Chapter 43
NATHAN—ONE WEEK LATER
I take a sip of whiskey, mainly to calm my nerves, then rest my back against the seat, flicking glances between Cole and Eli. No Max, though. He’s on week three of his suspension.
We decided that a month would be enough for him to reflect and learn from this situation. Officially, we’ve told the staff that he is taking a month off, and we will stick to that explanation.
I’m unusually nervous about today because I have no idea how it will go.
Knowing what I know now about Griffin Holmes is more than enough to make my stomach twist in knots.
I thought he was one of the good guys, but it turns out he will do whatever it takes to keep his power, including sacrificing his son and his safety to protect himself, using him like a pawn rather than a person in his own personal game of chess.
“How long have we been friends, Griffin?” I ask, looking around the almost empty country club where I invited him to play a round of golf today.
“Too long.” He places his knife and fork together on top of his plate then rubs his swollen stomach. The fucker ordered the most expensive lobster on the menu.
“So, you trust me?”
“With my life, Nathan, you know that.” He laughs, sounding cock sure of himself, but I’m about to blow his charade to pieces.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have done that, Griffin,” I say as Cole slides an envelope across the dinner table we are sat around. “Not when you fucked over my own flesh and blood.”
“I don’t understand.” He can play the fool all he wants, but he’s not fooling me or my brothers.
“Open it.” Eli points to the envelope. “I’m sure it will all make sense.”
Suspiciously, Griffin darts his gaze between me and my brothers, who are flanked on either side of me, before he slides the envelope off the table and opens it painfully slow.
His nostrils flare as he cautiously pulls out the evidence from the crisp white envelope my brothers spent hours gathering.
My voice is steady and bold as I tell him what he already knows.
“What you will find there is the DNA results confirming you are, in fact, Alfie Bradshaw’s father.
His mother worked at the strip club on 6th Street.
” I pause to chuckle. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this; all the photographs of you two together at the club are right there.
There’s also a disk inside with hours of footage of you two together.
You seem to have a thing for blondes, which is news to us all, especially when your wife is a brunette. ”
It’s amazing what money can buy you these days. In this case CCTV footage and photos dating back not just months but years.
“Although I understand why it might be easy for you to cheat on her, dividing your time between here and Sacramento provides a solid alibi to hide your indiscretions. Tell me, what would she say if she knew what you were doing when you were ‘working’ here? Mmm?”
During my time as a lawyer, I’ve never played dirty. After today, I don’t intend to do it again.
Griffin tries to hide his annoyance with a long, fake sigh, but I can see it in his brown eyes; they are clawing at me like talons. He shoves the DNA results confirming Alfie’s parentage, along with the photos, back into the envelope to hide them. “What do you want?”
“Revoke your instruction to block Alfie’s adoption,” I order firmly. He paid Paige’s caseworker an obscene amount to delay it. “Set the wheels in motion and approve the adoption. Personally.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then the footage of you with all of the women you’ve been cheating on your wife with gets sent to her, the national newspapers, and Katie Ross.
” I smirk. “She’s a close friend of mine and owns SFN, the news channel.
I’m sure they’ll be very interested in how many times you’ve visited the strip club.
” He’s a faithful and loyal customer, visiting every week without fail.
Watching girls strip is one thing; it’s another to go all the way and pay for sex like he does.
A red rash climbs the skin of his throat. Through a tight jaw he asks, “Anything else?”
We’ve got him.
I reply, “There’s a copy of those documents along with the video footage in a safety deposit box only my brothers and I have access to.
Push the adoption through, send us the original court documents once it’s done and only then will I send you the name of the bank they are being held at, along with the code to access the safety deposit box. ”
The things I do for my fucking brothers. It’s what they did for me when Arianna and I split up.
Admittedly, I would have moved faster to help Max, but I wasn’t about to let my wife down or cancel our honeymoon, denying her the babymoon she spent weeks planning.
While I was away, Cole and Eli handled all the investigation and dirt digging.
I just showed up today and played my part.
It was pure luck that Eli’s contact found one of Griffin’s hairs in the shower cubicle of the treehouse he spent the night of the wedding in at Mom’s ranch.
Griffin Holmes might be the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court, but he fucked with my family and I won’t stand for that.
I may need another vacation after today.
“And just so you know, Griffin, we double-checked the case Max and Paige were opposing counsel in, and there was no bias involved. At Hart Law, we do everything by the book. Max was suspended for a month, but what you did to Paige Bradshaw to get her fired is deplorable.” He’s off the Christmas card list, according to Arianna.
“Now, do we have a deal?” I sit forward, resting my elbows on the table, and steeple my fingers against my lips.
He glowers at me, his lips thin with anger, a layer of perspiration beading his brow. “Yes.”
“Oh, one more thing.” I hold my finger in the air.
“You will see to it that Alfie is well provided for in the form of a trust fund for his education. You will also provide Paige Bradshaw with child support until Alfie finishes college. I’m sure you know people who can track Paige’s bank details to transfer the money to.
