Page 95 of Open Secrets
Something’s wrong. I can hear it in her tone. “Anna. What is it?”
She takes a breath, then another, her eyes flicking toward the window like maybe she can toss the words out there instead of at me. “I thought the reason I wasn’t getting anywhere—partner-wise—was because I wasn’t ruthless enough. You know, not cutthroat like the guys. So…”
Her voice drops, and she presses her napkin flat on the table, smoothing the wrinkles with her fingers.
“…I kind of became a bitch.”
“I don’t believe that,” I say right away.
She gives me this sad little smile. “You should. I’ve been a slimy, good-for-nothing, woman-shaming lawyer lately. The kind of person I swore I wouldn’t be.”
“Anna,” I lean forward, shaking my head, “that’s not who you are.”
She shrugs, looking down at her plate. “Feels like it is. Somewhere along the line, I stopped being nice and just… leaned into being the asshole in the room. And yeah, it gets results, but it doesn’t feel good.”
“You’re not a bad person for fighting hard,” I tell her. “You just forgot you can fight and still be you.”
She looks up at me, eyes tired but curious. “And how exactly do I do that?”
“Start small,” I say. “Be the Anna that used to believe she was awesome. The one who gave a shit. You don’t have to prove yourself by being mean.”
She lets out a half-laugh, half-sigh. “I’ll get right on that.”
She smiles, thanking the waiter as he brings over our milkshakes.
“Tell me what else is going on,” Anna says, softer this time. “The truth.”
I stare at my milkshake for a beat, the straw trembling between my fingers.
“All right,” I say, and the words spill before I can stop them. “You want the truth? Fine. No edits, no sermon.”
She gives me a look—half dare, half relief—and I start from the beginning, because the truth doesn’t come neat. It comes jagged. Messy.
“We opened our marriage,” I say, watching her face while the story unfurls.
I tell her about Connor—how stupidly jealous I was of him, how that envy led me down the road to the biggest mistake of my life.
About Cece. The arrangement that wasn’t supposed to matter, and how it turned into blackmail that could tear everything down.
Finally, I tell her about the confrontation in the hotel room. How Maria stood there, cool as steel, and told Cece to back the hell off.
Anna’s eyes widen, then she leans back with a laugh. “I knew Maria was a badass.”
That gets a real smile out of me. “Yeah. She is.”
Anna props her chin on her hand, studying me. “And now?”
I shrug, shoulders heavy. “Now we’re just… waiting. It’s been a week. Debra swings by the hotel every morning, and Cece’s car is still parked there.”
Anna’s mouth curls into a smirk. “You know what will light a fire under her ass?”
My brows draw together. “Anna…” My voice comes out warning, but she’s already got that look.
That same wicked look she had when she was five and convinced me to wear a tutu to her dance recital.
My stomach dips. “What are you thinking?”
Her smirk only deepens. “Let’s just say you should be happy I’m a lawyer.”
