Page 94 of Defended By Love

I’m not.

I’m really not.

In any case, it’s not like I’ll be working for Felton & Nichols much longer anyways. Again.

When I get too close to ignore, Dominic’s eyes light up, as if he didn’t just spot me a few minutes ago. God, what a phony. Even for a lawyer. “Ah, Reinhold, let me introduce you to one of our most promising associates—” he starts.

“Beth is right.”

Reinhold’s eyes train on me, two impossibly blue daggers that seek to stab out the truth. It would be impressive if it weren’t for the fact that the last time that I saw him he was completely dumbstruck as I jumped off a cliffside to flip him off. If that’s all it takes to shock him, then, clearly, we’re not in the same league.

“About what?” Dominic asks, his joviality cracking at the edges.

“There was someone in the building. Two people, actually.”

Reinhold’s eyes narrow. “Care to explain?”

Explain, I mock in my head. I will, but only because I want to.

“Last night, I snuck in through the alley service entrance. I left the door unlatched and someone followed me in.”

“I’ll go alert the search teams,” Beth gasps, running off.

“You what!” Dominic exclaims.

I pay him no heed. The weight he tries to throw around rolls off me. His temper in the office was legendary—to irk the ire of Dominic was the campfire story we told new hires in the breakroom. I used to see it as a sign that he was a man who brooked no incompetence. Now, I recognize it for what it is—the temper tantrum of a man who screams just to hear his own voice.

“It was ridiculously easy,” I accuse.

Reinhold’s eyes turn their stabbing glare towards Dominic. “There was supposed to be security guards stationed at every possible entrance as per Mr. Hart’s explicit instructions.”

“Let’s not turn this around! She was the one breaking into—”

“You should know before you get into bed with someone if they’re the type of person to cut corners and pocket the extra,” I add.

“You watch your mouth—” Dominic warns in a voice that’s nearly a yell.

If it weren’t so annoying, it’d be laughable. A good lawyer knows that arguments need to speak louder than your volume. If you need to raise your voice for people to heed your words, you’ve already lost.

“I thought I had. His body of work in the past couple of years indicated a man of a meticulous nature,” Reinhold carries on, his even words drowning out Dominic’s ramblings.

“His recent body of work was all done by me. You’d know that if you had actually looked into him instead of cutting corners yourself.”

Reinhold’s lips twitch. No emotion of any kind reaches his eyes. “You don’t cut corners, and you don’t mince words.”

Dominic steps between us, and puts his hand on Reinhold’s chest. “I swear, she’s not normally like this. It must be the stress of the building. Whatever it is, consider her gone. You won’t have to deal with her again.”

If I still cared at all about Dominic, I’d consider lending him my copy of Dr. Debbie’s Guide to Understanding Relationships. There’s a whole chapter on unsolicited touching. It can be summed up, though, with just one word: don’t.

Reinhold pinches Dominic’s hand with his pointer finger and thumb, lifting it off him like he’s peeling off a slimy banana peel.

“That was the highest compliment I’ve ever given anyone, aside from Mr. Hart,” he says. Not for Dominic’s benefit. “If you were in the building at the time of its collapse, how ever did you get out?”

I smile pleasantly. “That’s not the question worth asking right now.”

“No?”

I shake my head and take in the scene around me. Thanks to Dominic’s theatrics, a crowd is surreptitiously looking on. A couple people started filming with their phones once Dominic started repeatedly firing me.

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