You know a lot of people, Judge Holmes; I’m sure that won’t be difficult. ”
There’s no way Paige will willingly accept Griffin’s help, and she would never give him her bank details. She’s too proud. But it’s what she’s entitled to—what she needs to support Alfie. Griffin has more than enough to support her and Alfie’s child support will be like pocket change to him.
It’s a sneaky move on our end and she can kick and scream all she wants, but if she doesn’t want it, she can save it in another trust fund for him.
“Are we finished now?” he asks sharply, his eyes almost black and blazing with fury.
“There’s a car outside waiting to take you home,” I inform him coolly, my muscles loosening, the tension leaving my body. It’s not over yet, but I guarantee by tomorrow it will be.
I know Griffin and he’ll do anything to make this go away.
He rises smoothly from the chair and places his napkin on top of his plate. “Gentlemen.” He nods, shifting his gaze between the three of us. “It will be sorted by midday tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Griffin, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” I hold my hand out for him to take but he shuns my olive branch gesture and without a second glance, he leaves the clubhouse with his head hanging in shame.
“Call Max,” I tell Cole. “Tell him it’s done.”
As soon as he finishes the call, Max appears from where he was hiding.
“Thank you,” he says, looking lost, heartbroken, even.
I know that look. I’ve worn it myself, and it’s hell.
The truth is, the suspension wasn’t just about the rules.
It was about giving him space to breathe, to heal.
We all knew his case was clean, that everything would check out, but letting it slide?
That wasn’t an option. Not because we wanted to punish him, but because trust between brothers has to mean something. And he broke it.
He sits opposite me and clears his throat, running his hands through his hair, which I know he does when he’s nervous. “I can never thank you enough for what you all did for me.” His eyes dart around the table.
“It’s time you face some hard truths, Max.
What you did wasn’t just reckless; it was selfish.
This isn’t about work or the firm; it’s about family.
You lied to us. You even lied to Cole when he asked if you were seeing someone in a text.
You hid lunches. You hid the truth. You’ve sat at home for three weeks because you couldn’t be honest and you couldn’t keep your personal life separate from your work.
You didn’t just make one mistake—you risked your career, a case, and our reputation.
We grew up believing we could always count on each other. No secrets, no lies.”
Eli steps in when I finish what I have to say. “You know we would do anything for you but you couldn’t even give us the truth.”
“It won’t happen again, I promise. All I want is for you all to trust me again.”
“You broke the bond we built.” Cole’s words cut deep.
Max might be close to Eli and me, but he’s closer to Cole, and knowing how much he hurt him will sting.
“What’s worse is that it wasn’t a mistake; you made a choice,” I add.
“I know. Trust me, I know,” Max replies, holding his hand over his chest, which is something Eli said he’s been doing since the day in his apartment. He’s hurting. I get it, but it will ease soon.
Cole leans forward and locks eyes with Max. “Don’t ever shut us out again.”
“We’re brothers,” Eli says.
“And that means something,” I add.
“We’re family,” Max states.
“And don’t you ever forget it.” Mom appears as if from nowhere and sits down next to Max, lifting his hand into hers.
She places her other hand on the table, motioning for us to take it, which I do, along with Eli and Cole.
Her smile softens us all as she looks at each of us.
“Now you listen to me.” She squeezes our hands.
“Your bond as brothers is everything. It’s even fiercer and stronger than the blood that bonds you.
The world out there will try to break you down; make you turn on each other.
Don’t let it. You were raised to stand shoulder to shoulder, no matter what.
Life is too short. Please don’t waste the precious time you have in this world fighting because it’s the one thing that can tear you apart.
And nothing, no one, no case, no mistake, no pride, is worth losing each other over. Remember that. Always.”
“Mom,” Max says almost inaudibly as he reaches out to hug her.
“Your heart will heal, and your brothers will forgive you, Max. One step at a time, though. You need patience, sweetheart.” She pats his back, then kisses him on the cheek.
Fuck, I might cry.
“I love you.” She grabs his face, squashing his cheeks together before shifting her gaze to us. “I love you all. Now stop this madness, take the afternoon off, and come for a late dinner. All of you. Arianna is already on her way to the ranch.”
Ah! So that’s how Mom knew we were here.
“Maybe you could play some tennis before the sun sets,” my mom suggests as a way for us to start repairing our brotherhood.
We now have two strong Hart women to contend with.
Maybe a third if Paige ever forgives Max.
“I’d like to play tennis,” Max says.
“Me too,” Cole agrees.
Eli next. “I’m in.”
Then I add, “And me.”
I keep my mouth shut, but my thoughts are loud.
Tomorrow, maybe this will all be behind us.
I pray Griffin keeps his promise then maybe Max can move on, and Paige with him. If that’s even what they want. But the way Max looks when her name comes up? That’s not a man planning to let go. That’s a man not ready to let her go.