Chapter 17 #2
And if I was truly being honest, love. A home with someone I could build a life with. I hated coming home alone, but maybe I didn’t have to.
Not anymore.
I kind of hated that Dexter was turning out to be the smart brother. Not that I’d ever tell him that. A man had to have some secrets.
My father gripped the back of his neck and stared over my shoulder. “You never told me any of this. It took Dexter coming to me today to clue me into the fact that I was ruining your life.”
I would’ve laughed at the melodramatic turn of phrase if it hadn’t been so true.
Well, partially. “Someone is ruining my life, but it’s not you.
It’s me.” I ran my fingertip over a slash of red on my wrist, rising like a welt.
Ryan must’ve marked me. Would it be too much to get a tattoo right there?
Huh, I could get a tattoo. I’d never done that before. She had a tattoo right in the same spot. A crescent moon and a scatter of stars. A good reminder to always look up.
I’d forgotten that for too long.
“This is starting to sound like a support group.” My father rose. “Do you want to step back?”
“I do. All the way back.” I took a deep breath. “I’m giving my notice. I’ll stay on for as long as needed to close out my cases, but I’m done. Officially.”
My father continued on as if I’d never spoken. “Dexter indicated he can take on more, and we can always bring in someone to help you after I retire. You can help with that selection. What about Bishop?”
“Did you hear me? I just said I’m leaving. I have to go.” I shoved my fingers through my hair. “But yeah, I can talk to Bishop. I need to anyway. I won’t leave you in the lurch.”
“You can’t leave. You handle everything here. Without you, this law firm will become a shadow of what it used to be. What about my legacy?”
“Your legacy is your own. It’s not my responsibility.
” Saying that—and finally truly believing it—was like dropping a burden I’d carried for far too long.
“You just said Dex can help more. I’ll call Bishop.
He’s been having some growing pains of his own, so maybe he’ll want to throw his lot in here.
Maybe not. If he doesn’t, I can put out some feelers. ”
“You owe me,” my father said in a low voice, a muscle jumping visibly under his jaw. “After all I’ve sacrificed for you, that’s it? You’d just walk away and let this law firm crumble? And for what, Preston? If this is about your temp, hell, keep fucking her. See if I care.”
“So happy you’re offering your approval.” I dragged off the tie I’d only just put back on before coming in here, punishing the fabric between my hands to keep from strangling my father.
I never would’ve said I had a violent streak, but lately, the man was testing me.
“As of tomorrow, she won’t be working here anymore, and April will return.” He adjusted his cuff links. “Maybe then everything can go back to normal.”
“No, it can’t. I’m done. You know me well enough to know I don’t make idle threats. I never threatened to go before because I wasn’t ready.”
“Oh, and now you are?”
“So ready.” I pocketed my tie and moved to the door.
“You can count on me to finish things out, as I said. I won’t leave until my clients are satisfied they are in good hands.
But I will be leaving. And if you talk to Dex before I do, please pass along my thanks.
” I flashed my dad a thin smile as I turned the knob.
“As usual, he ran his mouth before I could, but in this case, I appreciate it.”
I stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind me. And I grinned, already palming my phone in my pocket.
I was free.
Finally, I was fucking free.
Oh, it wasn’t that simple. I’d likely be tying things up for months. But it didn’t matter. There was a light at the end of my metaphorical tunnel, and this time, it wasn’t a train bearing down on me. I could imagine making it through to the other side.
Even if I wasn’t entirely sure what my life would look like yet.
It wasn’t as if I was going to chuck my law degree to become a professional surfer or something. Never mind that a job like that was impossible in central New York. I wasn’t going to relocate either.
I rubbed the mark on my wrist. I had a very good reason to stay exactly where I was.
But I also loved my house. I loved my family, regardless of the fact that one of them was shortsighted, pigheaded, and a damn fool. I didn’t want to go somewhere else. More than enough existed for me right here.
It was past time I figured out how much more I could have.
Walking down the hall to my temporary office—oh, yeah, I was already moving out in my mind—I pressed the speed dial for my best friend. It had been far too long since we’d spoken, but it looked like I was suddenly going to have a lot more free time.
He took a few rings to answer. Once he did, I could barely hear him.
“Where are you? You sound like you’re in a wind tunnel.”
