Page 67 of Recklessly in Love

And with no preamble whatsoever, my father hands me a thick envelope. “I think you should take a look at this. It’s about your … girlfriend.”

Frowning, I ignore the disdain in his voice when referring to Joanie and open the envelope, perusing its contents. My stomach drops as I do. It’s evidence that Joanie had an affair with one of her former law firm’s managing partners and was using it to blackmail him for a promotion and other perks. Text message conversations, emails, performance reviews, and even a few photographs of Joanie looking flirty and touching an older, albeit not unattractive, man.

“Where did you get this?” I ask, my voice tight.

“Since your girlfriend made such an … interesting impression at our first meeting, once I heard she was spearheading the town’s incorporation and that you two have been seen about town looking rather cozy, I took it upon myself to learn a bit more about the woman my son was getting into bed with. Literally and figuratively, as it were. Luckily, my attorney knows one of the other managing partners at the firm she worked for,” he explains. “Listen carefully, Gregory. If you do not end this relationship with her and relinquish your interest in our joint property, her former firm and I will release this information to every law firm in Washington. She’ll never work in law in this state again. I will not have you prancing about with a harlot while doing everything in your power to sink this family’s legacy.”

Anger surges through me, but I force myself to stay calm. “I’ll look at the evidence and think about it,” I say evenly, but even that amount of deference chafes against my pride. Still, I know my father, and he doesn’t make idle threats.

My father nods, a smug smile on his face. He thinks he’s won. But I know playing this card means he expects to lose his lawsuit against me. He’s getting desperate. Still, if what he says is true, Joanie’s career is now in my hands. As soon as my father walks away, I allow myself a moment to feel the despair that’s already tearing me apart. But I pull it back together. I need to walk out of these doors and pretend everything is fine in front of Joanie until I can decide what I’ll do next.

Back at home, I pour over the documents alone, searching for chinks in the story that’s laid out in front of me, my mind racing. I’m upset, but I need to talk to Joanie about this. I don’t want to believe it, but it’s all laid out in black and white.

When I call her into the room, I can see that she wonders why I’ve been locked away in here. But when her eyes land on the documents spread over the desk, her face pales.

“Is that what was in the envelope your father gave you?” she asks gravely.

I nod. “Yes,” I reply simply.

Her eyes turn glassy, and her shoulders rise with the deep breath she takes as she settles into the chair across from me. “I can explain.”

“Please do,” I say, gesturing for her to go ahead while trying to keep my voice neutral. “Because I don’t want to believe this, but it’s hard to ignore.”

She takes another deep breath, but I can see her hands shaking. It hits me right in the gut. Even knowing she may have done these horrible things, my heart still reaches for her.

“When one of the managing partner’s sons was promoted to junior partner, even though I’d been promised the position, I threatened to sue for gender discrimination. I’d been building a case against them for years, noticing patterns in their promotions. In response, they fabricated this story and evidence to discredit me if I ever proceeded with a lawsuit. They asked for my resignation.”

I lean forward, listening intently as she continues. “Their story wouldn’t stop the lawsuit, but it would ruin my reputation and prevent me from getting a job at any law firm in Western Washington. So I decided I didn’t want to work there anymore. But instead of quietly resigning, I chose to have sex with the recently promoted son and get us both fired. A final ‘fuck you’ to the partners.” She blinks her eyes and barks a harsh laugh. “The joke was on me because even though I’ve tried to pretend it never happened, it’s been difficult to move on from. ”

My brows jump. “How so?”

She rubs at her forehead. “I don’t like to focus on the negative. I’m all about what’s next, what I can do, not what I can’t do. It takes a lot to keep me down, but after years of dealing with their shit … it just wore me out. And then they made up all this —” she gestures at the documents “— and I knew even if I could prove it wasn’t true, the damage would be done by the time I could get anyone to listen. It made me hate the industry. Because this is how it is. Lies and fabrications and mind fuckery. They sure don’t tell you about all that in law school, and it’s why I was having such a hard time deciding what to do next with my life.” She shakes her head like it doesn’t matter, but I can see her breaking from here.

I gesture for her to come to me. With a sniff, she rises and rounds the desk. I pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around her. She rests her head on mine, and I kiss her neck where it meets her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Joanie. I’m sorry they mistreated you. I’m sorry they made up a pack of lies to keep you quiet. But I’m mostly sorry that I didn’t instantly see this for the complete bullshit that it is,” I apologize. I tilt my head up and look her in her ice-blue eyes. “And I’m sorry my father has gotten his hands on this information.”

Joanie snorts. “Hey, I’m the one who called him powerless. I was practically baiting him to do something like this.” She shakes her head, anger written in the tight lines around her mouth and eyes.

“This isn’t your fault,” I assure her. “But the fact remains that my father could destroy your career over this. So I think … as much as I hate to let him think he’s won even for a moment, I think we should at least appear to break up for now. Just until I figure out what to do.”

Joanie’s eyes flash with hurt, but she nods. “You’re probably right. Except about one thing.”

I give her a half-hearted smirk. “What’s that?”

She nuzzles into me and places a gentle kiss on my lips. “Until we figure out what to do.”

I don’t contradict her that this is my father, my battle to fight. Instead, I run my hands up and down her arms. “You need to be here for the incorporation. I have some ideas that I can look into in Seattle. I’ll keep you in the loop as much as I can.”

Joanie cups my face in her hands, looking deep into my eyes. “I’ll go stay with Mia and Nate for a while.”

“You can stay here while I’m gone if you want to,” I assure her.

She shakes her head. “It’d make me miss you too much.”

Overwhelmed with affection at her words, I lean in for another kiss, soaking her in, knowing that no matter what, I’m going to miss her like crazy.

“I’ll spend the rest of the afternoon clearing my calendar for the next few weeks. And then I want to have you for dinner,” I growl into her ear.

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