Page 111 of The Sounds of Her

The door closes behind him. Instead of gaping after him, bewildered by what just happened, I cross Roman’s name off my mental list. Archer is not going to believe this. I reach for my phone so I can call him. I pull my hand back and sit down in my chair, alarmed my first thought is to call Archer.

The door opens, startling me out of that realisation. “He left here whistling,” Millie says. “And he didn’t try to hit on me again. What did you do?”

A laugh bubbles out of me but I cut it off, checking the time. “Is the car here yet?”

“That was why I came in, they just called up.”

“Thanks, Mill. Why don’t you go home early, I won’t be back today.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she smiles happily.

Time for part two of the plan. Although after this, I don’t have a clue how it’s going to go.

The car service gets me to Jason Campbell’s office within fifteen minutes. His assistant shows me into his office without making me wait.

Jason looks a lot like his son, attractive, but his features are sharper, with lines that show the life he’s lived. He greets me by rising out of his seat to shake my hand.

I don’t dislike my dad’s partner, but I’ve not had a lot to do with him. When my parents left me alone as a child, Jason was a part of the group they were with. I don’t know or care if he wondered where I was. He is only important to me for the next few minutes.

His assistant brings in coffee as he tells me to make myself comfortable.

“Brooke, I was surprised you wanted to meet.”

“Did you think I was going to accept my parents’ solution to their problem?”

“I see you’re getting straight to the heart of the matter.”

“We’re both busy people.”

“That’s true. I’m good friends with Steven Atkinson. He speaks highly of you. I’ve also noted the word around the courthouse. You’re an exceptional lawyer, Brooke.”

I won’t thank him for validating my career. I’m good at what I do. Him telling me so means nothing.

“So, the issue at hand,” Jason says. “No one was aware you are in a relationship.”

“No one asked.”

“Eloise assured me.”

“I hadn’t seen Eloise for five months before she asked me to attend the gala.”

The pooch of his lips is the only sign he isn’t aware of that. “When I last met with them, before they headed to Vermont, she alluded to the fact you are having one last fling.”

“I don’t have flings, Jason,” I cross my legs and sip the coffee his assistant made. Whether my mother hit the nail on the head or not, I’m not here to talk about Archer.

“Regardless of my personal life, my mother should have known I would never agree to this.”

“You know what is at stake?”

Funny, his son asked me the same question. I’m here to get him to end this nonsense, but I also figure I can get answers from him, given my parents took the cowards way out. Like I’m one to talk.

“Who is Penny Finley to my father?”

Jason steeples his fingers, leaning back in his chair. “You haven’t asked him?”

“I haven’t seen him since the gala. I’ve been out of the country.”

“With your boyfriend.”

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