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The image slammed into me, the memory of red paint dripping down my living room wall, staining through the slashed fabric of the sofa beneath. A broken coffee table, torn books, stolen jewellery, family photos with eyes stabbed out; the ruined living room, the empty flat, all his boxes packed up and gone as he left for his new life.
Winded, I reeled back, gripping Bunny’s hands as the burst of fear faded into wonder at the fact they were somehow engaged.
“You’re marrying Max Rider?” I said quietly, pointedly, like perhaps I was asking her if she really wanted dog shit served with her meal.
“Oh. My. God. Isn’t it ah-may-zing!?” She was beaming, so proud of herself. She threw her head back and laughed. “And we met in such a magical way! It was like destiny! It was fate, wasn’t it babe?” She threw the question over her shoulder, not expecting an answer. “We just happened to sit down next to each other at the same sushi bar in Soho, and we’d never even met each other before! Incredible, right? And then…” Her babbling faded away as I looked at them both. He was clad in leather and chains while she was dressed up like Barbie on rave night, wearing a neon-pink mini skirt, matching leg and wrist warmers, white trainers, and an electric-green vest. The same colour as his electric guitar. The same colour I wore to all his gigs.
What was going on? Why was he here after everything I’d done to erase him from my life?
Wonder grew into sickness, creeping up my throat. Rage I thought I’d neatly packed away years ago burst free, and my tightening grip on Bunny’s hands became uncomfortable.
SLUT
Another memory assaulted me. I was lying in a pool of broken glass, slivers etching their way under my skin as I clutched my phone, rocking back and forth, tears streaming down my cheeks, desperately trying to hold on to something — anything — as weak sobs racked my body.
Now he stood there as Bunny wittered on, waiting and watching from the threshold of my office. Maybe, like a vampire, he could only enter if I invited him in. I could keep him out of my office and my life by ignoring him.
A deep-seated fury I usually reserved for the worst defendants I’d faced in court ignited. This wasn’t the mindless, ugly fury Mum would throw at us in her darkest gin-soaked moments. It was calm, calculated, ready for the hunt. It was the balanced fury honed over years of working in law, the one that thrilled at taking down prey.
Bunny freed herself from my tense grasp and hopped over to Max, threading her arm through his. “Come on, honey, youhaveto meet Cat. She is literally, and I meanliterally, the best lawyerever. I don’t think anybody else in the world can do what she can. She will make everything so special and magic for us, I promise.”
I didn’t think Bunny had met many lawyers.
She dragged him over, and he held out a hand. How would they react if I suddenly bit him and tore his fingers off? My breath was slow and steady as I reached out and shook it.
“Catherine. What a pleasure.” His voice hadn’t changed, still everything dangerous and good in this world.
I could do this. I could stay calm. I just needed to find my centre and breathe.
Who was I kidding? I was ready to attack.
One touch and those years of kickboxing lessons with Jazz were telling me to move, to defend myself. My fight-or-flight instincts triggered, every signal in my body urged me to be prepared. He was the major star of all my trauma, the beast I thought I’d dealt with years ago.
I curled my lips, a sneer more than a smile. “Likewise.”
Why was he still attractive? Why couldn’t he have become an ugly hermit instead of sex on legs? I swear I could feel him challenging me.
I wasn’t backing down. He could smirk at me all he wanted. This was my territory, my realm.
“So!” Bunny cut between the building tension with a bounce of her perky boobs against Max’s arm. “What would you like us to do? You said you had a bunch of questions about our stuff and stuff?”
Max stepped back as Bunny gave him a tug, and he released my hand.
I won that round.
“Why don’t we sit down?” I waved an arm at the chairs in front of my desk. I wasn’t relaxing on the sofa with them. I needed to be on full alert.
The second I turned my back on them, I grabbed the opportunity to draw in a breath. The therapist Dad insisted on after Max left me ruined swore by it.‘One deep breath can solve any problem.’
Max must have known I was going to be their lawyer. There was no hint of surprise when he saw me, just that hungry expectation he used to have when I came home from uni and he’d been waiting all day to make me scream.
Bunny specifically asked me to do their prenup. Had he known I was here? Was he the one who suggested it?
Bunny might act like an airhead, but she was wicked sharp. She wouldn’t have made it this far if she wasn’t. It was hard to push her into things she didn’t want to do. Those baby blue eyes, pouty lips, and cute-as-a-button nose made people forget she could be a shark.
I rounded my desk, clenching my teeth as I watched him slide into the chair in front of me. Like ink spilling onto a white page, his presence stained the room. I knew I was going to forever picture him there, smirking.
BITCH
