Chapter 3
S ailor.
“Are you here to waste my time and your money?”
“What?”
“I asked if you’re here to waste my time and your money.”
“No, I’m not.”
Fredrick Williams scowled in my direction and I angled my head to the side. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep last night and my brain was a bit sluggish from the overindulgence of alcohol which meant my already short fuse was basically nonexistent. Unfortunately though, Fredrick paid ten grand as a retainer for me to assist with clearing his name after being charged with burning down the restaurant where he previously worked.
Arson was a serious charge, but I had no doubt I could clear his name. He wasn’t responsible. Fredrick was arrogant and a hot head but I was good at reading people. So when he insisted he hadn’t been the one who’d manipulated the wiring that initially started the fire which burned down Burger Buzz, I believed him, but he was at risk of losing this case by lying to the one person he should never lie to, his attorney.
“Initially, when I asked if you ever threatened to burn down the Burger Buzz, you said no. While ranting about how Steward mistreated the employees seconds ago, you said you threatened to burn down the place multiple times because it would serve him right to lose everything.”
“I was just talking shit. Everyone does from time to time. Just because I threatened to do so in the heat of an argument doesn’t mean I acted on it. I didn’t. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t the reason the place blazed.”
“I know, otherwise I wouldn’t be defending you. However, if asked on the stand and you lie, or they trip you up with that exact statement and prove you did in fact threaten to burn down his property, it weakens your character. That’s a huge misstep. If it comes up or we present the information first, we can explain it away. But denying or lying about the statement works against you. Do you understand?”
This grown man shrank and his shoulders deflated. “Yeah, I understand.”
“You can lie to your priest, your girlfriend, hell, your mother, but you do not lie to me, Fredrick.”
“I won’t.”
My brow slowly crawled up and he asserted, “I won’t again . Sorry, I fucked up but I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
“Details are a very big deal in a criminal case. Keep that in mind moving forward.”
“I will.” He huffed in annoyance. “What’s next?”
“I have all the information I need for now. I’ll prep you for court, you do everything I say, and we win this case.”
“You’re gonna win?” he questioned, seemingly unsure.
“Did you pay me to lose?”
“No.”
Good because I do not lose.
“Then I’m going to win. Go home, stay out of trouble, and I’ll contact you in a few days. I’m going to do more digging to see if I can find anything else that will help our case.”
“But you’re sure I can beat this?”
“As long as you don’t lie to me, yes.”
He nodded and unfolded his long lanky body from the chair in front of my desk. I stood as well to walk him out.
“Thanks, Ms. Addison.”
“You’re welcome.” I motioned to the door. We left my office and navigated to the entrance that allowed access to the lobby of our firm. After Frederick was gone, TJ walked out of his office with a leather satchel in one hand and a sports coat draped over his forearm. He frowned briefly at the door then his eyes darted back to me.
“It’s late, Sail, you had a client?”
I smiled, sensing his protective nature kicking in. TJ had settled into a good space over the past couple years. He was a husband, and although he and Indi didn’t have children yet, he was very much invested in being the most amazing uncle he could to our sister’s daughter. He and I were also close now. It felt like old times, when it used to be TJ and me against the world but Skylar was just as much a part of that world now. The two of them shared a bond I would never be privy to, but TJ and I had our relationship back that was more solid than what was between us years ago.
“Last minute meeting.”
“Nothing was on your schedule.”
I smirked. “You looked?”
“I always check on both you and Sky so you’re never here alone late with clients.”
I grinned, staring until he groaned. “What?”
“You don’t have to worry about us, not like that, Teej.”
“No, I don’t have to but I do. Who was the client?”
“Fredrick Williams.”
“Arson case?”
“Yep, he was getting antsy so he stopped by.” I turned and headed back to my office, deciding it was time for me to head home as well. It was just after eight and I was only here to ensure I allowed myself enough time to avoid the thing, or rather person, that had plagued me all day.
My husband.
“Everything okay with the case?” TJ asked from the doorway while I leaned over my desk to shut my computer down.
“Yep, everything’s great. He’s just impatient. There’s no rushing the judicial system but you already know that.”
He nodded. “I do.”
“Our court date is in six weeks. Until then, I’ll do some investigating and prep him to take the stand so he doesn’t fuck this up.”
“Does he know you don’t lose?”
“I’ve told him but no one really understands how serious I am about maintaining my record.” I shrugged.
“Poor guy.”
“Not poor guy, poor me. He lied to me. The lie was simple, however a detail important enough to cause me to have to work harder to win this case. I don’t like that.”
“Like I said, poor guy.” TJ’s voice was laced with amusement. I narrowed my eyes before I turned to the small hideaway cabinet that lined the wall behind my desk. I kept a few changes of clothes here at the office along with other personal items.
After I removed my purse, I lifted my water bottle from the desk and crossed the room, pausing in front of him. He stepped out of the way, allowing me enough space to exit my office. He trailed me to the door, locking the main entrance that led into the lobby of our suite before we left. TJ walked me to my car and waited for me to be safely inside before he leaned down, frowning as I sat in the driver's seat.
“You okay, Sail? You seemed off today.”
“Off?” My voice elevated which had his forehead wrinkling.
“Yeah off, and not one thing in particular ,so I can’t say what, but your energy is different today.”
Okay, so maybe being bonded to my brother again wasn’t such a great thing right now. I couldn’t be honest and tell him I had somehow managed to get myself a whole husband I wasn’t sure I could get rid of. Everything about last night was legal and binding even if I didn’t totally remember all the details.
I flashed my brother a confident smile. “I’m fine, Teej, just had a long night and trying to decide how to make tonight even longer.”
When my eyes flitted up to his, he tensed and groaned in annoyance. “Sail, I love you but I’m sure you’re aware I don’t want details or indications about your extracurricular activities.”
“You asked.”
“I did. Get home safely.”
“You too and tell Indi I said hello.”
“I will, night, Sail.”
After he shut me in my vehicle, my shoulders sank. I had all the answers. That was my role in this family. The sibling who never faltered, who lived selfishly and unapologetically. I didn’t go to TJ or Sky for help and that was what I needed at the moment—help.
Instead of starting my car, I removed my phone which I’d purposely left in my purse all day. I didn’t want reminders of the disaster I created last night and sure enough his presence was noted the minute I had my phone in hand.
Rival: Dinner tonight. Don’t forget. We have a lot to discuss.
Rival: So there’s no confusion: 1456 Grand Cove Lane
Rival: Heading home to shower.
Rival: Text or call when you’re on your way.
Rival: Or just show up. I’m here.
Missed Call: Rival
Missed Call: Rival
Rival: Sailor, this is happening regardless of whether or not you answer my text or calls.
My muscles locked tightly. My hopes of him letting this go quickly unraveled.
Shit, I’m so screwed.
When I started my car, a call came through and I hit ignore as soon as his name flashed across the screen. I was well aware that I had to deal with this situation but that didn’t mean I had to deal with it tonight. For now, I was heading home, opening a bottle of wine or two, and climbing into my bed. The goal was to erase the past twenty-four hours. Even if I couldn’t rewind time, at least the temporary pause would allow me time to wrap my mind around all this.
I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled a breath only to feel more tension in my shoulders when a memory of last night surfaced.
“Everything looks amazing and now that you’re done, we have some other business to tend to.”
Rival glanced at me over his shoulder, chuckled lightly, and shook his head. “I don’t sleep with my clients, Sailor.”
“Then I don’t see the problem, I’m no longer your client.” I motioned to the completed wall unit, which was gorgeous by the way. “You’re done with that, which means we can play a little.”
Rival turned and his eyes did a casual perusal over my body. “Whatever you’re offering is not happening and not because you’re a client. I’m celibate, Sailor. No sex with anyone.”
“Like ever, shit, are you a virgin?” My brows pinched as I admired this very sexy man. “No, you’re definitely not a virgin; there’s no way.”
He grinned. “Celibacy means abstaining. I’m not a virgin, but I haven’t been with a woman in over a year and I don’t plan to until I’m serious about someone.”
“You can be serious about me.” I smiled and crossed the room, placing my hand on his stomach. Damn, this guy had a very firm body. “I plan to be very serious about you and this.” My hand moved lower, past his waist and well damn, he was very well equipped.
Rival’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and he removed my hand from his person. “Serious as in marriage type of serious. I don’t believe that is a commitment you’ll be entertaining in your foreseeable future.”
