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But he refused. The way he saw it, there were two options--we con
tinue working together with no mention of our personal lives, or I sell him my half of the firm and resign immediately. I hand over all of my clients, even those in the middle of difficult cases.
I want him out of my life, but I can't abandon the clients who need me.
I clench and unclench my fists. Ryan is always an irritation, but I'm not going to let him get to me.
I knock on the door and step into his office.
Ryan doesn't look up from his computer. "Several new clients requested you. I put the consults on your calendar."
"I have a full calendar." And taking on new clients will make it harder to get out of this firm.
Ryan moves his gaze from his laptop to me. "They specifically requested you. You do have a certain reputation."
I offer him my best I don't a damn what you think smile. "I'd rather focus on making the clients I have happy."
"It's perfectly good business. You need a better reason than that to turn it away." He holds a stare. It's a business stare, cold and emotionless, and so very Ryan. He never gives anything away. He never even raises his voice.
"If we dissolve the firm, you can take on all the clients you want," I say.
"Out of the question," he says. "We have a reputation, and I do all the work to maintain it. I do seventy percent of our billable hours."
Asshole.
But I swear, if I look closely, I can almost see a sign of weakness. I can almost see some little hint of how much it hurt him to lose Alyssa.
So I offer him a smile, a real smile this time. "When we decided to start this business, we agreed we'd work reasonable hours."
He narrows his eyes, his brow furrowing. I'm sure Ryan regrets asking me to start Lawrence and Knight. I know I regret getting into business with him. But it made sense at the time. He was the only competent person I knew who wanted to specialize in divorces and he was willing to actually run the firm so I could devote my attention to actually practicing law.
"You need to start pulling your own weight." It's as calm as it could possibly be. He flips through a file on his desk. "Starting with your latest client, Mrs. Pike. She can't afford the kind of aggressive negotiation you outlined, and there's no way she's going to get full custody. Convince her to take a more reasonable offer."
I fold my arms. "No."
Ryan looks at me with pity, like I'm an idiot for being so idealistic. "I appreciate that you can sell the hot, hopeless-romantic divorce lawyer. It attracts clients. Hell, it's your best asset. But you need to be reasonable. She'll never get full custody. And her daughter is a teenager. Any sane judge will let the daughter decide. You're only wasting her money and getting her hopes up for nothing."
I grit my teeth. "I will continue to run my cases my way. If you'd like to run things a different way, we can dissolve the firm."
He raises his voice. "That's out of the question."
"Then so is me taking on these new clients."
I turn to leave but Ryan clears his throat. When I bring my gaze back to him, he's wearing a shit-eating grin.
"How is Alyssa?" he asks.
"She's great."
"I've been meaning to ask her to dinner." He smiles and folds his hands in his lap. "We were best friends for years. I'm sure she'd like to get back in touch."
My stomach drops and my head flashes with all sorts of sick images of Ryan on top of Alyssa, thrusting away in missionary while she tears her hair out in boredom.
"I need to get back to work," I say.
"Yes, you have two briefs to finish. You don't want to work too late. She gets lonely."
I clench my fists. He's trying to get a rise out of me. It's not going to work.
