Page 41 of Forever My Soldier

Apparently, it was too hard to ask for.

I swiped it off the bed and answered it, not even bothering to check the caller ID. “What?” I answered, clearly not in the mood to talk to another person right now. Truth was, it wasn’t going to be the one person I wanted it to be, so why the hell should I care about any stupid phone call?

“Is that how you answer your phone?” The distinct sound of my father’s voice had me standing up straight.

As though he could see me, I looked down and adjusted my blouse. “Dad, sorry, you caught me in the middle of something.”

“You thought I was your mother, didn’t you?” he asked and I wasn’t sure if he was feeling me out for her or trying to keep things light between us since we still had to work together. I hoped the latter.

“No,” I said honestly. Although, if it was, I certainly wouldn’t be speaking to her right now. “I just didn’t expect to be hearing from you. Is something wrong at the office?”

He grumbled, “No.” He sighed before continuing. “But I did take care of that minor situation we discussed before. The employee complaint you got,” he explained, jogging my memory.

Although, I already knew exactly what situation he was talking about. I simply wasn’t going to make it easy on him since he all but told me it was none of my business once it was in his hands. “Glad to hear it, thanks for letting me know.”

“One more thing,” my father told me. I listened as he brought up one of our oldest and dearest firm clients. It was a skincare company, one that I was very interested in since I personally used their products. I had met with the owner, Flora, a few times, but mostly Dad handled their business personally. It was one of the few clients he left in his portfolio as CEO and Managing Partner of the firm. He explained a recent business dealing he was engaging in for the company and then finally said, “Negotiations will be in-person in our Tampa office and Flora wants you there. It’s about time you took this client over. I have enough going on and you’re invested in what happens to them, so I think it’s best and so does Flora.”

Way to bury the lead.

“Me?” I asked.

“You are a customer. You’re an excellent lawyer,” he said, paying me the first real compliment I’d ever heard from him.Wow.“You know her company inside and out. She’ll only accept you.”

I sucked in a deep breath. So much had just happened, so much just said, I didn’t know where to begin. “Thank you,” I decided to start with. “Of course, I accept. When do I need to leave?”

I listened as he gave me all the details, the entire time thinking maybe it was kismet, me getting away from Miami right now. I had been to Tampa before and it was a beautiful city. Plus, my father was going to put me up in a nice hotel, I was sure. It wouldn’t even feel like work, more like a mini-vacation, which I could really use. Best of all, I’d be leaving memories of Deacon behind. I hoped.

Chapter Sixteen

Deacon

So what’s thedeal? You think you can fix it?” I asked Damon again after he finished examining my motorcycle. I brought it to him because for the past few days it kept firing up and then dying.As if I didn’t have enough crap on my mind, I needed trouble with the one thing that brought me any semblance of happiness, especially now.

He wiped some grease off his hands on the towel that was hanging out of his pocket and cleared his throat. “You have a clogged fuel filter.”

I rubbed my forehead, frustrated. “Fantastic.”

He backed up, right to a stool and sat. “All right. What the hell is going on? Because I know you’re not this upset about a simple malfunction that I can have fixed in no time. So what’s really the matter?”

I shook my head. He didn’t need to hear about my problems and I didn’t want to talk about them. How could I tell him that Jenna and I slept together, that we made a baby and she lost it? I could barely still understand it all myself. It wasn’t going to help and, frankly, gossiping like a schoolgirl was the last thing I wanted to do.

It’d been a week since I acted like a total asshole and left Jenna standing outside of her parent’s house. I knew it was wrong, but the longer I was standing there, I knew the more likely I was to say something I couldn’t take back later. I had to walk away from her and take time to think.

Not that it had done me any damn good yet.

When I came back, I swore I’d fight for her, but I didn’t know the secret she had been keeping from me. Not that I believed her sister at first when she pulled me aside to tell me at that damn dinner party. But the more she went on, the more I realized she wasn’t lying. Everything made sense.

I mean, I wasn’t a naive dumbass. We shared a passionate night together, staying up all night and fucking on the couch, on her bed, in the shower, against the wall, on the kitchen counter. Everywhere. Anywhere. She wasn’t on birth control, so I used condoms, but there was always a chance. Apparently, we fell within the two-percent of the time they didn’t work.

Sure, it would’ve blown my mind to learn we made a baby, I would have been overwhelmed and underprepared, but we would have figured shit out. None of that mattered, though, because Jenna miscarried, so I would have never had the chance to be a father anyway. All the more reason she should have told me back then. I could have been there for her, could have. . . I don’t know. . . . It didn’t matter because she never gave me a chance to do or say anything. She made the decision for the both of us.

Then she distanced herself all this time.

Damon shook his head and chuckled, bringing me away from my thoughts. “What’s so damn funny?”

“I’ve never been able to read you, bro. You’re like made of steel or something. But, this time, it’s written all over your ugly mug.”

My brows pulled together. “And just what do you think you know?”

---