Page 48 of My Enemy, My Obsession

“You must be Sofia,”the woman greets, her green eyes alight with amusement even as she motions me forward. “Please come off that elevator before the doors shut on you.”

Right, I think, and rush forward, stepping into the hallway. “Indeed,” I confirm. “I’m Sofia.”

Ethan steps to my side as the other woman offers me her hand. “Harper. I was trying to sneak over to Starbucks before you arrived. You want to go with me?”

“Of course,” I say. “I’ll never turn down a cup of coffee.”

Harper eyes Ethan. “You know, of course, you can’t stay.”

He laughs—one of his low, ultra-hot, manly laughs. “I know. I’m headed to the bank. I’ll be back in about forty-five minutes. In fact, I’ll ride down first.”

“Excellent idea,” Harper approves, her expression bright but her voice forceful. “More time for me and Sofia to chat about her contract.”

Ethan surprises me then by pressing his hand to my lower back and leaning in close to whisper, “She’s a bitch, butshe’s your bitch.”

It’s not the joke meant for Harper’s ears, of course, that surprises me, but rather the ease at which he touches me in front of her.

“That’s true,” Harper approves, not the least bit offended. “Off you go, Ethan,” she adds, waving him away.

He laughs again, and his hand slides away, and with a quick punch of the button, his car has arrived and he has departed. “Before we do anything,” Harper says, “you need to hire me and activate attorney-client privilege. Do you have a dollar?”

“I have a twenty, for sure,” I say, opening my purse and removing it from the secret compartment I keep my stash cash, or my emergency money, as my mother had called it. She’d declared it necessary, and I’ve lived by that rule all my adult life.

Harper accepts the twenty and says, “I’ll buy us both coffees.”

I grin and decide I like this woman. She’s my height, about five-four, and her brown hair is more chestnut than mahogany, with hints of caramel carefully painted in strategic spots by one heck of a good stylist. She punches the button, and the doors to an elevator on the far right open instantly. “I don’t have your contract with me,” she says as we step into the car, “but I read them over several times, and I assume that’s what you have in the folder sticking out of your purse?”

“Yes. I have them with me, and I have to tell you I’m a contract virgin. I know nothing.”

“Well, good thing I do,” she says with a curve of her lips.

A few minutes later, we’ve exited the building, walked a block, and claimed a table in the corner of the shop, our cups in hand. “Okay,” she says. “Let’s talk about the contract. I’ll be frank, I’m friends with Ethan, and I’m not charging you because I feel like this is a conflict of interest. That said, I’m an honest person and good at what I do. He wrote a contract that is in your favor, and that’s not what he does. He says this deal isn’t personal, but it clearly has a component that is.” There’s a hint of accusation in her tone that has me questioning who she really is to him.

“I didn’t ask him to treat me any way but fairly, and honestly, he wrote that contract when he thought I’d lied to him and he was fairly certain he hated me.”

She bristles, and her spine stiffens. “Lied to him?”

I’ve opened a can of worms I cannot shut. “It’s a long story and a misunderstanding. The point is, I don’t think the contract was personal. I hope it wasn’t. I want it to be fair. Can we go through it line by line?” I pull the folder from my purse.

“Of course,” she says, and that’s exactly what we do. And she’s right. The contract is in my favor. There is no way I can turn this down.

Once I’ve packed the folder away again, I meet her stare and say, “I won’t let him down.”

She studies me a moment, her reply slow but forceful. “I believe you.” She hesitates. “He’s guarded with reason. I haven’t seen him open up to anyone in a very long time.”

“How do you know him so well?”

“I dated his buddy, Nelson, and the three of us became friends. Yes, I’m still friends with Nelson. He’s a good guy. Just not my guy. We all did a few in-and-out investments together. It worked. I admire Ethan.”

“How much?”

She laughs. “Easy now there, girlfriend. I do not want his body. We don’t have that connection. I don’t know why. It’s just not there. In fact, I’ve tried to set him up on dates, and he wants nothing to do with it.”

“Because of Anna?”

Her eyes go wide. “You know about Anna?”

“I met her and Grant at the restaurant this morning, and not by choice. I think Grant had us followed. He’s evil, and she’s in love with Ethan.”

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