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“Excuse me, miss,” Ida tries to step in, but Vanessa slips past her easily.
“Blair. We need to talk. Right now.”
I’m actually at a complete loss. Here I was thinking it was all over—I kept my deal with Collin and pushed Nick away, setting a firm boundary:don’t contact me again.But I wasn’t planning on Vanessa Weaver showing up to confront me.
There’s a snicker off to the side, and a barely concealed whisper: “Looks likesomeonefound out that the lawyer is fucking her brother.”
My body goes cold, then hot as a flush of embarrassment floods my cheeks. Constance is only two desks away speaking to a few associates on her own team. They’ve been watching—this whole time, I realize. She knows about Nick and me somehow.
Not like it was hard to figure out… we did a horrible job of keeping our feelings for each other under wraps.
Before I can say anything, Vanessa turns slowly to glare at Constance. Her features are terrifyingly calm, and Constance’s smile drops.
Vanessa walks purposefully toward the desk the trio is gathered around. She’s wearing heels, and can easily look down her nose at Constance, who is now defiantly pursing her lips. Vanessa looks down, sees the nameplate with Constance’s name on it, and picks it up casually, reading it. Then she takes out her phone and types a note or a text.
“For someone who’s made it far in this firm, you’re a real imbecile, aren’t you? I know Joseph Quinn personally. I’ll be speaking to him later today about your comment.”
All color drains from Constance’s face. All of us look stunned. No one has ever seen Joseph Quinn, and it’s impossible to know if Vanessa is bluffing or not. But judging from the self-assured smirk on her face, I highly doubt it.
“I—, I—”
Vanessa turns around, ignoring Constance’s appeals. The usually snarky senior associate is literally scrambling now to save her ass. Vanessa lightly takes my upper arm and guides me toward my office. There’s nothing I can do but follow her.
“Vanessa…” I begin, but she closes the door behind us with a click and turns to face me.
Everyone out on the floor is watching now. Constance is still panicking, trying to right her desk and act like she didn’t just lose her job.
“What the hell is going on?” Vanessa interrupts in a low voice, arms crossed. “I know about the baby.”
For a moment I’m dumbstruck. But of course, she knows. She saw me in that store, practically cuddling a onesie.
But then it hits me—what she really means.
“You know—?”
“Yes. I know it’s Nick’s.”
All the breath goes out of me and it’s as if a weight I didn’t know I was carrying finally crashes down around me. I drop into my chair, starting to tremble with relief and terror.
Vanessa notices and comes around, perching on the edge of the desk and taking my hand gently. “Blair. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to show up so… upset. It’s just… Nick is falling apart right now. I don’t know what happened, if you two argued or—”
“I told him to stay away from me.”
Her eyes narrow, trying to understand. She’s watching me closely even as she strokes the back of my hand softly, reassuringly. The trembling begins to subside, but I feel like sobbing.
“A few weeks ago, right? When he found out?”
“No. Yesterday.” I look up at her, half-pleading, half-insistent. “I meant it, Vanessa. He needs to stay away from me.”
She looks confused. “What do you mean? This sounds like more than just you wanting to raise a baby alone.”
I nod, but it’s hard to get the words out. Hard to finally tell the truth I’ve kept tucked away since that night in the hospital, facing Collin Weaver and his threats. But I just can’t keep it in any longer.
“Your father.”
I see her breath catch, and the confusion deepens.
“Your father told me that if Nick has anything to do with me and the baby, he’ll cut him out of the inheritance. Out of the company. And Nick won’t get a dime.”
