Page 128 of A Legal Affair
Caleb’s jaw hardened. “Dad?—”
“You have every right to be furious. If this had happened just two years ago, I would have been out for blood. I would have used every resource at my disposal to annihilate Daniela and her brothers, to reduce their little detective agency to a pile of rubble. I would have shown them no mercy.” Crandall shook his head ruefully. “But that was then. Before my body humbled me, and forced me to reassess my priorities. There’s more to life than revenge, son. Don’t let yourself become a prisoner of your anger and bitterness.”
“I’m not interested in revenge,” Caleb said through gritted teeth. “I just want to be left the fuck alone. Anyway, I’m done talking about Daniela. Contrary to how you may feel, I’m glad you told me the truth about her.”
“Are you?” his father challenged. “Or are you just telling yourself that to help you cope with your regrets?”
“I don’t have any regrets,” Caleb snapped. “And I can’t believe you’d even suggest that it would’ve been better for me to remain in the dark about her true identity. Sheliedto me, Dad. She deceived me and betrayed my trust! How can I just overlook that? Why the hell would I want to?”
His father looked him squarely in the eye. “Because you’re in love with her, son. And if you don’t go to her and make things right between you, you’re going to spend the rest of your life alone and bitter. Or worse yet, you’ll end up married to some woman you don’t even love, and you’ll spend your days andnights wondering about the one that got away.” He paused. “Like I did with your mother.”
Caleb grew very still. Outside the closed door he could hear the familiar sounds of phones ringing and keyboards clicking, could hear the low drone of conversations between his colleagues.
Inside his office, it was deathly silent.
Crandall was watching him intently. “You’ve always known that your mother and I didn’t have the ideal marriage.”
Caleb nodded slowly. “But this is the first time you’ve ever admitted it to me. Why now?”
“Because I don’t want to see history repeat itself. I loved your mother, Caleb. God rest her soul, she was a sweet, kind, wonderful woman. But I wasn’tinlove with her. Not the way you are with Daniela. The minute you two walked into my office, I knew she was the one. No, take that back. I knew she was the one the day you came to me with the idea of offering her an internship at the firm. Aside from the fact that you’d never done that before, there was something in your eyes when you talked about Daniela—something I’d never seen there before. And then the night of our dinner, the way you two entered my office teasing and flirting and staring at each other like no one else existed. I’m not the only one who noticed the way you were with her that night. Ruth and Rita noticed, too. We all spoke about it afterward.”
Caleb scowled. “I’ll try not to be so transparent next time,” he muttered darkly.
“There won’t be a next time,” his father said softly. “Daniela Roarke is the only woman you’re ever going to love that way. Take my word for it, son.”
“Your word, huh? Aren’t you the one who told me you had a good feeling about her? That she wasn’t like all the others?”
“She’s not,” Crandall said, undaunted by the biting sarcasm in Caleb’s voice. Pushing out a deep breath, he leaned forward in his chair. “Listen, I’m not condoning Daniela’s behavior. She made a terrible mistake. We all do at some point in our lives.” He smiled wryly. “Except maybe you.”
Caleb frowned. “I’ve never suggested that I don’t make mistakes, but I’d like to think that if given the same opportunity, I wouldn’t have made the same choice Daniela did.”
His father gave a diffident shrug and said, “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll never know. But I’m sure Daniela had her reasons for accepting the assignment, and the moment she met you, she probably regretted those reasons.” He paused. “Think of it this way. If she’d made a different choice, the two of you never would’ve met. Can you imagine that alternative?”
No, I can’t,Caleb admitted to himself.
“If it makes any difference, she refused to betray your confidence to Philbin. Even after he threatened to destroy her, she wouldn’t tell him a damn thing. I don’t know about you, but that kind of courage and loyalty goes a long way in my book.”
Jaw tightening, Caleb shoved to his feet and stalked to the window, his hands jammed in his pockets as he glared outside.
“There’s a reason you always taught me not to trust beautiful women,” he coldly reminded his father.
“That was cynicism talking, baggage from the past that I never should have burdened you with. You have a chance to make a future with the woman you love, Caleb. Tessa took that option away from me.” Crandall paused, then added somberly, “Don’t rob yourself, or Daniela, of the opportunity to be happy.”
38
When Daniela arrived at the office bright and early on Tuesday morning, Noah stood at the reception desk going over paperwork with Janie. He broke off when he saw Daniela, his expression softening at once.
“Hey, kiddo,” he said as she approached. Dark, assessing eyes roamed across her face. “Welcome back. How was Greece?”
“It was nice,” she said honestly. “I actually had fun. You know how Kennedi is. No one’s allowed to mope in her presence.”
“Very true.” Noah chuckled. “I’m glad you had a good time. You were long overdue.”
Daniela smiled up at him, remembering what Janie had told her about his intention to speak to Caleb on her behalf. It shouldn’t have surprised her. Noah had always been her protector, so she knew how difficult it must be for him to sit helplessly on the sidelines and watch her suffer through a broken heart.
Lifting her hand, she gently touched his face. “It’s okay, Noah. You’re going to have to let me grow up eventually.”
He scowled. “I’llbe the judge of that.”
