Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Social conduct for hate-free inter-colleague teamwork
Short: SCHIT
The contracting parties answer direct questions as honestly as possible.
They should have taken two cars.
Gareth wanted to have the last word — and didn’t consider that the car was incredibly small and the interior would fill with Hazel’s scent within seconds, would in fact linger in the seats and torment him for weeks. For someone with a ridiculously high IQ, he really wasn’t that smart.
It took two minutes to call Freddie Cravitz to tell him to cancel all his appointments for the morning – which prompted his assistant to ask if he was okay and if they should call a doctor – and it took Hazel eight minutes to explain the exact situation.
But the GPS showed they still had another twenty minutes until they arrived at her mother’s house…
and he had no idea what to talk to Hazel about that wouldn’t make one of them angry, or wasn’t either work-related or about the weather.
Those three topics were contractually forbidden in a conversation outside of a work context.
He should have said no; this favor she was asking was too personal.
But the name Billy fucking Kosianos alone made him angry.
He was the only man Gareth had ever punched because, for three years at Harvard, he'd called Hazel trailer trash and made her life hell. She’d always claimed she didn’t care, that he didn’t deserve her attention, but she’d been lying.
Gareth knew that as surely as he remembered Hazel giving him hell for acting like a caveman.
And that Billy was afraid of him. Maybe because Gareth had been richer, more powerful, and smarter.
Maybe because Gareth had threatened to kill him if he didn’t leave Hazel alone. Who could say for sure?
But the bastard should have expected Gareth to take offense when he loudly asked Hazel in front of a packed bar if she’d only had to give the professor a blowjob or if she'd had to fuck him for her good grades. Kosianos should have considered himself lucky Cian had snatched the pool cue from Gareth’s hand.
The wooden implement would have been even more unpleasant than Gareth’s fist.
Regardless, that had all happened ages ago, in another lifetime. Even if it felt like every second he spent alone with Hazel was dragging him right back into it. He didn’t like that. It made him nervous — nervous about meeting Hazel’s mother.
“Why are you so quiet?” Hazel asked, and he felt her looking at him.
“I’m thinking.”
“Thinking about what?”
He was silent.
“It was a direct question. We answer direct questions honestly, as best we can. Didn’t you remind me of that earlier?”
Smartass. “Fine.” His grip on the steering wheel tightened. “I’m thinking about how weird it is that I’m finally getting to meet your mother.”
“What do you mean?”
“I kept offering to visit her with you back then, but you made up one excuse after another as to why it wasn’t possible. And now, years later, I’m going to get to know her.”
“I didn’t…those weren’t excuses, I…”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “Yeah, keep on stammering. That’s convincing.”
Frustrated, she exhaled. “Okay, you want honesty? I never introduced you to my mother back then because she didn’t know you existed. She still doesn’t.”
His neck stiffened. “You didn’t tell her about me? Even though we were together for months?”
“No.”
“Wow.” His jaw hardened. Why was he surprised? And why did it bother him?
“Oh, come on! You only told your dad about me because he practically caught us making out.”
“Yeah, but I don’t tell my dad anything. You’re close to your mom.”
“You’re close to your sister!”
“And I told her about you, Hazel,” he said quietly.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Of course I did.” Right after their first kiss.
“Time out!” she cried.
He stared at her in disbelief. “That wasn’t mean of me.”
“Yes, it was. You’re lying. And lying is mean,” she said sharply.
He snorted. “I’m not lying. I guess I’ve always been better at relationships than you.”
“Is the air thin up there?” Hazel asked flatly. “Up on your high horse?”
No, mostly it was filled with Hazel’s floral scent, which hadn’t changed in ten damn years. “I’m so rich, I buy extra oxygen.”
Hazel let out a dry laugh. “You know, I’m glad I didn’t tell Mom about you. It makes things easier.”
No. She was kidding herself. Nothing was easy.
And, hell…she hadn’t even mentioned him to her mother.
They drove in silence for the last ten minutes, and for that, Gareth was grateful.
He needed some distance from Hazel. Well, as much distance as you could get in a car.
And since they weren’t talking, he had plenty of time to watch Hazel’s nervousness grow with every mile they got closer to her parents’ house.
When he finally parked on the street in front of a row of small, one-story cottages with tranquil front yards, she shifted restlessly in the seat.
“It’s small, I know,” she mumbled.
Surprised, he glanced at her as he turned off the engine. “I didn’t say anything.”
