Chapter Twenty-Three
ETHAN
“Excuse me?” I asked Sarah Dutton.
Sarah glanced up from a document she’d been reading on her desk. “I’m not sure why, but Ted Duncan’s saying now he’d like to meet again. He’ll be here in a minute.”
“Didn’t you just tell me the charges were formally dropped yesterday?” I countered, instantly annoyed she saw fit to think I needed to sit through another meeting.
She nodded and adjusted her glasses. “I did, but it’s good form to follow up with a meeting request, so we will.”
Sarah was my new attorney, the one Zoe made me accept.
I still wasn’t happy about that. Sarah was nice enough and was even pretty with her shiny blonde hair.
I objectively considered I might’ve been interested in her once upon a time.
She was on the flashy side for an attorney.
As the case had been ever since I’d first kissed Zoe, no other woman had any attraction for me.
All I could do was dispassionately notice them.
I was fairly certain a woman could walk around bare ass naked in front of me, and I wouldn’t be tempted.
Unless the woman in question was Zoe. With her, she could wear a shapeless sack, and I’d want her.
I’d had it in mind I’d show up this morning and walk out of here with this finally behind me. Now, Sarah was telling me I had to meet with the other guy’s attorney. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Within minutes, Ted Duncan was lumbering his way into Sarah’s office.
I’d had the displeasure of meeting him once before.
He was a blowhard if I ever met one, all bluff and gruff and loud.
We were seated at a small circular table in a conference room at Sarah’s office.
Ted sat down across from me, making an ungodly amount of noise for a man taking a seat.
He thunked a briefcase on the table, adjusted and readjusted the height of his chair and somehow managed to catch his sleeve on the arm.
Sarah quietly kept her eyes trained on some papers in front of her.
Far as I could tell, she wasn’t reading a damn thing.
My guess was she knew Ted’s routine and was waiting for him to be done making a mini-ruckus.
Blessedly, Ted finally leaned back in his chair and glanced from me to Sarah. “Well, thank you for taking time to meet with me.”
Sarah only now looked up and adjusted her glasses on her nose. “Of course, Ted. The court formally dismissed the charges yesterday. I’m not sure what you were hoping to discuss today.”
Ted cleared his throat and looked over at me. “Perhaps Mr. Walsh could fill you in.”
My gut tightened. I had a clue where he might be going with this, and I didn’t like it. Not one bit. “Pardon?” I asked.
“I don’t suppose you consider it a problem you were involved with Ms. Lawson the entire time she was representing you,” Ted said, barely concealing the smarmy gleam in his eyes.
I’d done a bit of my homework here and knew the one tiny detail that kept Zoe on the right side of the ethics was the fact I’d kissed her before she became my attorney.
Now, I knew we hadn’t been ‘involved,’ but as far as I was concerned, that kiss met the standard of commencing our sexual relationship before her representation of me.
In any other setting, I’d likely laugh about it.
But right now. I was red hot furious. I opened my mouth to say something, only to pause when Sarah cut right in.
“Ted, that is completely irrelevant,” she said, her voice crisp and clear.
“These charges were dismissed due to the fact your client punched my client first. The police made it clear that after they reviewed the security video they had no grounds to charge Mr. Walsh when your client initiated the interaction. As to your implied threat, I know Ms. Lawson very well. She and Mr. Walsh were…”
The slightest hesitation occurred, and I jumped in. “We were involved before she took my case,” I said firmly, leaning heavy on the haughty. I was so bloody mad, I wanted to lean across the table and shake Ted Duncan with his rumpled hair and smarmy presence.
Sarah seemed to sense I was about agitated and placed her hand on my arm. “Thank you, Ethan. I was about to say the same thing.” She squeezed my forearm slightly. I supposed it was her polite way of telling me to shut the hell up. So I did.
She looked straight across the table at Ted. “Nothing improper there. As you know, attorneys can and do represent those with whom they’re involved as long as it began before the course of the case. What is your point in bringing this up, Ted?”
He adjusted the lapels of his jacket and huffed. “Whether or not it meets some silly standard doesn’t change the fact it looks improper. My point in bringing it up is simply that. If you’d prefer I keep this quiet, then you might want to consider agreeing to a settlement with my client.”
Bloody fucking hell. I saw red. I was about to stand and reach across the table to yank Ted-fucking-Duncan out of his chair. Sarah put her hand on my arm again, and damn did she have an iron grip.
