Page 18 of Bound To Be Mine

“You’re right. I made assumptions I shouldn’t have made. I walked into that room with a bias, and I let it dictate my behavior. That’s on me.”

I waited, but he didn’t continue.

“That’s it?” I asked. “That’s your apology?”

“I already apologized.”

“You said you were sorry. You didn’t explain why.”

He rubbed his temple, wincing slightly. Definitely hungover. “I don’t usually explain myself.”

“Well, today you do.”

I scanned the menu. “Oh, bottomless mimosas.”

He groaned. “No.”

I looked up and noticed he looked a little gray. “Hair of the dog.”

“No.”

“I had a bottle of champagne last night but I’m not crying about it,” I said with a shrug.

“Congratulations. You tolerate your liquor better than I do. Maybe you should add that to your list of accomplishments.”

I laughed, completely unbothered. “I spend my days taste-testing wine and champagne. I drink champagne to blend in. I suppose my tolerance might be a little high.”

When the waiter returned, I ordered eggs benedict, and because I wasn’t completely immune to the champagne hangover, I skipped the mimosa and ordered an iced tea. Briggs ordered enough food to feed an army.

“Yep, that’ll cure a hangover,” I teased after the waiter left.

“I fucking hope so.”

“Alright, back to your apology. Make it good.”

He looked up at me. “I protect my family’s interests. That’s my job. When I saw your name on the contract and didn’t recognize it, I assumed you were someone trying to leverage Cleo and Callum’s connection to the Blackwell name. I see it all the time—people who want a piece of what we’ve built without putting in the work. I was wrong about you. Spectacularly wrong. And I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t a perfect apology, but it was honest. And honesty, I could work with.

“Why should I give you another chance?” I asked.

“Because the deal is good,” he said simply. “Because you know it’s good, or you wouldn’t have flown out here in the first place. Because Cleo and Callum want this, and so does Adrian. And because despite my mishandling of yesterday, I’m actually very good at what I do. You won’t find a better attorney to structure a partnership like this.”

“Modest, too.”

“I don’t do false modesty. It wastes time.”

I laughed despite myself. “You’re kind of an asshole, you know that?”

“I’ve been told.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

He considered the question. “I’m effective. People don’t always like effective.”

“Or maybe you’re just difficult.”

“Maybe.” He took a sip of his coffee. Whatever fog he’d been in earlier was lifting. “But I get results. And I don’t make the same mistake twice.”