Page 25 of Miss Understood

“No,” I say. “I mean, yes.”

“We’re just caught off guard.” Jesse tries to cover for my sudden inability to form sentences. “We’ve tried to keep it close to the vest, for obvious reasons, and this is—”

“The opposite,” Brad laughs, raking his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair. There’s more salt in his hair than there was two years ago, but he still has the boyish energy of a young man. Get him around my dad, and they’re basically a couple of boys at heart, ready to get into trouble.

Crap, my father. I’m going to have to explain this to him.

“You haven’t said anything to my dad, have you?” I blurt out.

There’s a surprised furrow in Brad’s brows, but he shakes his head. “Haven’t talked to him in a couple weeks. Why, he doesn’t know about—” Brad waves his finger between Jesse and me.

“We were hoping to surprise him.” Jesse’s hand slips into mine, and I try really hard to not notice the feeling his touch sends through me.

Brad pretends to zip his lips. “Understood. I have to say, I was more than a little surprised myself. You two act like you want to kill each other half the time. But now I get it. Nothing like some angry passion.” He wiggles his eyebrows, and I cringe more than a little.

Jesse must feel the same way, because his grip tightens on my fingers.

I kind of love and hate how it feels when he’s holding my hand.

“I’ll let you kids get back to it.” Brad claps, and Jesse audibly growls when Brad says “kids,” which makes me instantly curious. “Say hi to your father for me.”

The door shuts behind him, and Jesse’s hand immediately falls from my own.

“This is bad,” he says, and when I look at him, there’s worry all over his face. “I can’t fuck up again.”

The weight of his statement makes it feel like we’re talking about a lot more than Vegas.

9

Jesse

Sometimes,thingsgosideways.

Other times, they flip inside out and onto their fucking heads.

Marrying Luce surpasses all that.

I tried to play the cool-and-collected card when I realized what we’d done. It was promptly stomped on by Luce having a total meltdown in her hotel room.

At least by that point we were both in our clothes. Or at least, I was in my clothes. She was in a towel. Wet and dripping. Which was no better than her standing beside the bed totally naked. I almost said fuck it and offered to take her right there.

Unfortunately, when Luce’s walls shot back up, they were fortified. Solid steel with iron teeth, waiting to shred anyone who breached the barrier. There was no option but for me to listen to her when she so bluntly said, “Get the fuck out.”

But then Mateo’s little surprise party happened, and him letting the cat out of the bag snowballed our predicament into a sand trap there’s no getting out of, shutting down my thoughts that this mess might be easily solved with an annulment.

Word of us tying the knot spread really fast. Apparently, when two of Seattle’s top divorce attorneys settle down, people take notice.

Love is alive, and all that bullshit.

So now, for better or worse, we’re stuck in it. At least for the time being.

The only bright light in all this is that Luce and I—for the first time ever—actually agree on something.

If I wasn’t already motivated enough to win the Marchetto case and put myself back on the map as someone who can’t be fucked with professionally, this has done it. Because making myself untouchable is the only way I’ll get out of this marriage with my reputation in one piece.

“Hey, big bro!” Serena shoots out of the elevator and into my arms.

I wrap my sister in the kind of bear hug I reserve for family. One that crumples my suit, and I don’t mind.

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