Page 47 of King of Justice

“She works for the Creators’ Rights Organization.”

He tilted his head and said nothing for a moment, taking a sharp breath as he did. “She’s a Jane Doe.”

“I hate when you do that.” I shook my head.

“I’m not being judgy. I’m just saying…” Holding up both hands, he pulled back, straightening up in his seat while his face grew more serious. “Your parents, your friends—”

“My associates, partners, competition and everyone who knows my name will question her intentions.” I paused, looking him dead in the eyes. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Chad.”

“It’s only been a minute, you don’t have to—”

I interrupted him with a wag of my finger. “We didn't meet yesterday, either.”

“I know. I know you like to see a thousand steps down the road before your feet touch the ground. But this may be tricky. For the first time in maybe ever, you can’t see the future with this one.”

Not only was he right, but I was thrown back into doubt, as all my wishful thinking seemed to evaporate.

fifteen

Stepping Up

Sophie

Who could believe that that rollercoaster ride had only been two weeks ago? With the whole Nathan Wright fever in the rearview mirror, I tried my best to convince myself that it hadn’t felt like months since our night in his car. That I didn’t miss him at all.

“I’m just saying.” Zoey held up a finger. “I would’ve let him take me to that party first.”

“And be treated like a trophy the whole night? In a dress he bought me? No, thanks,” I objected before pouring hot water into my mug. “Why are we still talking about this? It’s history.”

“Right. When is Alex fixing that machine?” She pointed at the old coffee maker. “It’s a new year already.”

“Why don’t we just all pitch in and buy a new one?”

“So that he can use it for all his rich lawyer friends? I don’t think so.”

“They literally help him pay our salaries!”

“Now you like them.” She shook her head in dramatic disappointment. “For shame!”

Stirring in my sugar, I narrowed my eyes with a forced smile. “Don’t you have work to do?”

“You’re seriously not gonna call him back?”

“No!” I sternly shook my head before licking the spoon. “I can’t afford any of it. The friends, the parties, the dinners… it’s another planet for me.”

“You don’t need to afford it.”

“And I don’t need a man to drag me out of my world and into his, just because the sex is good,” I lowered my voice with the last few words.

“What would you do it for?”

Her question hung in the air between us, thickening it and rendering everything around us in slow motion. I knew that my eyes and hers remained linked for an eternity, but I wouldn’t voice an answer and with that, she knew.

Silently shrugging, she spun round and got out of the kitchenette, leaving me to my new demon.

“What would you do it for?”

My mother did it for love, and for twenty years, lived with dad here in America. When they both retired, it was his turn to reciprocate, moving away from everything he grew to know and love so that he would see the world from where she came.

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