Chapter 2
Chapter Two
K ingston
"I'm sorry, Mom, but I just do not have time to go on a family trip to France. I don't care if Dad can score tickets to the Olympics or not." The silence on the end of the line is deafening. Danica Chase does not like being told no. Not by my dad, not by my brothers, and certainly not by me, the "baby" of the family.
"Go and break my heart, why don't you, Kingston Chase. I only gave birth to you for twenty-five hours. Had the entire hospital thinking a murder was happening because I was screaming so much." She pauses dramatically and I can picture her Skye-blue eyes welling up with tears. "But don't worry about me, sitting here in my living room, struggling to keep my family together."
"Mom, we had family lunch a month ago. With the entire family." I stress the word entire because it had been a shitshow, with both sets of grandparents, my parents, four uncles, five aunts—even my uncle Vinny's ex wife showed up just to cause drama—my three brothers, fifteen cousins, two dogs, a crazy cat, and a greedy gerbil. I still have nightmares about the event; though I know Mom had loved every moment. She lives for chaos. I live for peace and quiet, with momentary breaks for a quick prank. Mom calls me her serious son, and when I was a kid, I wondered if I was adopted. Though, I’m pretty sure I just took over the mannerisms from my dad's side of the family, who had hailed from England when he was a boy. My mom was third generation Italian and you'd think her relatives had just got off the boat at Ellis Island.
"When I die, please don't lie and engrave ‘beloved mother’ on my tombstone..." Her voice trails off and I stand up and grab a beer from the mini fridge in my office. "Kingston, are you there?"
"Yes, Mom."
"Are you listening to me?"
"Yes, Mom. Always, Mom."
"Is that how you speak to the judge?"
"No, I don't call the judge mom." I chuckle and sit back down, swiveling my chair around so I can gaze out of the windows and stare at the New York skyline. I never get tired of staring at the peekaboo-blue sky through the skyscrapers. I look down toward the road and stare at the thousands of yellow cabs and cars making their way through the city. "Did you have anything else you wanted to discuss, Mom? I'm still at work and wanted to finish up what I'm working on before I meet the guys for dinner."
"The guys?"
"My partners, Mom. Remi, Max, and Gabe is back in town."
"That Gabe is such a handsome man. Remi as well. I don't know how you're all single. You work too much, that's what I say."
"Maybe, but you know Max is coupled up now. So that should make you happy."
"I'd be happier if my son were in a relationship and traveling with me to Paris next month."
"I'm not your only son."
"But you're my baby. My favorite."
"Wait until I tell Silvio, Lorenzo, and Adam you said that."
"You will tell them nothing." She laughs slightly and I grin as I lean back in the chair. "I just want you to be happy, Kingston."
"I know, Mom. I am happy. I love you. Tell Dad I love him as well. I'll call you this weekend." I hang up and close my eyes, rubbing my fingers across my forehead as I think about all the work I have ahead of me. I look over at Skye's desk and frown as I see the stack of files in the same place I'd left them this morning. Had she not finished going through them? I head over to the desk and glance down. She's only gone through a few of the files and has already left for the day.
The fiery redhead is far from the best employee I've ever had in my life and I debate calling her back into the office. A part of me is annoyed that I even hired her a month ago.
"It looks serious." One of my law partners, Remington Parker, almost makes me jump as he comes up behind me. "What's going on?"
"Just wondering if I should call in my new assistant to finish her job." I look up at him with a frown. "I told her to go through all of these files today and note down how many of these clients spent over $500 last year on the Glubey Lubey pill for the deposition on Tuesday." I pick up a stack of files and wave them in the air. "She didn't complete the task. I have half a mind to tell her to get her ass back to the office, right now."
"That very pert ass." Remi chortles and whistles and I look over at him in fury. "Am I lying?"
"You shouldn't be checking out her ass."
"Don't worry, bro. I'm not after your assistant, but that doesn't mean I haven't noticed just how cute she is."
"Do not sleep with my assistant."
"As if I would." He smirks like a devious cat, then shrugs because we both know that he very certainly would. Normally, I wouldn't mind that Remi is an outspoken playboy, but right now, I'm not in the mood.
"I'm going to call her." I grab my phone from my pocket and search for her name. I've never called Skye before, only sent her a few texts, and I'm curious to hear her voice on the phone. I have a thing for voices and dulcet tones. Maybe it's the high school poet in me, but I love melodic voices. Not that I think that Skye has one. I find her number and I'm about to press call when Remi gives me a look, raising both eyebrows at me like I'm about to make the biggest mistake in the world.
"What is it?" My finger hovers over the button.
"You sure you want to call her on a Friday night?" He chuckles and a knowing look shines in his dark brown eyes.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"It's a Friday night. She's single. You’re single. Max just got together with Lila and I bet everyone in the office is hoping they can catch the rest of us eligible bachelors."
"You think Skye wants me?"
"I don't know about that, but I bet she's open to it. Maybe even hoping for it. And if you call her asking her to ’come into work’ on a Friday night, she may think that's code for you want to knock boots."
"But I'm actually calling her to do work."
"Maybe ask her if she wants to grab dinner."
"What? Why?"
"Because if she jumps at the offer of dinner, she's definitely interested. If she says she has plans or something else, then you know she's not trying to have your baby and get on that eighteen year child support plan."
"You watched too much trashy TV when you were younger." I shake my head at Remi. "Are you crazy?"
"I'm just saying, it's better for her to know where she stands before she gets ideas. Especially if you’re calling her on a Friday night."
"I don't know that that's a great idea."
"Unless it's not true, of course. Maybe you do want her. You into redheads?"
"I'm not not into redheads." I say. "And I'm not into her like that. She's my assistant. My not very good assistant. I'm not going down the road of romance or sex with her."
"That's what Max said."
"Because Max is an idiot. And he hadn't dated in ages." I smirk. "I don't have that problem."
"Yeah, you're rolling in girlfriends. Got a date tonight?"
"I'm grabbing dinner and drinks with you and Max and Gabe, so no."
"I'm meeting someone for midnight drinks." He grins. "And maybe some dancing."
"The mambo?"
"Something like that." He sits on the edge of the desk and looks me over. "You can join if you want. I can ask Molly if she has a friend she can bring tonight. Maybe two if Gabe wants to join."
"Sure." I say, not because I actually want to go out drinking and dancing. In fact, there's nothing I want less, but I'd rather do that then have him thinking I want Skye. I do not want Skye in any way whatsoever. All I want from her is for her to do her job. "Let's go to the bar and I'll call her from there." I push my phone back into my pocket. "Let me log out of my laptop and then we can head out."
"Sounds good." He grins. "And then you'll tell Skye not to get her hopes up."
"Yeah." I nod. "I don't want her getting any ideas into her head whatsoever. All we have is a boss-employee relationship and she needs to understand that when I say I need her to complete a task by a certain date, she needs to do it."