41. Cooper
41
Cooper
I ’m not one hundred percent confident we can win.
Somehow those words won’t fall from my lips. How can they? The most important thing to Leah, the thing she’s entrusted me to keep hers, and I’m not certain we have enough.
The fact is, the podcast made money. The fact is, she gave him verbal ownership of the podcast. She admits to that. Leah isn’t a liar. She wouldn’t want to fabricate the truth, and I wouldn’t ask her to.
So, I have to go about this a different way. There has to be a loophole. She gave him ownership of the podcast but not the name. Some judges would see them as separate assets. Others would not.
My goal was to be one hundred percent confident in our win. The fact is, I’m not. It has me on edge. Leah’s coming by today to go over the case I’ve built, and I wish I could give her definite hope.
My chest is tight, my breath short when there’s a tap on my office door. Andrea must have come in to cover for her sooner than planned.
“Leah—” I start but stop short.
That’s not Leah.
That’s a snake slinking into my office. PJ smiles at me from the doorway.
“Without your lawyer?” I ask, standing up. I’ve got a few inches on the man, and I’m going to use them.
PJ’s thin lips turn up in a grin. “She can’t win. You know that, right? My attorney has assured me.”
“Then your attorney is an idiot.”
PJ chuckles. “You know, it took some time, but eventually I remembered why your name sounded so familiar. She talked about you.”
Chills run from my neck to my back, but I ignore them. Because that’s not how Leah feels about me anymore. Nothing this snake says matters.
“You made her high school career hellacious .” He lifts one shoulder and chuckles before slinking closer. “At least, that’s what she said.” He plops into the chair across from my desk and crosses one leg. “I’ve found over the years that Leah tends to exaggerate.”
I swallow. “Not at all. She was right. My actions made her life a lot harder than it should have been.”
PJ smirks. “I guess we have that in common.”
“I’m pretty sure the only thing we have in common is that you are an idiot, and I was an idiot. I grew up.”
The longer this man sits across from me, the more I want to crush him under my thumb.
“It’s her own fault. She makes her own life miserable, and then she blames others. Always has. She did hand over the podcast. Happily. If she wanted the title of Sweet Swirls so badly, she should have made better choices. ”
“She gave you the podcast but not the name. We have substantial proof that her shop name belongs to her.”
“ Belonged .” He nods. “Past tense. Sentimental or not, when someone gives something away, it no longer belongs to them.” He stands. “That’s the law.” He grins. “I was so sure you’d understand that.”
Punching PJ Booker would only make Leah’s life harder. I repeat those words in my head. My fingers twitch, telling me that while it would make Leah’s life harder, it would make us both feel a whole lot better. At least for a moment. Everything inside of me would love to hit something—and if that something could be a long, thin nose on Leah’s creep ex’s face, all the better.
My hand balls into a fist at my side.
“She’s not worth it,” he says, getting to his feet, smooth like the snake he is. And while his words say he isn’t afraid, his body, slithering for the exit, says the opposite.
“I’m good at what I do,” I tell PJ.
He’s got the door half open.
“Right.” His brows lift. “I looked you up, Bailey. You’re not here for family. Or Leah. You were fired.” He smirks. “So, forgive me if I’m not all that concerned.”
He’s not wrong. I was fired. But does ol’ PJ have all the details? Because I was fired for winning my case. I beat the big bad Duwamish Lumber. It wasn’t easy. And it cost them plenty.
I can do it again.