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I groan. “Is there any way I can convince you to drop this?”
“Yes.” She smiles sweetly. “By giving me deets.”
“It’s nothing important.”
“You tell me and I’ll decide.”
“He was just being a jerk, as usual.” I release a frustrated breath. “I mean, I get it. He kicks it up a notch whenever he has a hearing with his stepmother, but he had no damn business taking it out on me. I was only five minutes late to the partners’ meeting because of a client, and he asked me, in front of all the partners, if I respected them. When I said, of course, he was like ‘Apparently not enough or you would’ve shown up on time, Ms. Leblanc.’”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Yes, he did. That’s the closest I’ve been to murder. He is such an asshole with Machiavellianism running in his veins instead of blood.”
“Yeah, off with his head in the guillotine. The jerk.”
“Asshole.”
“Dickhead with fragile masculinity.”
“Motherfucking bastard.” I huff. “I can’t believe he won two cases in one damn day. I swear he gets his energy from sacrificing poor souls at the devil’s altar.”
“Aspen, honey, you’re not supposed to admire him when we’re planning to cut off his dick and feed it to my dogs. What do you guys call it? Right, conflict of interest.”
“I don’t admire him. I just…”
“Consider him a rival?”
I sigh. “The worst kind. Sometimes, I wish I was as assertive as he is, but I guess that means discarding my newly found heart, and I kind of need that.”
“Yeah, no discarding hearts. That shit will leave you empty. Besides, maybe the fact that he’s rich, hot as sin, and successful is all a façade to hide his hollow insides.”
“There’s nothing hollow about Kingsley, Callie. He’s bigger than the world and could be seen from space.”
“Or maybe that’s what he likes you and the world to think.” She raises a brow. “I’ve been married to a mafia boss for, like, three years and I’ve breathed the air of dangerous men every day, so I know when they bubble wrap their exterior with dazzling shit that’s meant to blind anyone who attempts to look closer. Your Kingsley ranks high on the bullshit scale.”
“He is not my Kingsley.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Your baby daddy and the man who stole your fourteen-year-old heart. Maybe we should add villain of your soul to the list?”
Before I can smack her and risk being bitten by her dogs, the doorbell rings. Caroline pales and it’s my turn to grin. “Your own villain is finally here, so you can stop obsessing over staring at the clock.”
“Don’t open the door,” she says, but I’m already up. “I swear to God I’ll send Kingsley your actual diaries from back then, bitch.”
“Joke’s on you, already burned them,bitch,so unless you’re up for a vacation in hell, that won’t be happening. Oh, also, you have mascara on your cheek, might want to remove that.” I’m smiling as she curses and runs to the bedroom to make herself look presentable. She says she hates the man, but she still wants to look her best in front of him.
I grab a sweater from the dining area and put it on before I open the door. Caroline can be a bit naïve sometimes or else she wouldn’t think I’d be able to keep this door shut when Mateo is right outside. It’s not like he’ll dutifully stay put.
He might be acting patient with her, but he’ll bring the thing down if she refuses to see him, and I kind of need my door.
“Aspen,” he greets as soon as I open it, looking way better than his haggard state that day he nearly slashed my face.
“Mateo. Do come in, though I don’t think you need the invitation.”
“I actually do.”
“Are you a vampire, after all?”
“No, just a well-mannered Italian around my wife’s friends.” He narrows his eyes and I narrow mine back before stepping aside.
