effort. And he had no kids of his own. He was pretty confused about the aristocrats’ ways of life as well. He had no experience.
My family is funny.
I called for an aspirin and he shrugged at me. I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I agreed to go meet the dude he had found for me. Don’t get me wrong, I was going to reject him, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t see him. Also, some of my confidence came from Henry Hathaway.
His was a family with generations of riches. And he had downright disliked me.
Which was hope that I might not have to reject this man I was meeting at all.
If all went well, he would reject me instead.
Chapter 4
Henry
“You’ve got to be shitting me!”
I am going to kill Peter Brown. At one point in my life I trusted this man blindly. That trust went to dust when I came back from Anna Reeves’s place today.
“I’m so sorry Henry! Man, I’m really sorry!”
Pete was running around the desk at our worn down office. I grabbed some nachos from the bowl on the table and threw them at him. He had been stuffing his face since yesterday while he put me out as bait. I had a 2 a.m. escapade thanks to him. And he didn’t even give me a warning as to who I was out to meet!
My anger renewed.
I caught him by his shirt and pulled him back as he tried to make a run for the restroom. I slapped his balding head and tried to gag him with my arm.
“I’ll kill you! I will. Do you know how scary she was? I died twice since last night!”
“I’m s-sorry! I’m sorry. Let me go man! I was scared too.”
“So you put me out? You asshole!”
“No, I knew she won’t hurt a stranger. She has principles you know.”
I wrestled him harder. He was making me angrier.
Peter and I have been tight since first semester of law school. He was a half-round, gullible, lovable man until yesterday. Now he’s a sworn enemy until I can beat him up.
We got our office 500 meters away from a Starbucks. Food is our priority. I need to munch in order to research on cases and so does Pete. I am the lucky guy who doesn’t need to work out too much but can stay in shape. Probably good genes. Peter is a bit less lucky – he has to hit the gym daily or he turns semi-round, like he has now.
We’re not tidy people so our office is a mess. Then again, we’re still trying to land our first client so it’s okay.
I had let Peter go by now. He was gasping and trying to smack me back but I dodged. He looked at me in defiance and said rather nastily, “I’m the victim man. She hit me once. Then she forced me to apologize years later. I was traumatized Henry.”
“Then you should have refused to see her at all.”
“Come on man. She’s a friend.”
That was it. I would have smacked him again but he raised his hands in time-out and said in a rush, “I also thought it’d be great if she could land us a case. I mean, she’s the heir of RDesigns.”
“Yeah, the company is doomed then.”
“Relax man. Let’s talk it out. I’m sorry again.”
I glared at him and threw another handful of nachos in resent. He dodged and grinned and we ended the fight mutually.
While I was busy clearing out the desk, Peter attended a few phone calls and made a few notes. If I have to define our relationship, only Shawn Spencer and Gus come to mind. Psych was why I wanted to be a police officer when I was a boy – till I realized it was dangerous work and I could die. I could call myself the Shawn of our office, but Pete is smarter. I’m a people’s person, I love the communication and talk. Peter is a fantastic loner.
“Henry.”
“Yeah Pete.”
“You remember Cain from school?”
“Cain Matthews?”
“Yeah. He wants to meet us at the Green Apple restaurant. He said he needs advice.”
I raised my brows, “On?”
“I don’t know. He said he’d talk once we agree to meet. He’s a good guy.”
“As was Anna Reeves apparently. I’m getting skeptical about all these random friends of yours calling us. Why don’t you tell him to come here for a change?”
Peter laughed, “Come on man. Anna is great, it’s just that I don’t want to be around her. And you know Matthews. He was number one on the guys-you’d-like-to-marry list.”
“Back in high school. And there was a list like that?”
“Sure.”
“You know a lot for a loner,” I pointed out, “it’s creepy.”
“Anyway,” Peter’s tone turned a little grimmer. I looked up, “Cain said he was being followed so he didn’t want to be seen at a lawyer’s office. He sounded pretty serious.”
“Does he also want us because we’re newbies?” I was being sarcastic.
“Maybe. Or maybe because we’re guys he knows. Let’s meet him Henry. We’re free anyway.”
“When is it?”
“Tomorrow at seven.”
“Alright. But you owe me one for Anna Reeves.”
“Okay. What do you want?”
“You do the chores for the rest of the week.”
He sighed, made a face, but agreed. I smiled. Now that the ordeal was over and there was the prospect of a new case, I felt like I could prod in.
“Peter, what is it with Anna Reeves you think? Why was she alone in that alley fighting people off?”
Pete shrugged, “I really don’t know man. We stay in touch because she wants to. I think she resents me for dating Kate.”
My interest sparked, “Kate Connor?”
“Yeah. We were all together at the orphanage and I used to like Kate a lot. Remember that stupid phase where boys bully the girls they like? I did that to Kate and apparently it pissed off Anna. She hit me, I got severely injured and –“
I pulled up a chair and sat on it. “So Anna is your pre-school nightmare? The woman who punched you, you tripped by mistake and she was sent off for counselling?”
He nodded. No way.
“Dude. You have terrible luck. Tell me again why you still talk to her?”
Peter shrugged, “We met again on my high school graduation ceremony. Kate brought her since we were seeing each other and she was still best friends with Anna. She wanted us to bury the hatchet.”
“And you got hit again?”
“No man! Anna pretty much asked for an apology and I gave one. We’ve been in touch ever since.”
“How come?”
“She texts me sometimes and I reply.”
“Why?”
“It’s rude not to.”
“I mean, why does she stay in touch? You broke up with
Kate years ago and she has no reason to.”
“I don’t know man. I heard she had some heat with Kate and they ended up fighting. Like I said Henry, she scares people shitless but Anna Reeves is a nice girl.”
I rolled my eyes, “She called me Hathaway, even though we’ve never met. She’s way too entitled.”
“You didn’t even pretend to give her a ride last night. You’re kinda even.”
“Pete?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know that?”
“I told you she texts me.”
Unbelievable.
I would have kicked his ass, but I instead reached out for his mobile phone which was lying on the desk. I knew his password.
“You’re dead to me if you like her Peter Brown.”
Peter didn’t try to stop me. He did say in exasperation, “I was scared enough when she asked to meet at two in the night to tell her I would send you instead. Like her, my ass.”
“Isn’t it weird though? Why did she want to meet so late? And what the heck did she even want?”
“I don’t know. Since it’s not our concern anymore, let it go. Her number is saved under Gangsta.”
I let the phone go.
“I knew it!” I exclaimed, “She might be the heir of RDesigns but she is a thug!”
“She is.”
Somehow, I didn’t want to know what she had said about me anymore. It’s not like I could say anything back. I didn’t have the guts to.
“What sort of stuff is she involved in?”
“Cut it out man. About Matthews –“
“I wonder what kind of sorry ass she is getting married to,” I whispered under my breath, distracted but actually afraid.
Chapter 5
Anna
I knew Markian was going to make a fuss out of it, but I had no idea he would be so extreme. He stood watch outside my door while a maid helped me dress up according to the occasion. Ten years with me and Mark still underestimated my capabilities. He probably didn’t take into account that I could change in a restroom on the way. I won’t because it wasn’t worth the effort.
My Thug Bride Page 2