Page 63 of The Lawyer
He stops his mouth and temper in the same breath. I can almost hear the whirls of the clogs falling into place as he looks between us both. “You’re fucking her, aren’t you?” Neither Willow nor I reply. In fact, she’s as much a wall of ice as I am. “That’s why you were so wound up the other day. You didn’t like the fact that she was mine.” More silence, as we let him carry on thinking. “I did wonder what would be enough to rattle your bells.” He rounds the desk to her, his body too fucking close for my liking. "And Ash Etherington must be … what to you?” Not a word leaves her lips. “Brother?” He smirks and reaches for his bottle of drink, pouring a shot. “What a tangled web you're in, Juniper.” He’s right about that. “But I guess that isn’t your name either, is it?” No, clearly not. His eyes come up to mine again. “And this is what, Landon? Your way of threatening me?”
Still, we’re quiet. For my part, I’m giving him time to consider everything that could happen if he doesn’t agree to let her go safely and with some dignity. The only way out of any of that is him killing me, which is still a distinct possibility regardless of what I know about him.
He eventually sits again rather than posturing, presumably calming enough for sense. “And I suppose you think you’ve got enough to put me away if I don’t concede to this crap.”
That doesn’t need an answer. He’s more than aware how much I have on him.
“Do you know how much I make off her?” he snipes. “This whole fucking place runs because they come back for her.”
“Not a problem I believe pertinent to the current discussion. Maybe a career change might be useful for you going forward. You wouldn’t need my services then, would you, you despicable piece of shit.”
“Fuck you, Landon.”
I kick off the door and walk towards him, less than interested in any actual physical harm that might come. My goal is getting her out of here, nothing more than that. If a fight’s coming, I’ll take it, but I'd rather she wasn't here in the middle of it. “As eloquent as that response is, I think the lady in question would like affirmation that she's free to go and will not have any continuing complications following her resignation. Also, stay the hell away from Ash unless—"
The speed of him getting up and into my face makes me brace for impact, sure feet holding firm under potential assault.
“Jackson, no!” she shouts, standing.
He doesn’t acknowledge her in the slightest, he’s too busy with my suit in his hands and his face mere inches from mine. “You’ve got some fucking front, I’ll give you that.”
I lean in closer, using my chest as a buffer. “Take your hands off me before I forget you’re a client and rethink my defence vs prosecution choices. Get a fucking grip of yourself. Remember who I am.”
Slowly, the reality of his situation sinks in, and he shakes off whatever mania he might have been about to fall into. My hand waves Willow up in the next breath, ready to get her out of here before anything changes his mind on the current yielding that’s occurring. It might not last. Who fucking knows with him, but at least we’re a step closer to him being relatively agreeable to negotiations.
“Assuming this is done, we’ll leave,” I mutter.
We move quietly, my frame turning, and it’s in that second that I see Willow being pulled backwards sharply. Fury rages inside instantly, enough so that he hasn’t got a hope of avoiding my fist. It swings hard, smacking his jaw with such force he lets go of her and falls backwards a few steps.
Willow shouts in my periphery, her hand trying to grab at my arm. I shove her off me, desperate to get her as far away from both me and him as possible at this moment. “Leave,” I seethe at her, infuriated with pleasantries concerning this bastard. “Now.”
He’s in my face within seconds, both of us posturing over something that could go either way. I’m too rage-filled to care. He dares touch her when I’ve made the situation perfectly clear to him? “This is done, Jackson. You leave her alone, or God help me, I’ll find a way to kill you.”
More posturing as he takes that in and his frame moves into mine. I might not have involved myself with carnage before, but if he pushes me, Iwillcall in favours owed. “One phone call. That's all it takes, and legal matters will be the least of your concerns. I am not fucking around. Unless you’re prepared for the full force of Logan Cane, back off.”
“One shout from me and there'll be three men in here with holes in their CVs and a bullet for your head. Be careful with your threats, Landon.”
“Shout then.”
His eyes narrow, and then quickly glance at her still behind my fucking back. My body moves sideways to block his view, hopefully giving enough of a sign that I’ll stay between her and him all day if I have to. It might even be in that second that I truly realise her worth to me because what fool would stand here against him like this?
Me apparently.
I half smile at that and bolster myself for retaliation as I move closer to him. I don’t give a fuck anymore. Him touching her was enough to blow any sense I was clinging onto out the window. If this is the way to deal with him, I’ll use every inch of my size to try. “Are we doing this? Or are you going to behave?”
Time seems to stall, both of us weighing our options, until the inevitability of the threat I’ve just put down lands hard enough for him to accept it.
“Go,” he says, glaring at me. “And stay gone.”
Good enough.
Chapter Twenty Two
WILLOW
No more Priory. Just like that, everything has changed.
But not quite as much as I want.
