Page 87 of Bonus Daddy
“Code red. Brian’s throwing a nutter. Need backup.”
Before I could throw a stapler at him, Cal and Lo appeared, both panting like they’d run down the stairs.
“What are we dealing with?” Lo asked. “Is it like when Judge Walsh deleted the motion? Or when Fuzzy peed on the Gainsborough exhibits thirty minutes before trial?”
“Worse.” Sully roughed a hand down his face. “He’s gone mental because his girl is gone and he’s finally realizing he’s in love with her.”
“Bugger,” Cal hissed. “We knew this day was coming but…” He checked his watch. “I thought we had at least a couple more weeks.”
The three of them looked both deeply satisfied and confused as they crowded into my small office, blocking the door so I couldn’t escape this bullshit.
I eyed the window, cursing the bars that played a role in holding me captive.
Of course I missed Jess and the girls. They’d become dailyfixtures in my life. Without them, I had nothing but work and the damn cat lying on top of the file cabinet, flicking his tail. The life I’d lived happily for decades was suddenly a joyless prison. My mood had been shit, and my knuckles were bruised and bloody from all the boxing I’d been doing in an attempt to cope.
For my whole career, all it had taken was securing a win for a client to fill me with a deep sense of satisfaction. This job was my life, and I took pride in helping people.
But since the day Judge Gordon issued the order, giving Jess legal permission to relocate to Vermont, my life had felt empty.
That first day, the overwhelming emotions had been relief and pride, of course. Because I’d won for her.
But within hours, reality had set in.
She was leaving. I’d helped her leave.
I’d worked my ass off to pull off a legal miracle, and in doing so, I’d paved the road the people who meant so much to me needed so they could walk away.
My brain could not reconcile the goal I’d attained with the storm of emotions churning in my chest. Winning felt like losing.
But she’d been so damn happy.
Her beautiful face had lit up, and she’d hugged me fiercely just outside the courtroom.
“I don’t want to talk about this.” I sat up and focused on my computer, blindly moving the mouse and clicking. Maybe I’d been a bit bearish since they’d gone to Vermont a few days ago—and how could I not be, now that the reality of living without them was settling in?—but come on, I had work to do. Weallhad work to do.
Lo put her hands on her hips. “Tough. It needs to happen.”
“Have you at least called her?” Sully asked.
“No, of course not,” I replied without taking my eyes off the screen.
“Why not?”
Because I had no right to. We weren’t dating.We weren’t anything. We had been lawyer and client. Now that the representation agreement had been fulfilled, we were nothing to each other.
“There is no reason to bother her. Her legal matters are wrapped up.”
Lo threw her hands up in frustration. “What about Boston?”
The sharpness of her tone caused me to stare at her. How the hell did she know about Boston?
“He’s in denial.” Sloane appeared, baby monitor in hand. “He’s in love with her and can’t figure out how to accept it and move forward.”
“So emotional constipation?” Cal asked.
Sloane chuckled. “You could say that.”
“Can you all please stop talking about me like I’m not here?” I asked, my rage barely contained.
