Page 63 of Following His Orders

“You can getme off on the charges if I knock the fucker out, can’t you?” I murmur to Xavier.

“I can, but I don’t want to have to,” he says.

“Well, if he keeps looking over here, you might just have to,” I tell him.

We’re sitting in the courtroom, listening to the clown of an attorney present their case. It’s almost laughable, and I can tell by watching the judge’s face that he’s thinking the same thing.

“He’s trying to egg you on. Ignore it. You’re smarter than that,” Xavier hisses at me.

I roll my eyes. I might be smarter but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get up and knock some of his teeth out of his mouth.

“Mr Christianson, your turn,” the judge, one we’ve both been in front of many times, says with a bored tone.

“Your Honour, this won’t take long.” Xavier steps in front of the counsel table with a handful of papers.

“Let’s hope not. I have a golf game to get to,” the judge mutters under his breath.

This is the kind of case I would normally close outside court. The difference is there was no way I was settling or coming to any kind of deal with the little fucker suing me.

* * *

“And to think you doubted me.”Xavier chuckles as we exit the courtroom an hour or so later.

“Not for one second,” I tell him. I never once doubted his ability to practice law. I doubted that my luck was going to continue, that someone like me could actually have everything.

I don’t talk about my past; it’s not pretty. So when shit like this happens, it always feels like the other shoe has finally dropped and I’m going to lose it all. I don’t care about the money, the job—I used to. They were what I worked so hard for. Now, the only thing I don’t ever want to lose is Bentley.

That thought has me pulling out my phone and scrolling through my contacts to find the real estate agent I’ve been dealing with for the past few weeks; he’s been trying to find me the kind of house Bentley wants.

“I need to make a call,” I tell Xavier as we walk side by side towards the courthouse exit.

“Ben, it’s Nathan Miller. Any luck yet?” I ask him.

“Mr Miller, I was about to call you. I’ve just had a property land in my hands. It’s not listed yet, and when it does go on the market, it won’t last longer than two days. If you want, I can meet you there today.”

“What time?” I ask, glancing down at my watch.

“Thirty minutes. It’s in Toorak. I’ll flick through the address,” he says.

“Sure, I’ll meet you there.” I hang up and pocket my phone. “We need to make a detour on the way back to the office,” I tell Xavier.

“Where to?”

“To look at a house.” I press the button, unlocking my car.

“Why are you looking at a house?” he questions while sliding into the passenger seat.

“Because Bentley won’t move into my apartment, and I fucking want her to move in with me.”

“You’re buying a house on the off chance she’ll move into it with you.”

“Yes.” I shrug.

“Sounds like a solid, foolproof plan and a great use of funds,” Xavier says, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“I thought so too.” I laugh. I’m more than aware of how fucking crazy I am. I know I’m going out on a limb here, buying a house I intend to live in with Bentley, a house we can grow a family in.

* * *

Source: www.allfreenovel.com