Chapter Nine #2
“First off, I had to climb a ten-foot-high fence. Second, his patio door was locked. And third, he has an alarm, and it was armed,” he said as he merged with traffic.
It reminded him why he loved his motorbike and why he hated city living.
He loved being back in Sunshine Bay. He just wished Alice were still there.
“Why would he have his alarm armed when he was home?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because he had Max, and he knew the probability of you coming for him was high.”
“I can’t believe he set me up like that.” She made a face, then winced, which she tried to hide from him but failed.
He strangled the steering wheel. “I can’t believe I missed it.”
As furious as he was at Chad, he was equally furious at himself.
He used to be better at this. Lifting his hand from the steering wheel, he gently traced the edge of the bruise with the tips of his fingers.
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault he was able to pull this off.
I should have taken more time to think it through, and I should have gone on my own. ”
“Hey, you don’t get to take this on. It’s on Chad… and a little on me, I guess. I shouldn’t have provoked him with the whole checkmark thing. But I’d do it again if we got the same results. I’d be the one in the back seat of a patrol car if the cops hadn’t witnessed him punching me.”
“You realize, due to who his old man is, he’s got a get-out-of-jail-free card, right? The most he’ll get is a slap on the wrist.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She held up her phone. “I recorded everything.”
“And you know as well as I do that Massachusetts is a two-party consent state. You can’t use it.”
“Of course I know that, and it’s not like I’d give it to the press or to the police anyway. It would put Emilia, Robert, and the firm at risk, which would negatively impact my colleagues. I don’t want anyone to suffer because of Chad’s revenge plot against me.”
“You’re a lot more forgiving than me.”
“Let’s hope the other founding partners are as forgiving when it comes to the negative publicity. They share the same feelings as Robert about my ‘media stunts,’” she said, making air quotes.
“I don’t know how you work for these guys, Sage.” Admittedly, he was disappointed that she could. It wasn’t a firm the girl he used to know would have worked for. He got that the money was good, but Sage was the last person he thought would sell her soul for the almighty dollar.
“Sometimes I don’t know how I do either, to be honest. But there are benefits working for a firm as well connected and respected as Forbes, Poole, and Russell.”
“I have a hard time respecting a man who would put not only his personal assistant but also one of his junior partners at risk the way Forbes did.”
“I know. I can’t believe he’d do that to Emilia.
The woman dotes on him. But it’s gotten worse since several of the senior partners who held the founding partners in check have retired.
” She glanced at him. “It’s not just about the money for me, Jake.
I’m given the freedom to take on pro bono cases that matter to me.
The firm has also contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the women’s shelter I work with.
If not for their connections and contributions, Chrysalis House would have been forced to shut their doors by now. ”
And there she was, the girl he remembered.
He should have known she wouldn’t abandon her principles for a six-figure paycheck.
But he was worried that she was too close to the situation to see it clearly.
“And no doubt got a nice tax break for their charitable contribution and some good publicity for the firm.”
She frowned at him. “When did you get so cynical?”
“I’ve always been cynical.” He’d grown up not believing a single word out of anyone’s mouth. Everyone had an agenda. It was the one lesson his parents, if you could call them parents, had taught him. And they’d taught him really well.
“I just want you to be prepared for…” He was afraid that Forbes was going to fire Sage, but he couldn’t say it.
He’d seen how she’d reacted earlier at the thought she’d lose her job.
As he’d discovered, he didn’t know how to handle a distraught woman, especially when that woman was Sage. “Anything.”
“Anything as in you think he’s going to fire me.” She held up her phone. “Trust me, I might not be willing to hand this over to the press or the police, but I’m more than happy to use it as leverage against Robert. I’m thinking it’s time they made another donation to Chrysalis House.”
He glanced at her as he pulled into her space in the underground parking lot. “I see you’ve developed flexible morals since you started working at Forbes, Poole, and Russell.”
She made a face and brought her hand to her cheek.
“Okay, ice and ibuprofen before your meeting with Forbes.” Brenda had texted as they’d gotten into Sage’s BMW. The press had begun calling for a comment about Sage’s run-in with Winthrop, and Robert was reportedly livid.
“You won’t get an argument from me.” She glanced at Max in the back. “Would you mind sticking around? I’d feel better if Max was at the farm with you, at least until I know Chad won’t make another move on him. I’ll drive him to the farm after I’m done here.”
He hadn’t been sure how to broach the subject, so he was glad she’d brought it up. But he wasn’t only worried about Max. “Sure. You should stay too. I mean, not with me obviously, but with your family.” He caught the look on her face and added, “Just until things settle down here.”
“I can’t. I have too much on my plate,” she said as she got out of the car and closed the passenger-side door.
“You do remember the weekend comes after Friday, right? In case you don’t remember, it’s when most people who work during the week take off.”
“Says the guy who doesn’t work.”
“Who do you think has been clearing out Alice’s place, taking care of the farm and the paperwork?” He didn’t know why he got defensive. It was his own fault she thought he was a slacker. “Which reminds me, you have to sign off on the papers I brought to you.”
He could have simply emailed them, but he’d wanted to see how she and Max were doing, and there was also the news about Alice that he wanted to give her face-to-face.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” She held open the door to the building, and he carried Max inside.
“Now that we’re here, I’m not as confident about my meeting with Robert.
” She reached out to pet Max, blowing out a frustrated breath when the cat moved out of range of her hand. “He really does hate me, doesn’t he?”
Jake bit back a laugh as they took the stairs to the door that opened onto the lobby. “He’s not your number one fan.” He opened the door for her and then put his arm around her shoulders.
“What are you doing?”
“I have a theory,” he said as they reached the bank of elevators in the lobby.
“What’s your theory?”
“Okay. You can tell Max loves me, right? Other than Alice, I’m his favorite human.”
She rolled her eyes and then brought her hand to the side of her face. “Dammit, that hurts.”
“Sorry. Bad time to tease you. But the point is, I lived with Alice and Max. I’m like his family, and you were mean to me when we were growing up, and I think he remembers that.”
“I was not mean…” She trailed off when Brenda, Renata, and a third woman walked off the elevator. Brenda and Renata were carrying boxes and looked like they’d been crying. The other woman looked like she wanted to be anywhere other than there.
Jake swore under his breath, tightening his arm around Sage’s shoulders. “Just breathe,” he said, hoping it worked as well as it had when Sage’s mom said it.
Sage was shaking her head from side to side while trying to back away from the women. “No,” she said. “He can’t do this. They can’t do this.”
“I know,” the third woman said. “It’s BS, and I’ll do everything in my power to reverse their decision. But for now, you’re on leave, Sage.”
“I can’t go on leave, Nina. Ask Brenda. Ask Renata. They know what my caseload is like. Besides, this isn’t my fault. Chad…” She trailed off when a silver-haired man walked through the building’s front doors with his entourage. Jake recognized him. It was Congressman Winthrop.
Jake tightened his hold on Sage as she tried to wriggle free. “Trust me, Sage. This isn’t the time. You’ve gotta be strategic, think this through.”
“He’s right, Sage,” Brenda said, moving to stand between Sage and her view of the congressman. Renata and Nina did the same.
“How long? How long am I on leave,” Sage rasped.
Nina bit her lip before admitting, “Indefinitely.” Her eyes went wide. “Sage, what’s wrong?”
Jake shoved Max at Nina with one hand, holding tight to Sage with other. He turned her to face him. She was ghost white and rubbing her chest. “I… I think I’m having a heart att—”
Brenda and Renata dropped the boxes and rushed to her side at the same time Sage collapsed in his arms.
Nina screamed at the security guard heading their way, “Call nine one one!”