“She wouldn’t accept anything bigger. She wasn’t used to it. My mom didn’t want to have to clean so much. I told her I’d pay for a cleaner, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She wouldn’t even let me pay for it! So, yes…that’s why it’s small.”
Gareth slowly unbuckled his seatbelt. “Why are you defending your mother’s house, Hazel?”
She blinked, avoiding his gaze. “Because I could have bought her something bigger. I know she’s content and happy with this house, and that’s ultimately what matters and what I worked so hard for, but I still would have liked to repay her for all the years she gave up a life for me with a gigantic estate, diamonds, and jewels.
You’re not the only one who makes the big bucks, you know? ”
“Oh, yes. I know how much your commission costs your clients — and therefore us.”
She snorted. “I was merely stating that I would have bought her something bigger if she’d let me.”
“Don’t you women always say size doesn’t matter?” Gareth asked innocently, opening the car door.
Hazel rolled her eyes and followed. “Shut up. And be polite to my mother.”
“I’m contractually obligated to be polite,” he informed her. “For goodness’ sake, Hazel, relax. I’m here because I owe you a favor, not to embarrass you or judge the size of this house.”
She pressed her lips together and glanced uneasily over her shoulder at him as she hurried up the cobbled path to the front door, as if she didn’t know whether to believe him.
What the fuck?
Gareth walked faster, reaching her before she could ring the bell. “Hazel,” he whispered urgently, leaning over her shoulder, “have I ever judged you in my life, except for the gummy-bear clauses?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered, taking a barely perceptible step to the side, as if he was too close.
But Gareth hardly registered it, as he was too busy staring at her in genuine shock.
He’d known they had a difficult relationship, but of all people, Hazel was the one most likely to know that he… that he…
“You don’t know,” he repeated hollowly, unable to stop himself from staring at her. “How could you not know?”
“Gareth.” She turned her head and pressed the doorbell. “I thought highly of you — only to find out over the past few years that I was wrong,” she replied calmly. “So, I’m sorry if, for the sake of my sanity, I assume I have no idea who you are.”
He opened his mouth, his diaphragm knotting up. But before he could say anything, the door opened.
He recognized Hazel’s mother from photos. She was a small, plump woman with a short black hair, warm eyes, and an even warmer smile. “That was quick,” she said, surprised. “You really didn’t have to rush over. The lawsuit isn’t going anywhere.”
Hazel sighed heavily, but let herself be pulled into a hug. “Oh, I had time, it’s no problem,” she murmured, before casting an uneasy glance in his direction and saying, “Mom, this is Gareth Clark. He’s the lawyer friend I told you about. He’s going to help you completely free of charge.”
Hazel’s mother beamed. “That’s incredibly kind of you, Gareth. It’s okay if I call you Gareth, isn’t it? Friends of Hazel are friends of mine.”
Did the same apply to enemies? Because he was obviously more of an enemy.
So, I’m sorry if, for the sake of my sanity, I assume I have no idea who you are.
He wanted to clench his hands into fists, but stopped himself.
Hazel may have earned a bachelor’s degree in the subject of Enraging Gareth, but he had a damn master’s degree in Control.
“Of course. Call me whatever you like,” he said, smiling.
Mrs. Barrow couldn’t help it if her daughter was getting on his nerves.
“I’m happy to help. From what I've heard already, the accusation against you is ridiculous.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief. “I thought so too, but the lawyer sounded so serious…”
“Don’t worry about Kosianos. I know him. He likes to bark, but I’ve always stopped him from biting.”
Mrs. Barrow placed a hand on her chest. “I think…I needed to hear that. This whole lawsuit thing has made me a little more uneasy than I let on.”
“That’s what those lawyers’ letters are designed to do,” he said gently.
He had worked as a lawyer for a long time before joining the Hawks full-time; he was well aware that the first step was always to reassure his clients.
“Legalese is designed to make you so nervous that you might just up and pay the exorbitant sum they’re demanding, Mrs. Barrow.
Should I take off my shoes? Your floor looks so clean.
” He nodded toward the tiles that led from the hallway into a living room furnished with comfortable, yellow-upholstered furniture.
“I’d appreciate it. And please, call me Thea! Oh, such a polite man.” She looked past him to Hazel. “Where did you pick him up?”
“Harvard,” Hazel murmured, and when Gareth turned to her, he noticed her displeased expression.
What had he done wrong now?