He replied again, not that I could make it out in the rush of noise. I distinctly heard a feminine laugh and then there came the sounds of movement before the line quieted.
“Sorry about that. How the hell are you, Pres?”
“Where are you?”
“On a beach loving life. You could use one of those.”
So, my buddy was on the same track as I was. Summertime and the living was easy. Well, it was almost fall, and my life wasn’t easy yet, but I was getting there.
“Which beach? I can meet you.”
“Before five on a Thursday? Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”
“Try me.”
His laughter was loud and rich. “Pretty sure you can’t meet me, bud. I’m in the South Pacific.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Sure am. I told you I needed some time off. Well, I took it. Now I’m not sure I’m coming back.” He laughed again.
I frowned. He was kidding. Of course he was. People didn’t go on vacation and just…stay there. Did they?
Then again, most people probably didn’t sleep with a woman one time and rip apart their whole life. Was insanity catching?
Possibly.
The truth of it was that I’d been considering deconstructing my life even before I’d touched Ryan. She’d just helped accelerate things.
“When you say you need a vacation, you’re not kidding around.” I went into my office and eased a hip on the edge of my desk as I fingered the tie in my pocket. I wouldn’t mind not wearing those annoying things every minute of my day, that was for sure.
Besides, who said I had to? Of course I would when I went into court, but there was nothing wrong with trousers and a button-down shirt. My clients would probably expire if they saw me in anything but a full suit, but hey, maybe they needed to be shook up too.
“Nope, I’m tired of the grind, man. It wears at you.
Especially in our line of work.” Bishop released a long sigh.
“My last client before I hopped on the plane cried on my shoulder, thanking me for saving her family’s compound on Maui from her evil ex.
I might’ve felt like Superman, if I didn’t suspect she was just as sketchy as her awful husband. ”
I laughed. That was a scenario I knew too well. “I hear you. How long have you been there?”
“Just a few days. Not long enough. Especially since I’ve found an especially interesting distraction to occupy my time.” I could practically hear him waggling his brows.
I chuckled. “You sound like you’re on the prowl.”
“No need. I saw her my first day here. Damn, Shaw, I think I’m in love.”
My laughter sounded a little crazed. “You too?”
Immediately, I sobered. What the hell was I saying? It was one thing to acknowledge I could want love, and that the possibility of love was more likely than it had been, say, three weeks ago. But to think I was actually in love already?
Nah.
Not possible.
I went to work on the top few buttons of my shirt. For fuck’s sake, I couldn’t be.
Bishop coughed. “Okay, now I think I’ve entered into another dimension. Never mind my own crazy situation, but you? The Preston Michael Shaw, king of all he touches and with no concern for any human emotion ever? I mean, dude, how long has it been since you’ve even hooked up?”
Though I wasn’t one to kiss and tell, considering my recent past I couldn’t help feeling smug. “About an hour ago.”
Static filled the line, and then Bishop let out a laugh. “No way. Same goes. Who is she?”
“Who is yours?” I countered, not wanting to go there yet.
As close as Bishop and I were, too much was in chaos right now. I didn’t want to say too much about Ryan. It seemed wrong somehow. It should be private, at least for a bit. Personal.
Just ours.
Too much of it had already been up for my father’s consumption due to his interruption. I wasn’t about to gossip to Bishop.
He sighed and the sound was decidedly misty for my normally non-emotional best friend.
He’d certainly had his share of pain in his past, which he rarely liked to talk about.
That included not getting too involved in his personal relationships.
In a lot of ways, he was like my brother.
He was more discriminating than Dex, but he never stayed lonely for long.
I understood all too well why he didn’t want to be, after what he’d dealt with.
“She’s amazing. Seriously amazing. We’ve been wrapped up in each other for days. We barely break to eat. Unless it’s off each other. I put slices of pineapple on her—”
I held up a hand, but he obviously couldn’t see me. “I get the picture. And normally, I’d say I was jealous, but I’m pretty pleased with my own situation right now. Mine is also local.”
“Yeah. That is a problem.” He paused. “I’m thinking of asking her to come back with me.”
My eyes widened. Something was definitely in the air, even on the other side of the world. “To live with you?”
“Well, she doesn’t have to move in right away, but she could. Why not, right? I like this feeling. Hell, I love this feeling. She’s incredible, Pres. Just the sound of her laughter makes me grin like an idiot.”