Page 11 of Miss Understood

“He’s been reassigned,” I say. “Luce will be taking over. She’s more experienced in these types of situations, and she’s worked cases close to the Marchetto family before.”

Valentina nods, and I don’t miss that Luce gives her a calculating look back. I have no doubt Valentina preferred Marcus. After all, I may not like Valentina, but she’s pretty in a very obvious way: small and curvy in the right places, with big eyes and pouty lips. Marcus no doubt fell for every one of her tricks. And with Luce on the case, she won’t get away with as much.

The door to the conference room opens, and Mateo slips in with a guilty expression on his face. We’re in Vegas for one meeting, and he shows up late. I glare at him, but he ignores it and takes the seat on the other side of Luce, pulling out his laptop.

“Thank you for meeting with us.” Luce passes a case summary across the table to Valentina’s team and dives right in. “On page one you’ll find the current timeline of events, from when Valentina met Tony all the way up to the incident.”

She flips open her own folder. “As you can see, there are a number of holes we need to fill before his lawyers find creative ways to do so themselves. Pages three and four are a summary of the reasons for the dissolution, and pages five through twenty-seven are the affidavits supporting Mrs. Marchetto’s case.”

The attorneys skim the papers, but Valentina sits coldly staring out the window behind us.

“Mr. Marchetto has submitted a revised proposal regarding spousal support and assets in an attempt to waive the court hearing.”

“No.” Valentina cuts her off, eyes flicking back to me. “I’m not settling. This isn’t about money, and he knows it. I want full custody of my son.”

Her voice catches in her throat at the mention of Vinnie, reminding me that Valentina, somewhere underneath the lip fillers and eyeliner, is still a real person. She’s spending her time fighting this case when she could be out partying with other twenty-three-year-old girls instead.

I open my mouth to speak, but Luce’s voice cuts in first.

“Agreed,” Luce says. A softer expression than I’m used to seeing crosses her face, and it seems to catch Valentina’s attention as well. “Mr. Marchetto’s attorneys are under the misguided impression that we are going to let him throw money at this to make it go away. Mr. Davis and I have no intention of allowing that to happen.” She looks to me, and I nod. “We will get you owed support and assets,andwe will get you custody of your son. Whatever it takes.”

The corner of Valentina’s lip lifts slightly as Luce dives into the plan of attack. Valentina may be skeptical about a new attorney taking over her divorce, but Luce is winning her over quickly.

She’s got that effect on people.

Whatever it takes.

Her words. And I have no doubt about it.

5

Luce

Afterwetalkaboutlogistics and the anticipated timeline for the case, one of Valentina’s personal attorneys corners Jesse by the elevator. They end on a handshake, but I can see Jesse is annoyed when he makes his way back into the conference room.

Not that that’s out of the ordinary for him.

Jesse’s personality has three primary speeds: annoyed, aggravated, and eerily calm.

“Now that work is out of the way, I’m ready to party.” Mateo says, ignoring the tension radiating off his boss. His jet-black hair falls over his sky-blue eyes.

Mateo and Jesse are like oil and water. While Jesse is in a constant state of exasperation around people, Mateo can get along with just about anyone. Mateo is the ray of sunshine in the office, a beam of light that counters Jesse’s dark rain cloud.

“Speaking of work, you almost missed the meeting. Was your plane late? I thought you landed before us,” I say.

Mateo shows his teeth with a wide smile. “Nate and I might have gotten distracted in that gorg room upstairs. The bathtub alone looks like it could fit ten people.”

“Oh, yeah?” I grin. “You plan on testing out its capacity?”

Mateo laughs. “Not a chance Nate would let me get away with that. Maybe this one here will have to fill us in.” He points a finger over at Jesse.

“Funny,” Jesse says, without so much as a smile.

“So, how goes it?” Mateo leans against the conference table. “I see Val’s peeps have got our boy here in a huff, which is bound to be loads of fun on a trip to Sin City.”

Jesse glares at Mateo, but he ignores it. Mateo is the only person I know who can get away with talking to Jesse like that, likely because they’ve known each other for years. Mateo holds that elusive role of a friend who has actually met Jesse’s family.

“Your boss is exhausting,” I say, ticking my head in Jesse’s direction. “Other than that, lovely flight, lovely check-in, and meeting done. Time to relax for five seconds before flying on out of here.”

---