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Thankfully, Noah isn’t one of those people. He spent half of our lunch meeting thanking me profusely for mygenerosity.Noah is a nice guy, in a tough spot. A cheating wife who left him for a rich asshole. The first six months after she left, she and her new boyfriend wanted nothing to do with their two kids. When she suddenly showed back up and told Noah that they would be suing for custody, he found me. I’m confident about our case, and not at all worried that we’ll hit any roadblocks. As long as he’s being honest with me, and I really think he is, then it’ll all be okay.
I pull up in front of my office building and the sight of my name on the door next to my best friend’s always has a smile pulling my lips. I wasn’t thrilled about Alec buying the building for us, but I relented because I know why he did it in the first place. I hadn’t originally planned to be a pro-bono firm, but Alec made it possible for me. I still have clients I charge, mostly business accounts. That’s how I pay for my living expenses. But the other clients that I don’t charge, I’m able to do that because Alec paid for everything else. The building is paid off and he refuses to charge Willow and I rent. My car has been paid off since I lived in Boston, so I don’t have any major expenses besides my rent and other day-to-day costs. I’m lucky, and there’s no denying that.
I step into the office and my eyes immediately go to the painting on the wall. The one I asked Nicole to paint before we even opened. I told her I wanted it as a reminder to my clients that even when life is hard, beauty can come from it. The truth was though, that I think I needed it for myself even more. It’s not hard to mask my true feelings. I’ve become an expert at covering any pain or sadness with a smile and a strategically timed laugh. Most people thought that when my husband cheated on me with my boss, I just smiled and moved on with my life. That was true to a point. But it didn’t take away the sting of betrayal from two people I thought I could trust. Sure, karma worked swiftly when the two morons fucked in my boss's office and forgot to turn off the camera that was used for a video call earlier that day. A notification was sent to the heads of five of the most prestigious law firms in the country. I had a good laugh when I found out about that one. Not to mention the fact that they were both let go and basically blacklisted after that. I try not to be a petty person, but I’ll admit that I had a very hard time finding any sort of sympathy for them. Especially after I found out that when he told me he had to go into the office the day after we got married, he was actually going to her place.
It’s rare that I think about them, and what all went down. But there are those occasional moments when life just feels extra hard and that small niggling feeling in the back of my mind that says I’m not good enough becomes louder than usual. That’s when I find comfort in the painting. Because my life truly is beautiful.
“Hey,” the door to Willow’s office opens and I almost laugh at how obvious she looks right now.
“You know,” I say with a laugh, “you’d think two people as smart as you and Alec would know how to button a blouse properly.” Her eyes immediately snap down to where her top is all skewed.
“Oh um-” Before she can even come up with an excuse, my brother opens the door wider and steps out. He’s wearing a wicked grin and I have to admit that I kind of love seeing him like this. There might be a small ick-factor from my brother and best friend being together, but it’s easily forgotten when I think about how happy they make each other.
“I would have preferred she not put it back on at all, but-” He shrugs his huge shoulder and Willow shoves him with a laugh. I can’t help but laugh too, because Alec doesn’t budge even an inch. My best friend is tiny as hell, and my brother is basically a giant. He has at least a foot over Willow and his frame is broad and strong. He’s always been tall and strong, but over the years he’s only gotten larger and larger.
“Well, I’m thankful you both decided to put your clothes back on.” I head to my office, trying to tamp down the small niggle of jealousy that tries to rise inside of me. Willow was put through hell by her ex, and her family. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s her and Alec. But sometimes, seeing them like this, it reminds me of just what I’m missing in life. Possibly the only thing.
For some reason, those thoughts have the image of Hunter at the cafe today flash in my mind. That’s not exactly the kind of place I would imagine him being at. You’d think a guy that looks like him would stick out like a sore thumb there. That cafe is a pretty popular one for business meetings and lunch dates. But somehow, he looked exactly like he belonged there. Like it’s a place he frequents regularly. Maybe he does. It’s not like I actually know anything about the guy. Hell, I’m not even sure if Hunter is his actual name. Some of Alec’s guys go by their first names, and some go by their last. I have no idea if Hunter is his first or last name, or if it’s even a name. Maybe it’s a nickname. I’m sure I could ask someone, but that would send up major red flags and the last thing I want is everyone to find out about my pathetic schoolgirl crush on my brother’s friend and employee. No thank you on that one.
I huff out a humorless laugh at myself. There was a time in my life when I went for what I wanted. When I wanted to be valedictorian when I graduated law school, I pushed and pushed until I had it in the bag. When I wanted a promotion at the corporate firm I worked at, I worked my ass off until they announced it as mine. If I wanted a man, I pursued him until he was mine. I had no shame, and I didn’t second guess a damn thing. But I haven’t been like that for a long time. Ever since Jared cheated on me and I left my position at the firm we both worked at, I can’t seem to trust myself completely. I usually go on a few dates a year, but even when they go well, I find myself questioning if I should pursue anything. I usually end up convincing myself not to. It’s a shitty way to live, but at this point it’s become a habit. I find red flags in everything a man does now, because I was blinded to all of them with Jared.
