Page 137 of Already At Risk
Julian nodded, but it was in an impatient sort of way, like he hadn’t actually made his point yet.
“Chloe mentioned you,” he said, causing dread to creep into my veins. It flowed straight to my heart. “To Korey. A lot, I guess. Like about her coming to the office yesterday.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.” Julian drew out the word. “I wanted to make sure you had a heads-up before your meeting.”
“Thanks, man,” I said with a sigh, shaking my head in irritation.
I didn’t blame Chloe, of course. I hadn’t even thought to say anything to the nine-year-old about her dad. It wasn’t really my place, and she saw her dad so infrequently I didn’t even consider it would be an issue. But I should have expected that he might try to show up more, especially with the trial looming, and I just knew that he was about to make this meeting even harder than it had to be.
“Need backup?” Julian offered, but I waved him off.
“I can handle that asshole,” I assured him. “It’s fine. He doesn’t have proof of anything.”
Julian tilted his head to the side, a crooked grin sliding onto his face. “He doesn’t have proof of what?”
Shit, I hadn’t meant for that to slip out.
I inhaled. Exhaled. Leveled Julian with a look. His eyes dazzled as he raised a brow. I gave a resigned nod. His smirk grew while giving a shake of his head, a little disappointed but a little knowing, like he understood what it was to give into something inevitable. I mean, I was pretty sure he’d crossed lines in this office with Juniper, but that still wasn’t as bad as me, as this. Juniper was a colleague, not a client.
He patted me on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
“Nothing,” I said then, aloud—a word that contradicted our entire former exchange.
Because that was what Julian needed to know: nothing. If, God forbid, my relationship with Natalie somehow came to light and Korey managed to find real, tangible proof, I needed Julian to have plausible deniability.
Julian laughed and then dropped his hand.
“Go get rid of Korey’s ass so you can put this behind you and get your girl,” he muttered under his breath and then let me go.
His words of encouragement were pretty much the only thing keeping me sane as I made my way through the startlingly hot Boston streets to Wilson and Thomas, especially since I wasn’t even sure if Nataliewantedto be my girl after the text she sent this morn—wait.
Did Natalie know that Chloe had talked to Korey about me? About us? Because if she did…that just might explain everything. Ihopedit explained everything. And I hoped she knew she couldn’t push me away that easily, not just to appease her manipulative ex.
With that possibility in mind, my steps were lighter as I made my way to the same conference room where we’d held Korey’s deposition. The ex-husband in question wasn’t there yet when I walked in, but his lawyer was. I gave Mr. Keller a curt greeting, which he returned as I rounded the table to sit across from him.
“My client will be here soon, but we’d like to propose a new custody agreement ahead of trial.”
“Sure,” I replied with a nod, having expected that. It felt a bit like a waste of time since I was sure Natalie would have no interest in going for whatever split arrangement they’d concocted. But oh well. “Let’s?—”
“Wait afuckingminute.”
Korey Abrams burst through the doors of the conference room in the most overdramatic fashion I had ever seen—arms swinging, suit jacket flying open, eyes flaring. He seethed, and all of that glaring attention was going straight to me.
“We’re not doinganythinguntil we talk about what this man has been doing.”
Korey leaned over the table, jabbing a finger at me. His lawyer looked between the two of us, clearly unaware of his client’s concerns. Too bad, honestly, because maybe he could have warned Korey that this was going to go nowhere. Could have saved us some fucking time.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said flatly.
“Don’t give me that shit.” Korey straightened, putting his hands on his hips. His voice lowered to a degree that might be threatening, if I could ever be threatened by a man this small. “I want you to stay the fuck away from my daughter and the hell away from my wife,” he hissed.
I gritted my teeth, if only because he kept conveniently forgetting that he’d lost the privilege of calling Natalie that a long time ago.
“I am representing yourex-wife in your custody trial, Mr. Abrams,” I intoned, doing my best to sound bored by his intimidation. “Our collaboration is necessary for the case.”
“Your collaboration,” he repeated, huffing a humorless laugh beneath his breath. “Yourcollaboration. So that’s what we’re calling it, huh?”
