CHAPTER ELEVEN
JULIA
TOYA SWUNG HER RANGE Rover into a reserved spot that absolutely did not belong to her, killed the engine with a press of her manicured finger, and slid right out.
I climbed out after her, my four-inch Louboutin’s clicking against the concrete, each sharp echo bouncing off the low ceiling as we crossed the garage. Gleaming luxury cars sat shoulder-to-shoulder, broken up by the occasional sensible Prius or Honda.
"So," I prodded, needlessly smoothing my dress as we headed toward the brushed-steel elevator doors, "do you really think I buy that this is all because you're nosy?"
Her amused smirk was the same one I'd known since pre-K. "You described this woman to me yesterday with that little crease between your eyebrows. You're not worried?"
"No. Why are you?"
This wasn't like Toya at all. Something about her determination felt unfamiliar. Almost alarming. She exhaled and tossed her jangling keychain into her purse.
"I was going to let it go, but Knox and I had a little... debate last night. Semi-argument, really. About her."
"T, if you two are at that stage, this is about more than one look."
She didn't answer immediately, measuring her words as her red bottoms carried her forward with the precise rhythm of a ticking bomb.
"It's a lot of things, Julia. That's why we're here. Carmen wanted to come, but she had a waterfront showing, and Mehgan is halfway to getting everything waxed from her eyebrows to her ankles."
I laughed, the sound echoing off the concrete pillars.
Only Toya could orchestrate a reconnaissance mission with the casual flair of planning Sunday mimosas.
She punched in the code for the lift, and we stepped inside.
The ride up was quiet aside from some funky elevator music that sounded suspiciously like the instrumental version of an eighties song.
We both checked our reflections in the mirrored walls before the doors opened onto the glass-walled bridge.
We strode forward, Toya looking every inch the goddess she was.
Tall, glamorous, untouchable. I stayed at her side, channeling my inner lady because I still wasn't entirely sure what she intended to accomplish by coming here.
Calm and cordial.
That was the game.
Frankie looked up from the reception desk as soon as we approached, his nephew Tobias hovering beside him like a nervous shadow.
I loved the old man like an extra grandfather.
He always slipped me Werther's Originals at family barbecues and cackled at my dark jokes with that raspy smoker's laugh of his.
I swept around the desk and kissed his cheek and spoke to him for a few minutes before waving at the familiar security team stationed near the firm's main entrance. As the next lift climbed, digital numbers blinking upward in silent succession, I finally asked, "Does Serena know we're here?"
"No," Toya replied with a sly smile. "But I'm sure she will."
The doors slid open with a soft pneumatic hiss, revealing a space that looked like a glossy magazine spread brought to life.
It hadn't been that long since I'd last visited, but stepping into Ethan's domain always hit differently.
There was an unmistakable current of ambition and money running through the place, humming beneath everything like electricity before a storm.
We moved down the corridor toward Knox's office in the west wing, opposite Ethan's corner suite, the sound of our heels softened by the plush runner beneath them.
A couple of associates passed us with quick nods, folders hugged against their chests, clearly on missions of their own.
Phones buzzed faintly inside offices we passed, doors cracked just enough for snippets of conversation to escape.
Legal jargon. Case updates. Deadlines. The cadence of a machine that never really stopped.
As we passed a side hall, a flash of movement caught my eye.
Lila Marino slowed when she saw us, her mouth stretching into a smile that revealed perfect teeth.
A stack of cream-colored manila files rested against one hip, and as always, she was dressed to kill.
A charcoal pencil skirt hugged every contour, paired with a silk blouse the color of fresh blood.
Her dark chocolate hair fell in a sleek curtain past her shoulders, and her flawless olive skin damn near glowed beneath the recessed lights.
"Hello!" she greeted brightly.
For the record, I'd never had a problem with this woman.
I'd heard plenty about her, of course, and we’d met once or twice.
Serena kept me caught up on office gossip, and Lila's name had come up a little more often than I particularly cared for, but nothing she'd done had ever given me a legitimate reason to dislike her.
Until maybe now because that cheerfulness was manufactured as hell. Too sugary, like artificial sweetener leaving a chemical aftertaste.
"Hello. Lila, right?" I greeted, keeping my tone even.
I hated how close her name was to mine.
"Hey, girl," Toya drawled.
I swear she was channeling some over-the-top sitcom diva, and it took everything in me not to laugh.
"Can I help you with something?" Lila asked.
Her eyes moved over me. Subtly, but not quickly enough for me to miss it, and not casually enough for me to mistake what she was doing.
I was a confident woman. I also knew bitch when it presented itself.
She was taking inventory like a jewel thief casing a display.
Her gaze traveled from head to toe before lingering on my ring stack.
The six-carat cushion-cut diamond in my custom platinum engagement ring sat nestled against Ethan's mother's vintage sapphire heirloom, my pavé wedding band, and the emerald-studded ring he'd given me for our fifth anniversary.
Together, they formed one flawless, blinding constellation.
Not that the size or cost of my rings mattered, but I wasn't going to pretend Ethan putting them on my finger didn't make me feel special.
Her gaze shifted next to the slim gold chain at my throat, where two tiny diamond-encrusted letters, A and E, rested against my collarbone. Then something else registered. She'd barely looked at Toya. She dismissed her like yesterday's news. That calculated little slight didn't escape me.
