Page 28 of Pleading Innocence

She grinned. The first show of emotion I’d seen in her throughout our interaction. She stuck her hand out. “Perfect, because I’ve got your first assignment. Welcome to Bronkers & Associates,” she said.

Oh, I could hug the life out of this woman with no sexual tension and just pure gratitude. I couldn’t wait to get started. She led me to the empty associate’s desk that I’d been eyeing.

“So, I’ll sign you in for now. We’ll work on getting you your own password and username, and your own phone code, in the coming days. Is that okay?” she asked.

“That’s perfect. I’m just excited to start working on something, anything. Give me your most meaty task,” I said.

She tilted her head at me. “Oh, I have the perfect assignment for you, but I’m not sure you’ll be saying that when I give it to you. You said your loyalty lies with the law, so I guess this will be your first test,” she said.

I lowered my brows in confusion as she walked away, wondering what she could mean by that as I looked through the files on the desktop to familiarize myself with the operations of the company. She returned in a couple minutes with a bunch of beige files and placed them on my desk. My eyes widened in enthusiasm. After a week in my apartment with nothing to work on, this small tower of files seemed like a dream come true.

“When you’re done reading through the files, let me know if you still think you have what it takes to work here,” she said. “I’ll be in my office.” She motioned toward one of the two doors visible from where I was sitting in the hallway.

N. Saunders, Managing Partnerwas written on her door. Oh, she was my boss? Perfect. This was already a piece of cake.

“I’m sure my mind won’t be changed by a difficult case,” I said, smiling at her, and she walked away.

At first glance when I flipped open the folder, I was confused about her cryptic buildup. It was a simple civil case between a landlord and tenant. Nothing about it seemed too difficult to handle. Nothing about it would challenge my loyalty to the law. I thought there was a catch and I might have been missing something. So I skimmed the files a few times until I found it. The possible wrench in my new beginning. Not only was the opposing counsel Crawford & Beam—the leading attorney was none other than Jared Crawford.

I dropped the file like it had caught fire, and behind me Ms. