Chapter 17 Emilio #2
Privacy. To discuss how we were going to handle this. How we were going to navigate Richard's ultimatum and the managing partners' demands and the bar association's inevitable scrutiny.
Or maybe to say goodbye. To acknowledge that this had been inevitable from the start. That we'd always been heading toward this cliff and now we'd reached it.
I'll be there.
I set down my phone and looked at the case files again. Evidence. Witness statements. Cross-examination outlines. Legal briefs. Three weeks until trial and I might not be the one delivering opening arguments.
Someone knocked on my door. I looked up to find Sarah Chen, my mentor from law school. She'd made partner at Sterling five years ago. She was everything I wanted to be—successful, respected, ethical.
"I heard," she said, closing the door behind her. "The whole firm's heard. Can I come in?"
I gestured to the chair across from my desk. She sat and looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. Not judgment. Not disappointment. Something softer.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Define okay."
"Fair point." She glanced at the files covering my desk. "Richard told me about the ultimatum. End the relationship or lose the case."
"That's the situation."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know." I poured more whiskey into my mug. Offered her some. She declined. "I should choose my career. That's the smart play. The safe play. The play everyone expects."
"But?"
"But I don't want to." The admission came out quiet. Almost shameful. "I don't want to give him up. Even though I should. Even though it's destroying everything I've built. I don't want to."
Sarah was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Can I tell you something? Off the record. As your friend, not as a senior partner."
"Please."
"I've watched you these past three years.
Brilliant attorney. Incredible work ethic.
Completely dedicated to your career. But you've never looked happy.
Not really. Not until these past few weeks.
" She leaned forward. "I don't know Alessandro Vitale.
I don't know what's happening between you.
But whatever it is, it's changed you. Made you confident in ways you weren't before.
Made you fight for what you want instead of just accepting what you're given. "
"That's not necessarily a good thing. Professionally."
"Maybe not. But personally? Maybe it's exactly what you needed." She stood. "I'm not telling you what to choose. That's your decision. But don't choose based on what you think you should do. Choose based on what you actually want."
"What if what I want destroys my career?"
"Then maybe you build a different career.
One that doesn't require you to sacrifice the parts of yourself that make you human.
" She walked to the door. "You're brilliant, Emilio.
You'll land on your feet no matter what you choose.
Just make sure it's really your choice. Not Richard's. Not the managing partners'. Yours."
She left and I sat alone with my thoughts and my whiskey and my impossible choice.
The afternoon crawled by. I tried to work. Couldn't focus. Tried to review depositions. Read the same paragraph six times without absorbing a word.
At 4 PM I gave up. Told my assistant I was leaving early. Went back to my apartment and stood in my shower until the water ran cold.
By 7:30 I was dressed and staring at my reflection. Dark jeans. Sweater. Leather jacket. The clothes Sandro had bought me because my original wardrobe wasn't good enough for his world.
Evidence of how thoroughly he'd infiltrated my life. My closet. My apartment. My bank account. My heart.
I left at 7:45. Took the subway to avoid thinking in a car. Let the noise and crowds distract me from the decision I still hadn't made.
Thomas was waiting at Inferno's entrance. "Mr. Rossi. Mr. Vitale is expecting you. Straight up to the apartment."
I took the private elevator. Watched the numbers climb. Felt my heart rate match the ascending floors.
The doors opened directly into Sandro's apartment. He was standing at the windows, silhouetted against the city lights. Still wearing his work clothes—tailored suit, crisp shirt, perfect as always.
He turned when I entered. His expression was carefully neutral. Controlled. But I saw the tension in his shoulders. The tightness around his eyes.
"You saw the photos," he said. Not a question.
"Richard showed me this morning. Anonymous delivery to the managing partners." I set down my keys. Stayed by the elevator. Distance felt safer than proximity right now. "Someone wants me off your case."
"The Costellos. Obviously. They can't beat us in court so they're trying to disqualify you before trial." He moved toward me. Slow. Careful. Like approaching something skittish. "What did Richard say?"
"End the relationship or withdraw from the case. I have until tomorrow at 5 PM to decide." The words tasted bitter. "After that, the firm withdraws me and reports the relationship to the bar association."
Sandro's jaw tightened. "They're threatening disbarment."
"They're threatening disciplinary proceedings.
Which could lead to suspension or disbarment depending on how aggressive the bar association wants to be.
" I finally moved. Walked to the windows.
Couldn't look at him while saying this. "They have documentation of you paying my debts.
Photos of us together. Enough to build a case that I've been compromised. "
"You haven't been compromised. You're the most ethical attorney I've ever worked with."
"Ethics don't matter if the appearance suggests otherwise. You taught me that." I pressed my forehead against the cool glass. "Richard says I have to choose. Career or you. I can't have both."
Silence. Heavy and oppressive. Then Sandro's hand on my shoulder. Turning me to face him.
"Then choose your career," he said quietly.
I stared at him. "What?"
"Choose your career. Your law license. Everything you've worked for." His hands cupped my face. "I won't let you sacrifice that for me."
"You don't get to make that choice."
"Neither do you. Not when you're this conflicted." His thumb brushed my cheek. "Emilio, you're brilliant. You have a real future in law. I won't be the reason you lose it."
"So what, I just end things between us? Pretend the past few weeks didn't happen?"
"You keep your license and your career." His voice was steady but his eyes were dark. Pained. "And we end things cleanly. Before this destroys you completely."
Something broke inside my chest. Sharp and painful and absolutely devastating.
"Is that what you want?" I asked. "To end this?"
"What I want doesn't matter. What matters is protecting you from consequences you didn't sign up for."
"I signed up for exactly these consequences. I knew what I was doing. Who you were. What it would cost." I grabbed his shirt. Held on. "Don't make this decision for me. Don't decide what I can sacrifice."
"Someone has to. You're too close to see clearly."
"I see perfectly clearly. I see you. I see us. I see something worth fighting for even if it costs me everything else." I pulled him closer. "I'm not giving you up. Not for Richard. Not for the managing partners. Not for anyone."
"Emilio—"
"No. You don't get to sacrifice yourself nobly and make this choice for me.
This is my life. My career. My decision.
" I was shaking now. From anger or fear or the overwhelming weight of what I was about to say.
"I'm choosing you. Over everything. Over my career and my reputation and my fucking law license. I'm choosing you."
He kissed me. Hard and desperate and tasting like goodbye even though I'd just said I was staying.
When he pulled back, his eyes were wet. I'd never seen Sandro cry. Didn't think he was capable of it.
"You're sure?" His voice cracked slightly. "You're absolutely sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything." I kissed him again. Softer this time. "I love you. I'm not walking away from that. Not for Sterling & Associates. Not for the bar association. Not for anyone."
"I love you too." The admission came out raw. Honest. "God help me, I love you too much to let you destroy yourself for me."
"Then don't let me destroy myself. Help me find another way." I rested my forehead against his. "There has to be another option besides giving up everything."
He was quiet for a long moment. Thinking. Processing. Then: "I know someone. Criminal defense attorney. Works independently. Takes controversial cases. She's been wanting to poach you for months."
"What?"
"Diana Martinez. She's seen your work. Thinks you're wasted at Sterling.
She's offered me her card three times asking if you'd be interested in joining her practice.
" He pulled back to look at me. "You withdraw from my case.
Sterling can't report you because you've removed the conflict.
Then you resign and join Diana's firm. She'll take you in a heartbeat.
Probably give you better terms than Sterling ever offered. "
"And your case?"
"Diana represents me. Or I find someone else. Either way, you're no longer my attorney. The conflict ends." His hands tightened on my waist. "But we stay together. Just not in a professional capacity."
I processed this. Turned it over in my mind. "That could work. If I'm not representing you, there's no ethical violation. The photos just show us dating. That's not illegal."
"Exactly. You leave Sterling. Take a job somewhere that doesn't care about your personal life. We continue our relationship openly." He kissed my forehead. "You keep your law license. I keep you. Everyone wins except the Costellos."
"Diana Martinez would really hire me? Even knowing about us?"
"She'd hire you because of your talent. The relationship would just be a bonus in her eyes.
She doesn't give a fuck about conventional ethics as long as the work is brilliant.
" He pulled out his phone. "I'm calling her now.
If she agrees, you can resign from Sterling tomorrow and start with her next week. "
"Wait—" But he was already dialing.
The conversation was brief. I heard Diana's voice through the phone—excited, professional, already planning. Sandro hung up and looked at me.
"She wants to meet with you tomorrow morning. Nine AM. Her office in Tribeca." He smiled slightly. "She's thrilled. Said she'd been trying to figure out how to steal you from Sterling for months."
"This is insane. I can't just quit and join a new firm overnight."
"Why not? You're not bound by a contract. Sterling's at-will employment. You give notice, finish out the day, and walk away." He pulled me closer. "Or you can stay and let them force you off my case while reporting you to the bar association. Your choice."
It wasn't really a choice. Not when he laid it out like that.
"Okay," I said. "I'll meet with Diana tomorrow. If she makes a good offer, I'll resign from Sterling."
"She'll make a good offer. I've already told her what you're worth." He kissed me thoroughly. "You're not losing your career, Emilio. You're just changing firms. It's not the same thing."
"It feels like losing everything I've built."
"Then we'll build something better. Together." He rested his forehead against mine. "I told you I'd take care of you. Did you think I was lying?"
"No. I just didn't realize it would involve completely restructuring my career."
"That's what happens when you choose me. Your whole life gets restructured." His smile was dark. Satisfied. "But at least it's interesting."
"Interesting. That's one word for it." I kissed him again because I could. Because I'd chosen him and he'd chosen me and somehow we'd found a path that didn't require sacrificing everything. "Thank you. For finding a solution. For not letting me throw away my career."
"Thank me by staying. By choosing this every day even when it's hard." His hands slid under my shirt. "Now let me remind you why that choice is worth it."
We made it to the bedroom. Barely. But this time felt different. Not desperate or frantic. Just honest. Real. Two people who'd chosen each other against all logic and were celebrating that choice the only way that made sense.
Tomorrow I'd resign from Sterling. Meet with Diana. Start rebuilding my career from scratch. Face the gossip and judgment and whispers about the attorney who quit to stay with his mob boss boyfriend.
But tonight I was exactly where I wanted to be.
In Sandro's arms. In Sandro's bed. In Sandro's life.
Completely. Irrevocably. His.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.