He was right but it still stung a bit. This man had been around me for the past couple months so I didn’t doubt he had been privy to my lifestyle which included plenty of fun and no commitment.
“You have a point. So how about a middle ground, you stay and have dinner with me.”
“Dinner?” He seemed skeptical.
“Yes, dinner. We order, eat, talk. No sex, so your celibacy isn’t compromised.” I smiled smugly. I fully intended to compromise his celibacy. I simply needed time to accomplish that goal. Dinner and a bottle of something strong should get the job done. I loved a challenge and I never lost. Not in my personal or professional life.
“I’m not going to sleep with you, Sailor. Not unless you plan on becoming my wife.”
I shrugged. “All I plan on doing is sharing a meal, but the night is still young so who knows. I’m having wine, what’s your preference?”
“You have anything brown?”
I traveled to the kitchen and removed the bottle of Hennessy I kept for Gray and my father. They rarely visited, but when they did, I liked to be hospitable. “This work?”
“Yeah, that’ll do.”
I grabbed a glass and placed both on the counter. While Rival poured his first drink, I lifted my phone and pulled up the food apps. Let the games begin.
When the memory faded, I brushed my palms down my slacks, trying to understand how a harmless dinner ended with virtual nuptials. At some point I would have to travel down that very unclear and fuzzy road because I couldn’t avoid Rival or this situation forever but I was most certainly avoiding it tonight.
“Damnit,” I mumbled. “What the fuck did you do, Sail?”
I drank often but never to the point where I had memory loss. Well… at least not since college. There were plenty of times when I found my way to the bottom of a bottle of tequila and woke up with no memory of the who, what, when, where, why, or how. But not once had I ended up with a lifelong commitment. Maybe a few good orgasms but that was about it. This time was different.
Once I arrived at my building, I felt a slight panic attack rising. I had one last hail mary to help provide me with some legal footing that might allow me to weasel my way out of this sham of a wedding. Instead of taking the elevator to my place on the eighth floor, I stopped on the fourth and made my way to Lorraine’s apartment.
Through my very intensive research about my virtual wedding, I noticed her name was listed on the documentation for the marriage license. As a clerk for the probate judge, she had the capability to legalize a marriage license and I had asked her to do so, because her name was on the document filed electronically with the county clerk last night.
Damn me and my obsessive need to be thorough. I swallowed my concern and knocked on Lorraine’s door. After a few minutes she appeared with a slight frown until recognition settled in.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the newlywed. You here to get the details on what happened last night?”
Well shit. This is real.
“May I come in…” I paused and exhaled a sigh. “Obviously I have a few questions.”
“I’m sure you do…” She stepped out of the way and allowed me room to enter. I moved to the living room and sat while she filled the space next to me. “How can I help?”
“Maybe start by explaining why you would file a marriage license when I was clearly inebriated.”
Lorraine drew her head back and narrowed her eyes on me. “Because you asked.”
“What about meeting of the minds?”
“Seriously, Sail? You’re clearly over eighteen and employ the mental capacity…”
“But I wasn’t sober.”
“I’m not so sure about that one, and if you weren’t, you were functional and very clear about what you wanted. You filled the application out online, printed it, brought it to me, and demanded I sign and file the paperwork last night while you waited to ensure it was done.”
“I don’t remember any of that.”
“I do and I have proof which you insisted on for this very reason.”
She lifted from the sofa, left the living room, and returned with her phone. After a few swipes she pulled up a video which I watched, cringing with every second that passed. It was me, with Rival who remained solemnly quiet, allowing me to do all the talking. And boy was I talking.
The video began with me providing a statement that the recording would serve as legal proof that I was of sound mind and body and it was at my insistence that the marriage license be filed. The short clip ended with me turning to Rival, throwing my arms around his neck, and smiling in his face while I explained how I made things happen because I was an Addison.
“Shit.”
“Yeah, shit is right. Does that look like a woman who is too drunk to make legal decisions or enter into a contract?”
No, it didn’t. I was tipsy sure, but nothing about the interaction expressed that I wasn’t fully aware of what I was doing.
“But you still should have questioned all this.”
