Page 50 of Somebody to Save
“It’s this pasta my aunt makes. It doesn’t really have a name. Growing up we just called it Aunt Michelle’s pasta.”
“Well, I’m excited,” she said, and on cue, her stomach growled loud enough that it echoed through the kitchen. Her eyes widened as she shrugged. “Excited and starving?”
“It’ll be quick, I promise. Everything’s already cut, all I have to do is sauté it and cook the pasta I made last night.”
“Wait, you made the pasta? Like yourself?” I nodded and set a pot of salted water on the stove to start boiling. “Impressive.”
“Eh, I’d save your compliments until you’ve tasted it.”
“Do you want any help? I could be your sous chef.”
Shaking my head, I tossed some olive oil in a heated pan and dumped the chopped veggies in after. “Nope, I’ve got it. Just keeping me company is more than enough.”
Addison smiled, and I heard her shoes clatter to the floor as she kicked them off. She tucked her legs up into the chair with her and unclipped her hair, running her fingers through the strands.
She looked relaxed and content in my space. Exactly the way I wanted it.
“So, tell me about this big case you’re working on.”
I froze at her comment. I was working on a few very big cases that I’d mentioned to Addison, but the main thing occupying my time I’d kept to myself. We were now confident that someone was stealing from the firm, but we couldn’t be sure who it was. We were in the midst of hiring a forensic accountant to look into it, but we were struggling to find someone who had the time with the end of the year quickly approaching.
Addison already had enough on her plate, and I didn’t want to add to it. Especially when I didn’t have a solution yet. Although part of me wanted to talk to her about anything and everything.
“It’s a wrongful termination suit. Our client was wrongfully fired for retaliation. She made a report to HR and was fired two days later. It’s actually a pretty solid case, except it’s a large company with all the money in the world to fight it.”
“That’s insane. The poor woman.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be a fight, but we’ve discounted our legal fees, and I haven’t billed most of my time for it to help keep costs down.”
“That’s really kind of you, Beckett.”
I shot her a smile over my shoulder, ignoring all lingering thoughts about missing money, and stirred the veggies. “I know how hard it can be when a large company is coming after you. I want to help as much as I can.”
“Talk about impressive,” she shot back. Her phone buzzed across the counter in front of her, and she peeked down at it quickly. Her light brown brows furrowed, and she shook her head as she typed.
As she responded to whatever message she’d received, I poured us both a glass of wine. A bottle of red that I thought she would like. I slid the glass across to her as she set her phone back down on the counter. She smiled and took a sip, licking the remnants from her lips.
“What was that?” I asked, motioning to her phone.
She sighed deeply and ran her painted nail around the rim of her glass. I could sense her irritation, and I hated it.
“Apparently, Owen just won’t give up. He’s calling Bri, trying to get in touch with me since I blocked his number. She just texted to tell me.”
I muffled my shock and my own irritation with a sip of wine.
“I just don’t get it,” she continued. “Why he won’t just let me go. Getting the stupid tattoo and calling my friends, I just…”
Chuckling, I shook my head and took another sip, trying to hide my anger.
“What?” she asked.
My eyes raked over her face, and I don’t know how she couldn’t see what I did. How anyone couldn’t see the perfectly amazing, enigmatic woman sitting in front of me. How anyone couldn’t treat her the way she absolutely deserved to be treated.
“Anyone would be stupid to stop fighting for you, but his behavior is disgusting. You’ve said it clear as day that you want him to stop. I’m not sure why that message isn’t getting through his thick fucking skull. You shouldn’t even have to say it once for him to know it’s over and to leave you alone.”
She took a deep breath and was silent for a beat, like she was considering my words. Her eyes bounced between mine, slipping over my face like she was searching for dishonesty.
Not finding any, she blinked. “I wish he understood that, but I don’t really want to talk about my ex anymore. Especially when he’s nothing compared to you.”