“Ted, that sounds an awful lot like extortion to me,” she said, her voice clear and commanding.
Ted’s face reddened. “Now Sarah, that’s not what I meant. I’m just saying that it won’t look good for anyone to misunderstand Zoe’s relationship with Mr. Walsh here.”
“There is nothing to misunderstand, you fucking asshole,” I said, cutting in even though I knew Sarah preferred me to keep my mouth shut. “You can pretend like that wasn’t blackmail, but it bloody was and you know it. If you dare to start throwing dirt around about Zoe, I’ll make your life hell.”
I didn’t wait to hear what he said and shook Sarah’s hand off my arm before storming out of the conference room. It was either that, or I’d pummel Ted’s face.
I fumed as I stalked out of the building and nearly sprinted down the street to Zoe’s office. I didn’t know what the hell she’d want to do about what the bloody jerk had just implied, but I figured she’d want to know.
I slowed to a walk when I entered the reception area of her office. Odd, but I relaxed the second I walked in there. Solely because I knew I was about to see Zoe. Jana glanced up from her desk and held a finger up.
Jana nodded along with whomever she was speaking to and said, “Ms. Lawson is tied up in meetings for the rest of the day. She’s already clarified her decision about your case, but I’ll pass on your message.
” She tapped a button and ended the call before looking over at me and rolling her eyes.
“That was the asshole Mark. He’s not happy Zoe isn’t taking his case.
He’ll get over it,” she said with a shrug.
I stepped to her desk. “Tell me something, what do you think Zoe would do if she knows it’s out that we’ve been seeing each other?”
“I didn’t know it was a secret,” Jana said with a puzzled glance at me.
I quickly summarized the meeting with Sarah and Ted. It took no more than a minute, and Jana looked furious. “Fucking Ted Duncan. He’s such a sleaze bag. Of course that was extortion. Ted’s such a shithead, he’ll find a way to spread rumors anyway.”
She stared at me for a few beats. “You think you have to tell Zoe about this, don’t you?”
“Of course.” I paused and bit back a groan.
This was exactly what Zoe had been worried about, and I’d dismissed it.
Truth was, I could get away with all kinds of things, so I tended not to care.
I couldn’t have known that pursuing her wouldn’t be just a brief thing.
I couldn’t have known I’d feel the way I did now—worried and concerned for her and ready to kick some guy’s ass. My chest felt tight, and my head hurt.
Jana sighed and ran a hand through her wild hair. I never knew what to expect with her, and today she had blue streaks in it, layered atop the purple already there. “Zoe’s going to completely freak out, but you’d better tell her. If you don’t, she’ll freak out worse.”
“I know, I know. Fuck.” I tapped the toe of my shoe against the edge of her desk and eyed her. “You just said she was tied up all day. When…?”
Jana flashed a grin. “Oh, I was screening. He’s an asshole, so she’s always busy when he calls. Don’t go thinking she asked me to do that. I choose to take the initiative for pricks like him. Anyway, go on back.”
I stepped into Zoe’s office, pausing once I closed the door behind me.
Her back was to the door as she looked at something on her computer screen.
Her rich auburn hair was swirled into a tidy knot.
All she had to do was hide her hair like that, and it made me want to undo it and untidy her in every way possible.
“Did you hear back from…?”
Her question trailed off as she spun in her chair and saw me.
I presumed she’d figured I was Jana. Her surprise morphed into a slow smile.
Bloody hell. This woman was going to kill me.
A smile. Nothing but a smile, and I got hard.
Much as I wanted to lock the door behind me and have another naughty interlude in her office, I had to deliver the bad news and hopefully get her not to freak out.
“Hey, I didn’t know you were stopping by,” she said.
I walked quickly and sat down in the chair across from her.
Never one to wait, I blurted out, “Ted Duncan knows we were seeing each other when you were representing me.” I elected not to elaborate further about his implied threat about a settlement.
I figured I could talk with Sarah first before we worried more about that.
Zoe’s eyes widened and her face blanched. She sat completely still for a moment and then shook her head sharply. “Oh my God. This is what I was afraid of.”
She picked up a pen and started flipping it rapidly back and forth.
“Don’t let him bully you, Zoe. Let me deal with him,” I said.
I had no idea what I meant to do, but I’d stand in front of a moving train to keep her from being harmed. I also fucking hated Ted Duncan.