“Why would I, Sail? You’re you. No one forces you to do anything you don’t want to do and clearly you wanted this. But honestly, I didn’t believe legitimizing and filing the license would matter. I pulled you aside to ask if you were sure and you mentioned a virtual wedding. Who the hell has a legal marriage from a virtual wedding? I assumed this was all part of your performance to convince Rival the marriage was real.”
“It’s very real,” I groaned.
She shrugged. “Real maybe but is it legal?”
“Very much so according to the certification they emailed me. I did some digging, and as long as the marriage license is valid and filed with county clerk, then the virtual marriage stands.”
“Get an annulment or divorce.”
“I don’t think it will be that easy. It would seem my husband wants this marriage.”
“You wanted it too or at least you did last night. Don’t you remember telling me how he was celibate and you were determined to see what the dick was about? That’s why you married him, Sail. You manipulated that man to sit on his dick. You refused to accept that he wasn’t going to sleep with you unless you were his wife.”
“You’re saying that like I took advantage of him. I did not.”
She slowly raised her brow and I cringed, which made her laugh and shake her head. “You seriously don’t remember any of this?”
“No.”
“How much did you drink?”
“A lot, it seems.”
“You didn’t seem that wasted. Tipsy sure, but not shitfaced. All of this was your idea, not his, so you were sober enough to orchestrate an entire wedding. Legally .”
I released a sigh. “I’m a functional drinker. Have been since I was a teen. I can hold thoughtful conversations, drive, and behave like a person with all their faculties intact and be entirely shitfaced. I used to consider the ability to be a superpower.”
“I bet not so much now.”
“Definitely not.”
“Well if you figure out a way to get divorced or get the marriage annulled, then I’d be more than willing to take him off your hands. The man is fine as shit, Sail…” She paused as if having a random thought. “Wait, was the sex bad? Oh shit, the sex was terrible, wasn’t it?” She laughed, shaking her head. “You married the guy just to fuck and the sex was bottom shelf. Wow, I feel sorry for you.”
“The sex wasn’t terrible,” I defended. I might not have memories of the sex from last night but I most certainly remembered the way he’d made me cum this morning and his skills were noteworthy.
“Then what’s the problem? The man is fine, sex is great, and he agreed to marry you. Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.”
“I don’t want to be married is the problem.” I sighed. Marriage meant being committed. Fully exposing yourself, your flaws, your emotions. I wasn’t sure I could do any of those things. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do any of those things and especially not with a man like Rival. The assured way he had it all together was intimidating. I was a well-dressed mess. Sure I was a successful attorney, beautiful and intelligent, but emotionally I was lacking.
“Talk to your father. I’m sure he’ll find a way out of this for you, if you can’t do it yourself. Are you forgetting what’s most important here? You don’t lose, Sail, that’s your thing, remember? Give it some time, if you married him and had no intention of remaining married to the guy, you had to have a back up plan to get you out of this.”
I don’t lose. I was seriously regretting asserting that so much to anyone who would listen.
She had, however, singled out my issue. I didn’t have an out or a backup plan with this marriage. I was seriously beginning to believe that for the first time in my life, I was going to fail, and when I did, it was going to ruin me. This marriage, this man, was going to be my downfall. It shouldn’t be but I felt it in the pit of my stomach.
“It’s late, I should go.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
I was already over people asking me that, because no, I was not fucking okay.
“Yep, perfectly fine. Just need to figure out how to get rid of my husband.”
I lifted from the sofa and Lorraine stilled. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”
I sputtered a laugh. “I’m not gonna kill the guy. By getting rid of him, I mean legally detaching myself. That’s all.”
She grinned and nodded. “I’m still going to pretend you didn’t say that, just in case.”
I frowned a bit. “Yeah, maybe you should.”
She walked me to the door and I took the elevator up to my place, dropped my things on the sofa, and headed to my room. Once I stripped out of my clothes, I showered and climbed in bed naked after digging Hippo out of the closet, feeling the weight of the past twenty-four hours. At least she could bring me comfort. My secret weighted friend had seen better days but she was the only person I was completely open with.
“Shit, friend. I messed up really fucking bad this time. We’re in trouble.” I held her to my chest and the heaviness of my bad decisions washed over me. By the time my head completely sank into the pillow, I was drifting, deciding I’d deal with my husband and our sham of a wedding tomorrow. Tonight, I needed sleep.