Chapter 33
brIGGS
Acouple days went by in a horrible blur. I was going through the motions but not enjoying anything. I won the case. Omar Phelps had tried every trick in his playbook, but I’d been ready for all of them. The judge ruled in our favor on every major point. A win against him
People congratulated me outside the courtroom. Fellow attorneys that wanted to witness my strategy so they could use it against Phelps.
I should have been riding high. This was a big win.
The kind that would make the rounds in the legal world.
Adrian was going to be thrilled with the win.
And then the whole legal team would understand why I got paid the big bucks.
Well, I got paid the big bucks because I was a Blackwell, but the point still stood. I was a badass.
But I couldn’t bring myself to care.
All I could think about was that Mandy and I had been playing phone tag for three days straight.
We resorted to texting little messages throughout the day that kept us connected but weren’t the same as actually talking to her.
Hearing her voice. Seeing her face. Touching her.
I went a year without sex and it never bothered me.
But after sex with Mandy, I craved it like I was a teenager. My libido had been awakened and it did not want to go dormant again.
I walked to the waiting town car and slid into the backseat with my phone in hand. There was only one person I wanted to celebrate with. I opened the text thread and smiled when I saw a message from her.
Mandy: I miss you. Kick ass today.
Me: Miss you too. Call you tonight?
Mandy: Can’t, client dinner runs late. Tomorrow?
I didn’t want to sound cynical, but I had a feeling that call wouldn’t come. Something always got in the way. A meeting that ran over. A wedding emergency. Time zones that never seemed to line up right.
My phone buzzed again, this time a text from Adrian.
Adrian: Heard you crushed it today. Congrats.
Me: Thanks.
Adrian: Come by tonight? Elizabeth is making lasagna.
I stared at the message. I had work to catch up on. But the thought of sitting alone in my empty penthouse, eating takeout while staring at my phone and hoping Mandy would call, was too depressing to contemplate.
Me: What time?
Adrian: Six. See you then.
I showed up at Adrian’s place with a bottle of wine I’d grabbed from my collection and a stuffed elephant for Bucky that I’d impulse-bought at a boutique on the way over. The second I walked through the door, I could hear the baby crying.
“Perfect timing,” Adrian said, looking frazzled as he opened the door. “He’s been screaming for twenty minutes and we have no idea why.”
“I’ll go,” I said.
“Not a chance. He’ll settle. I hope. Or you can suffer with us.”
We walked into the living room. Elizabeth was bouncing Bucky in her arms. She looked exhausted but happy. “You try,” she said, practically shoving the baby into my arms. “I’m going to check on the lasagna before it burns.”
I held the infant at arm’s length. “What the hell?”
I looked at Adrian. He grinned. “Look, he stopped crying,” he said.
“Because he’s terrified. We both are. Look at the way he’s looking at me.”
“Put him on your shoulder,” Adrian said.
“Man, did you invite me over to take care of your kid?”
“No, but it looks like we have a new babysitter option.”
With Adrian’s help, I settled Bucky against my shoulder, patting his back in what I hoped was a soothing rhythm. “Hey, little man. What’s all this fuss about?”
His little face was red and splotchy from the tears, but he’d quieted down, staring at me with those huge blue eyes.
“How did you do that?” Adrian asked.
“I have no idea.”
“You’re a baby whisperer.”
“Or he just got tired of screaming.” I kept patting his back, afraid to move and set him off again. “He’s getting big.”
“He is. Growing like a weed.” Adrian sat down on the couch, running a hand through his hair. “I swear he’s a different baby every time I blink.”
“You look exhausted.”
“I am exhausted. Elizabeth is exhausted. We’re all exhausted.” He laughed, but there was genuine weariness in it. “But it’s worth it. Every sleepless night, every diaper blowout, every inexplicable crying fit—it’s all worth it.”
“Why don’t you hire a nanny?”
“Elizabeth wants to do this part on our own. She says later when she needs to work, we can get help, but for now, she’s determined to do this.”
I looked down at my nephew, who had fallen asleep against my shoulder. His little mouth was open slightly, his breathing even and peaceful.
“Dinner’s ready,” Elizabeth called from the kitchen.
She smiled when she saw her sleeping son. There was some serious gymnastics to remove the baby from my chest and into her arms and then into the bassinet without waking him.
We sat down to dinner, with the baby monitor sitting on the edge of the table.
“I figured you’d be celebrating after today’s win, but you showed up here looking like someone kicked your dog,” Adrian said.
“I don’t have a dog.”
“You know what I mean.”
“It’s Mandy,” I said finally.
“What about her?” Elizabeth asked.
“I miss her. More than I expected to. More than makes sense for someone I’ve only known a few weeks.” I wiped sauce from my lips. “We’ve been trying to talk, but we can’t seem to sync up. Time zones, schedules, work—there’s always something. And I don’t know how to make this work long-term.”