“Hey,” Willow’s voice comes from my office door, sounding slightly cautious. “I’m sorry about that.” She gestures weakly toward her office right across from mine and I wave her off.
“Don’t be, it’s nice to see you two so happy.” She gives me a bright smile and I let out a soft breath as I take a seat at my desk.
“How’d the meeting go?” We move on to the topic of my meeting with Noah and other business topics we have to discuss. This is where I excel. If I’m discussing business or the law, I can get lost in it. I love what I do. Most college students have a period of time, even a short one, where they question what they’re going to do with their future and if their major is the right one for them. I never had that. From the time I took a mock-law class in high school, I knew what I wanted to be. And just like everything else in my life, I pushed for it with full force. Growing up, we never really struggled financially, but I knew how expensive law school was. So not only did I do everything I could to be accepted, I pushed and pulled and tried my absolute hardest to get every possible scholarship, grant, and student loan that I could. I refused to let anything stand in my way. Even now, though I’ve been a practicing lawyer for ten years now, it’s my happy place. It’s where I strive and am most comfortable.
I never expected to go into business with Willow, but it’s been pretty incredible. At least it is when I’m not walking in on her and my brother together. We’ve been living together for the past eight years, but when we made the official move to North Carolina, I decided to find my own place in the city. Alec and Willow aren’t the only ones living at Alec’s house, and I just needed my own space. It’s been hard adjusting to not having Willow around all the time but seeing each other regularly at work has helped a lot with that.
“You okay?” Willow asks, and I realize I’ve been zoning out a bit.
“Oh yeah, sorry. Just zoned out for a second.” I try to play it off like it’s no big deal, but the way Willow’s eyebrows furrow with concern, I know she’s not going to let it go so easily.
“Are you okay? Are you in pain?” On instinct my hand immediately finds the spot on my stomach where the scar sits from when I was shot. I know Willow holds onto so much guilt from that, but she really shouldn’t.
“No, Will. I promise I’m not. I’m just a little tired.” It’s the complete truth. I’m not exactly sure why I haven’t been sleeping well, and I don’t particularly want to dive into it with my best friend right now.
“Why? Are you okay?” I let out a soft chuckle, playing off her concern like I often do.
“Yes, I’m fine, Will. It’s just been an adjustment moving into a new place.”
“Are you unpacked yet? I can come over this weekend and help you if you want. We can have a girl's night!” A bright smile forms on my face because that’s one thing Willow and I used to do regularly that I don’t particularly want to give up.
“I would love that!” We cement our plans for the weekend, Willow promising not to bail and going so far as to text Alec and telling him that he’s just going to have to survive without her Saturday night. I’m not sure what he replies with, but the deep blush that blooms on her cheeks tells me that probably don’t want to know.
We finish going over a few more business details before the chime on the front door goes off and Willow hurries out of my office to greet her next client. I close the door to my office and do my best to focus on my work at hand. For some reason I’m having a hard time getting my mind to focus, because every time I try, my mind wanders to a place that it shouldn’t. Or more specifically, to a man that it shouldn’t.
CHAPTER TWO
Sebastian
This is exactlywhat I needed. After receiving another notification from the bank that I needed to put more money into the account and then another email from the fucking landlord telling me that an eviction notice is on its way if I don’t pay the past two months, with interest, immediately. I needed an outlet for all this damn frustration. I paid for it, of course. I always fucking pay it. I should stop. I should just fucking give up, it’s not like she actually gives a shit if I help or not. But I can’t help it. It’s reflexive at this point. I won’t let her become homeless. If I thought that might teach her a lesson, then maybe I would. At this rate, not even hitting rock bottom would make a difference for her. She’d just keep on going until it all ended. There’s only a small part of me that would probably feel affected by that, but I still can’t just sit back and let it happen.
Alec finishes his spiel, telling the guy exactly what he did wrong in life and reminding him what led him to this moment. I almost laugh at how predictable we’ve become, but if it’s not broken, why fix it?
I push up from my spot against the wall, because this part is always my cue. I let my mask fall into place, making myself as intimidating as possible. Not that it’s very hard with my six-foot-six frame and wide build. I know the tattoos that cover my arms help too. I have tattoos all over my body, but my arms, and occasionally my chest are the only spots most people see.
The sniffling weasel looks at me with wide eyes when Alec steps back after heintroducesme. It’s less of an introduction and more of ameet-your-makertype of speech. I stand over the spineless asshole and wait until Alec and Gunnar leave the room. Once the door is closed behind me, I stop wasting time. Some jobs we take require us to keep shit clean. This one doesn’t. That’s when I come in. My expertise isn’t a clean slit to the throat, or even vats of acid like Dent. No, I like to do things the old-fashioned way.
