Page 216 of The Last Good Man

Okay. That’s interesting.

I spin around, return to my desk, and access their company’s financial files.

Things look good.

Their firm is well-capitalized and has a strong balance sheet.

Face palm.

It might be a coincidence that he’s walking into this firm with his business partner,andI happen to be here.

But some of it might be him proving to me he can be in the same league with the suckers I have dated.

‘Not everything has to do with you,’the mocking voice in my head mutters.

Yeah… Not everything has to do with me. But every interaction nudged us here.

Perhaps I’ll be a fuzzy memory by the time he'd set his eyes on someone else.

Someone with fewer misconceptions and more mature––the irony––andreal.

I’ve played a role in his life as much as he’s taught me a lesson.

“Everything happens for a reason,” I murmur, leaning back in my seat and planning my next move.

Without peeling my eyes away from the view, I reach inside my bag, pull out my phone, and tap Angela’s number.

“I want to make an offer on that apartment,” I say when she picks up.

41

MELODY

Saturday

John Levine works swiftly.

I talked to him last night, and he delivered his first report.

I go over it with guilt.

Jax wouldn’t like this. He’d lift an eyebrow at me and ask me to grow up.

None of this would’ve happened had we had a normal relationship.

I needed to swallow the last drop of bitterness before changing.At this point,the pressure of getting it right is gone, and I rely on intuition.

Whatever the damn thing says is what I’m doing.

For now, I read the information.

Jax London is the oldest son in a family of three children. Two boys and a girl.

His parents are divorced.

Tim London, his father, is a successful lawyer with a troubled past.Before becoming an attorney, he had problems with the law. He had never been convicted. He is known for having a shorttemper andbeingreckless with his money, and Igather he isnot a great domestic partner.

Despite all that, he remarried. He has a nice house with a white picket fence–I have a picture of it—on Long Island. He also has two kids with his new wife, and they are both infants.

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