“Have you talked to her about it?” Adrian asked.
“Not really. We keep saying we’ll figure it out, but we haven’t actually figured anything out.
” I rubbed my face. “I can’t imagine moving to LA.
My whole life is here. The firm, the family, everything.
But I also can’t ask her to move to New York.
Her entire business is in LA. I can’t ask her to give that up. ”
“Briggs, if what you have with her is real, you’ll find a way to work it out,” Elizabeth said. “It might not be easy, but it’s possible.”
“How?” I heard the desperation in my own voice. “How do you make it work when you’re on opposite coasts?”
“You get creative,” Adrian said. He took a bite, chewed and then swallowed. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. It might be relevant.”
“What?”
“If we move forward with the retail expansion—and it’s looking more and more like we will—we’re going to need someone on the ground in LA to coordinate with Cleo and Callum. To handle the legal side of the lease negotiations, vendor contracts, all of it.”
I heard what he wasn’t saying. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I couldn’t stop it from happening.
I stared at him. “You want me to move to LA?”
“I’m saying it’s an option. If it’s something you want.
” Adrian leaned back in his chair. “Look, you’re a fantastic attorney.
But we have other lawyers who can handle most of what you do.
We can still bring you in for the big cases, fly you back for the stuff that really needs your expertise.
But the day-to-day work? We can staff that.
What we can’t easily replace is someone from the family who can be our eyes and ears in LA as we expand. ”
“You’re serious.”
“Completely serious. The partnership with the cousins is only going to get more complex as we move into retail. Having you out there would make sense from a business perspective.”
I sat back, trying to process this. “I never thought about leaving New York.”
“You don’t have to decide right now,” Elizabeth said. “But if it’s something you want, it’s possible. That’s all Adrian’s saying.”
“Is it what you want?” Adrian asked. “Be honest.”
I thought about Mandy’s house in the Hollywood Hills. The grill I’d fallen in love with. Waking up next to her every day instead of just for a couple nights a month.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I think it might be.”
“Then there you go.” Adrian smiled. “Problem solved.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Because Mandy and I haven’t even talked about whether this is a real relationship or just—I don’t know—an extended fling. What if I uproot my entire life to move out there and she doesn’t feel the same way I do?”
“You’re in love with her,” Elizabeth said. It wasn’t a question.
I started to deny it, then stopped. What was the point? “Yeah. I am.”
“Then tell her that. Talk to her. Figure out what you both want before you start making big decisions.” Elizabeth stood up to check on the kid, who was starting to stir. “Don’t be stubborn and throw away your chance at happiness. That’s just stupid.”
I laughed despite myself. “Tell me how you really feel.”
“I’m serious. You’re one of the smartest people I know, Briggs. You can figure out how to make this work if you want to. The question is whether you want to badly enough.”
I’d never seriously considered living anywhere else. This was my city, my territory. Everything I knew was here.
But Mandy wasn’t here. That felt like the only thing that mattered.
I stayed for another hour, talking through the logistics of what a move might look like. Adrian was more serious about this than I’d realized. He’d already been looking at office space in LA. He had projections for the retail expansion. This wasn’t just a casual suggestion. He’d been planning this.
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” I asked.
“Because I wanted you to want it for your own reasons, not because I was pressuring you.” Adrian picked up Bucky, who had woken up hungry. “If you’d been happy in New York, I wouldn’t have brought it up. But you’re clearly not. You haven’t been for a while now.”
“I’ve been happy,” I protested.
“You’ve been functional. That’s not the same thing.” He looked at me seriously. “Mandy makes you happy. Everyone can see it. I want you to have what I found with Elizabeth. What Sebastian has with Bernadette. But you have to decide what you want first.”
I left their place around nine, my head spinning with possibilities. When I got home, I immediately pulled out my phone. I had big news and it wasn’t something I wanted to text.
I called her. I felt like I just won the lottery. Well, I already won the lottery from a financial standpoint, but this was better than all the money in my bank account.
It rang once. Twice. Three times.
Voicemail.
I tried not to feel disappointed. She was probably in a meeting.
Mandy: I’m so sorry. Wedding emergency. Bride’s sister just showed up drunk and caused a scene. I have to handle this. Can we talk tomorrow?
I stared at the message. Tomorrow. We’d been saying tomorrow for three days now.
Me: Of course. Handle your emergency. Call me when you can.
Mandy: Thank you for understanding. I miss you so much.
Me: Miss you too.
I sighed and pulled off my tie. Did she miss me or was this just her placating me? Pretty soon, the whole missing thing would be over. It would be dulled.
I had to make my move now. Shit or get off the pot.