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“Tequila will do that to you,” Liam agreed. “I’m always telling Jasmine that it’s the blackout liquor.”
“I hope I didn’t say anything embarrassing,” I groaned.
“Even if you did, at least you got some closure,” Liam said.
Elijah looked over at me but didn’t say anything, looking a little green around the gills. It was only a few moments before he ran to the bathroom to throw up loudly.
“Who can’t hold their liquor again?” Liam called out, and we laughed at our little brother.
We spent the rest of the morning eating and chatting about the kids and their wives, and I couldn’t help feeling a little lonely. Did I want all of that with Magda? If I did, didn’t I have to tell her?
I couldn’t imagine telling her and being rejected, but how was that worse than what was happening now? How could that be worse than losing her forever andnotsaying it?
“I have to go tell Richard that I’m quitting the firm,” I said, and Liam nodded.
“I know you have a lot to take care of. But think it through, little brother,” he told me, throwing an arm around my shoulders. “We’ll get out of your hair in a bit, after Elijah sobers up.”
Elijah was lying on the couch, looking pale. He gave me a thumbs up.
“Thank you both for coming,” I said warmly. “I really can’t tell you how much it helped.”
Liam grinned at me. “I told you I’d always be here for you, didn’t I? It sucked to go through those years without you guys.”
My heart swelled with love for them both. We’d had our ups and downs, but in the end, we stuck together, and I hoped at some point maybe we could bring Carter back to the fold, as well. The Brentwood brothers needed each other, after all.
I felt better than I had in weeks as I walked out of my apartment, but all the weight on my shoulders came back as I got into the car and headed to the office. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to give up on this firm, to give up on Webster. Hell, I didn’t want to give up on Magda, but I didn’t know what else to do.
Richard’s office was empty so I waited until he came back, jumping as he saw me in the chair across from his desk.
“Jesus, Roarke, you almost gave me a heart attack,” he muttered.
“I really need to talk to you,” I said.
“If it’s about Magda, you know what I’m going to tell you. You need to talk to her, not me.”
“It’s not about Magda,” I lied. “I’m leaving the firm.”
Richard blinked at me and closed his door, going to sit behind his desk. “What? Roarke, you and I built this place from the ground up. You created half of this firm. What do you mean, you’re leaving?”
“Gonna go out on my own,” I said firmly. “Make my own firm.”
Richard looked at me for a long moment and sighed. “I mean, if that’s really what you want to do, I’ll buy you out. But I wish you’d reconsider. We work well together, don’t we?”
“We do,” I agreed, feeling guilty. Richard had been my best friend ever since I moved to Florida, and it was wrong of me to drop a bomb like this on him so suddenly. I just didn’t know how I could work with Magda.
“And you said thisisn’tabout Magda?” he asked curiously.
I groaned. “Maybe it’s a little about Magda. I don’t think I can work with her."
“You have been working with her.”
“Yeah, and you see how well that went,” I said dryly.
“You just need to talk to her, Roarke. Listen, if you go and talk to Magda for a full half an hour, lay everything out on the table, I’ll buy you out without a peep.”
“And if I refuse?” I asked, and Richard gave me a withering look.
“I’ll hold you up in court for months.”
