Page 5 of Sweet Surrender

“What’s this I see on your calendar?”

I looked toward the doorway to find my business partner wearing her coat, a Gucci tote hanging from the crook of her elbow. She was holding her phone out, and from a distance, I could make out the calendar entry. “Noah Goldsmith? No preliminary meeting? You’re taking him on as a client without running it past me?”

I closed my eyes, wincing slightly. “You know I grew up around Noah’s family. He’s not a stranger. He only called this afternoon, practically begging for help, and you were out at your appointments, so we didn’t have a chance to touch base on it. I’m not trying to go behind your back,” I promised.

Jules scowled, but it wasn’t at me. “I didn’t mean to sound all confrontational. I was surprised, that’s all. Is this the Noah Goldsmith whose company just bought up that property on Park Avenue?”

“The very same. He’s in trouble.” Did I take glee in sharing the sordid story? A little. Maybe more than a little. But I’d been waiting for this day for too long not to.

Her frown only deepened, and with it came worry lines between her brows. “Considering he is supposed to be an old family friend, you don’t sound concerned.”

“That would be because I’m not.” Of course, that only made her more confused. “Let’s just say he has this coming to him.”

“That doesn’t sound very promising. Are you sure you even want to help him?” She perched on the arm of a chair just inside the door, her head tipped to the side.

As always, she was graceful—an ex-dancer who had studied from an early age. It was a shame an injury had effectively ended her dreams of a dance career, but she was brilliant at business and a whiz at numbers. I would’ve been lost without her.

“Sure, I want to help him.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. “He called, begging for help, and I couldn’t turn him down. He knows I’m just about the only friend he has right now.”

“So what’s the bad blood?” When I looked at her in surprise, she waved a hand around her face before pointing to mine. “You’ve got this whole evil genius thing going on right now. Like if you were sitting here stroking a white cat, I wouldn’t have been surprised.”

I had to giggle at the image. “No, I’m not a supervillain. Although if I were, he would be my origin story.”

“What happened between you two?” When I blew out a sigh, she screwed her mouth up in an expression of disapproval. “If he’s going to be one of our clients, I think I deserve to know what you might be bringing to our doorstep. Know what I mean?”

I did, and it was the least I could do. “Remember, I was fifteen when this happened.” With that, I launched into the story, wasting no time hitting the important points. It wasn’t exactly something I liked talking about, though I had gone over it in my mind countless times over the years. Every word, every feeling, all of it was burned into my soul.

By the time I finished, she was staring at me open-mouthed. “What a fuckface!” She gasped.

A succinct conclusion. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“And you’ve had to be around him since then? How did you manage it without killing him?”

“Family stuff. Our dads have been friends forever. Our moms too. I couldn’t escape him, so I’ve had to play nice for ten years, at least in mixed company,” I added. “Without the families around, all bets are off. He knows exactly how I feel.”

“This is going to sound shitty.” At least she warned me in advance. “Are you sure this is the right thing to do? Taking him on?”

“With the amount of money he’s going to pay?” I countered with a laugh. “I’d be the world’s biggest idiot if I turned down that kind of fee.” And he would pay. He would pay through the nose.

Over the years, I’d heard too many desperate men at the end of their rope, convinced they had made the one enormous mistake they couldn’t escape from. And with all his bluster and ego, Noah was as desperate as any of them. He would hand over an organ if I asked for it and would do so gladly.

That wasn’t enough to convince her, judging by her deepening frown. “It’s not all about money, babe.”

“Well, stop everything. Am I hearing you correctly?” My heart wasn’t in it when I laughed, which came out as a hollow, haunted sort of sound.

“Laugh all you want,” she muttered, shaking her head until her golden curls bounced around her shoulders. “I’m only thinking of you. You don’t need to put yourself through this. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

“I think I do.” Tapping my fingers against my desk, I imagined Noah’s desperation at that very moment. “It could lead to my own closure, letting him suffer a little after what he put me through. But I’ll still do my job, and I will do it damn well. You don’t have to worry.”

“I was never worried. Not about that.” She stood and straightened out her cute little sheath dress. “Anyway, I was on my way out. I have to go home and get ready for… something.”

The way she blushed and looked away piqued my interest. I needed something to think about that didn’t involve Noah, which was probably why I jumped at the opportunity to change the subject. “What something?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, now you have me confused. First, it was something, and now it’s nothing. Which is it? Make up your mind.”

“I hate it when you get like this,” she grumbled, but she knew damn well I wasn’t letting her off the hook until she confessed. We’d been friends for too long. “Honestly, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me, but I didn’t know if it would be your thing.”

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