I opened my mouth, but Toya beat me to it.
"We're just fine on our own." Her hand settled against the small of my back, guiding me forward.
"I'm afraid this floor requires an escort," Lila called softly after us.
Toya stopped and I caught her eye. The slight arch of her brow said everything. I smiled and turned partially back toward Lila.
"Security measures are important," I agreed pleasantly.
"But since my name is on the building, etched in gold on that plaque you pass every morning, I think I'm free to wander.
" I paused, letting my smile brighten. "Perks of being married to the owner and boss. You know my husband, don't you? Ethan?"
Her smile remained perfectly in place, but her eyes betrayed her. A tiny flash of dislike beneath the polished professional veneer. Gone almost as quickly as it appeared.
"Oh, of course," she murmured.
"Of course," I echoed brightly. Then I turned and guided Toya away, leaving Lila standing there with her files and that fake-ass smile behind us. Once we were safely out of earshot, I leaned closer. "I don't think she likes me."
Toya laughed. "She doesn't like either of us. I did some digging on her, by the way."
"Naturally."
"Lila Marino," she began, sounding like she was giving me the specs on a car I was considering buying.
"Ambitious to a fault. Comes from a wealthy background.
One younger brother. Parents are still married and seem grossly in love, but you know how looks can be deceiving.
Graduated top of her class. She's smart, strategic, knows how to turn charm on and off like a switch.
The kind of woman who's always looking for leverage. "
She paused. "She's exactly the type of associate the firm needs.
Every employee knows what's really going on here.
Nobody signs on at The Marcelli Group thinking they're representing saints.
From the file clerks to Rafa, Knox, and Ethan themselves, everyone walks in knowing they're taking on some of the worst of the worst. They still line up for a shot because they know what proving themselves here can get them. "
She glanced at me.
"Lila included."
"Now who's hyping her up?" I teased. "You do realize other beautiful, intelligent women work here, right?"
"None this close to our husbands," she countered without hesitation.
I hummed. "Hmm. I don't feel threatened by any of that."
She looked at me like I'd just grown a second head. "As you shouldn't. The fuck? You're Julia before you're Marcelli. She might want the world, but you've already got it."
"Okay, then I need you to catch me up on what you're actually trying to tell me."
"Keep up, Juju. After everything I just told you, what's one way she could try to elevate herself even higher?"
I knew exactly what answer she wanted.
I wasn't giving it a voice. Not without a damn good reason. We turned a corner and nearly collided with a paralegal. She stammered out a quick apology before hurrying off again. By the time we reached Knox's office, Toya had already wrapped her hand around the door handle.
"You're supposed to knock," I whispered, hoping to God he wasn't in a meeting.
She tossed me a look over her shoulder that clearly said rules are for other people and pushed the door open anyway. Knox sat behind his desk, eyes fixed on his computer screen. The moment he saw her, his entire face changed. He was on his feet within seconds, his chair scraping backward.
"Well, isn't this the best kind of surprise."
He crossed the room and pulled Toya into his arms. I smiled.
They looked good together. Too good. Knox was tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome, yet he somehow managed to make my beautiful Amazonian best friend look small and dainty in his arms. As I watched them, a thought scratched at the back of my mind.
We came all this way for this?
Knox finally noticed me lingering in the doorway, and one corner of his mouth lifted. "And you brought my sister."
"Hey."
We weren't blood. Not even close. But since I'd married Ethan, Knox and Rafa had claimed me as one of theirs. Eric too. A tight-knit, self-made family.
"She was needed," Toya explained simply, making no move to leave Knox's arms.
Knox sighed and pressed a kiss to her temple before pulling back. "Have you two eaten?"
"Not yet," Toya replied.
"Then go grab your husband and tell him we're going out," he said to me. "He hasn't taken a break once today."
"Sure." I glanced at Toya. Our eyes met, and mine carried a silent promise that we were absolutely going to discuss whatever the hell this was later.
Then I slipped from the room and pulled the door shut behind me.
I might not have been the brightest woman this side of Miami, but I wasn't a total fool either.
The pieces Latoya wanted me to see were scattered all over the board now.
Lila's ambition was no secret. Neither was her natural proximity to the partners.
The way she'd looked at me, barely acknowledged Toya, and behaved as we didn’t have every right to come and go from this building was something else.
Whatever Knox had done or said that had rattled my best friend enough to bring us here in the first place.
I could see the shape Toya was trying to draw around it. I just wasn't willing to color Ethan into the picture with her. The office had settled into a cathedral-like quiet as I crossed it again. When I reached Ethan's corner of the floor, Laurel sat behind her desk, flawless as always.
Her face brightened when she saw me.
"Julia. I didn't know you were coming in today."
"Me either," I replied with a chuckle.
Then a sound slipped through the closed door ahead of me.
Feminine laughter. I stopped. Now, I couldn't swear I knew Lila's laugh, but my gut told me exactly who it belonged to.
I hadn't been inside Knox's office for more than two minutes.
Maybe three. Did this bitch Naruto-run to my husband's office?
My eyes shifted slowly toward Laurel. She didn't say a word. She simply gave me one sharp nod. Confirmation enough. Interesting. Not damning, not even close. But interesting.
Calm and cordial, I reminded myself. Then I did exactly what Toya had done. I wrapped my hand around the door handle without knocking and walked right in, letting Graceful Bitch immediately took over.