Page 100 of Already At Risk
“Just calling to check in,” he said, which I knew was a lie and put me on edge. The minute his name flashed on the screen, a bad feeling sprouted in the pit of my stomach. I loved my uncle, but we didn’t usually call each other up out of the blue. There was a reason he was calling, and it likely wasn’t good. “How’s all that lawyering going?”
I forced a light laugh. “Oh, you know. The usual.”
“I heard through the grapevine you might be making partner soon,” he said, and I could hear the thick emotion in his voice when he added, “Your dad would have been so fucking proud of you, man. You know that, right?”
“I like to think so,” I replied, trying to keep my own emotions in check, considering almosteverythingI’d done in my life had been in honor of him, to live up to his memory. And every day, I wondered what I would do if I failed.
“Pops is proud of you, too,” Tony added, and despite my best efforts to remain unemotional during my morning commute, my throat clogged up further at the mention of my grandpa. “He really wanted to come see ya, but I got some bad news.”
Yep, here it was. What I’d been waiting for.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter. “What’s going on, Tony?”
I needed him to cut to the fucking chase before actual tears formed in my eyes.
“Oh, nothing too bad.” Considering my entire family had the tendency to brush bad things under the rug like they were nothing, his words did nothing for my anxiety. “Pops just took a stumble at your mom’s last night. Bruised a hip badly, but luckily, nothing’s broken.”
“Fuck, did you take him in?”
“Of course we took him in,” my uncle said with a chuckle. “He’s gonna be good, son. But he won’t make it to the ball game next week. He can’t get around the house great at the moment, let alone Boston. And I should really stick around so his stubborn assdoesn’t go and make anything worse. I don’t want to put that all on your mom.”
A bit of tension relaxed from my shoulders while slight disappointment took its place. I’d been looking forward to having them both in Boston, but all things considered, this was tame news. Tony was right: he shouldn’t leave my mom alone with Pops. We’d find another time. I’d offer to come to New York so they wouldn’t have to travel. That was likely for the best, anyway.
“We’ll reschedule,” I said, clearing my throat. “Don’t worry about it, Uncle T.”
“Knew you’d understand, son,” he replied, but I heard a bit of weariness in his voice, and suddenly, I didn’t want to wait to find a time to visit.
“Maybe I should come home to help,” I offered. “I can move some things around next week and?—”
“Nonsense,” he cut in gruffly. “You leave us old folks alone and get back to work. You’ve got a promotion to snatch up. Hey, maybe take some clients to the game, huh? Make the most of it. We’ll talk soon, though. ’Kay?”
“Sounds good, Tony,” I agreed, still feeling a little guilty as we ended the conversation.
Guilty and stuck on his last words.
Take some clients to the game.
I had two tickets and a sea of clients, many of whom I could really benefit from strengthening our relationship. It could be a chance to show them I was putting in an effort to make them feel important to me and the firm. Tony was right; this would be a great opportunity for that.
But I knew who I wanted to give those two tickets to.
Because I suspected Natalie London would look damn good in a baseball cap.
“Hey, how are things going with the London case?” Daphne asked as soon as I strode into her office, and I couldn’t have asked for a better omen that I was making the right call.
Yeah, somaybeI wanted to take Natalie and Chloe to the game for personal reasons, but I suspected it was still something that could work in my favor as far as the firm went, too. And the case, if everything went to plan.
“Great,” I said, feeling confident in that answer. To put it mildly, Korey had looked incompetent in his deposition. “I wanted to run something by you about that, actually.”
Daphne cocked her head to the side, brown corporate bob shifting as if her hair were one solid piece. Her keen, curious eyes stared, inviting me to keep going.
“I have some extra tickets to the Red Caps game next week. I had plans to go with family, but something came up, and I’d like to invite Natalie and Chloe instead. It would give me some more opportunity to get to know Chloe ahead of the trial.”
I spoke with Natalie on the phone before this, letting her know that the judge had decided to take their case straight to trial, skipping mediation since Natalie and Korey hadn’t been able to come to terms in the past. It was what I’d told her to expect, and she took it in stride, though I sort of wished I could talk to her about it in person. It was better this way, though, to have these professional conversations in ways where I couldn’t be tempted to touch her, something that was growing harder and harder to do.
Walking out of Natalie’s house Saturday without so much as a hug after I’d planned to spend the entire nightinsideher had just about destroyed me. Of course, I didn’t blame her for how everything turned out. While I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about how mind-blowing she’d looked on my lap, writhing and needy, I wasn’t upset about Noah’s interruption. Chloe would always come first. But for Natalie’s sake, I wished I could have had the chance to follow through on my promises. And for my sake, I wished I could have kissed her good night.
We’d only had two nights together—not even—and I was already losing my mind. It wasn’t exactly a good sign, but I’d never put an end to it, either. I promised Natalie something, and fuck, was I going to deliver. Soon, hopefully.
