7. Cassandra Walker
Amber, one of our new paralegals, was gushing about how impressed she’d been with my defense in the Steele case when suddenly, all the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
Frowning, I turned, instinctively scanning the restaurant for the source of my sudden discomfort.
My heart stuttered to a halt in my chest when I saw Theodora fucking Fairview standing at the wine bar, ordering a drink.
My blood turned to fire in my veins, and my skin sheeted with goosebumps.
What the fuck?
Theo was leaning against the bar, wearing fitted black suit pants and a crisp, white men’s shirt.
The shirt was untucked, and she had rolled up the sleeves to her elbows, showing off her lean, but well-muscled forearms. She was wearing a ridiculously skinny black tie strung up in a lazy knot around her throat like she was some sort of punk star that had just walked off stage.
Adding to the grungy rock star aesthetic she seemed to have going on was the new haircut she must have had done sometime between now and when I’d seen her in the cafe that morning.
The lower half of her head was now shaved, but she’d left the top of her dark brown hair longer. It was tied back in a slick bun, and she looked like a masc wet dream.
I watched her casually flirt with the pretty female bartender as she made Theo what looked like a Manhattan. The same uncomfortable feeling curled in my gut that I’d struggled with when I’d seen her flirting with that barista earlier resurfaced.
Was every woman on the planet fucking obsessed with her?
It was so annoying.
As if she felt me staring at her, Theo abruptly glanced in my direction, and her gaze collided with mine.
A slow, fox-like grin spread across her full lips, and she took a lazy sip of her drink as she watched me process the fact that she was here.
We stared at each other for a beat, and I felt my mouth part without my permission.
Then, she turned away and resumed her conversation with the bartender.
Losing her attention felt like a cloud had drifted in front of the sun, and I was suddenly feeling cold and rejected.
Which was ridiculous.
She had come here! To my party! Without an invitation! How did she even get in? Sinclair had bought out this venue. Only employees of the firm should have been able to get in.
Rage bubbled in my chest, and I hovered, suddenly unsure what I wanted to do.
Why had she come here?
Was she here for me?
If she was, then why the fuck was she ignoring me?
Amber was still yammering away, completely unaware that we weren’t even on the same planet anymore, let alone engaging in the same conversation.
I was about to excuse myself and storm over to the bar and demand to know what the fuck Theo was doing here, when Nolan appeared at my side.
He placed his hand on my lower back and leaned in to whisper in my ear.
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” he hummed, and I tore my gaze away from Theo to frown up at him.
“And you, Nolan! Wow, the work you did on the Benedict case was also impeccable. I was just talking about it with Julia and–”
Nolan smiled at Amber and preened under her relentless babble of praise, though he didn’t remove his hand from my waist.
He began rubbing his thumb casually up and down my spine, and my whole body lit up.
Not because Nolan was touching me, but because Theo was watching me again.
I glanced back over at where she stood by the bar, staring over the rim of her crystal rocks glass directly at where Nolan was touching me.
My cheeks flushed for some reason, and Theo just raised an eyebrow.
That one, single eyebrow somehow said so much.
It was like she was judging me for letting Nolan touch me.
Like it was beneath me, and she wasn’t impressed.
I waited for her to come over and say something, but she didn’t. She stayed exactly where she was and just watched.
A small lock of hair had managed to escape her bun and tumbled into her dark eyes. Waves of tingly heat traced over my skin as her gaze rolled slowly over my body. As if her gaze alone was enough to physically affect me.
She took a slow sip of her drink as she shamelessly devoured me with her eyes from across the bar, and my nipples tightened beneath my bra.
How did she always make me feel so naked?
To my horror, my cheeks heated, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when Nolan spoke.
I’d nearly forgotten he was even here.
“Who is that?” he asked, whispering the question into my ear so only I could hear.
I tore my attention away from Theo’s smug smirk and plastered on my most unbothered expression.
“Nobody important,” I lied, brushing him off and smoothly turning the conversation back to the Steele case.
That was why I was here after all.
To discuss me and my success.
I wasn’t about to let anyone ruin that for me.
Least of all Theodora fucking Fairview with her lingering looks and beautiful but chronically bruised face.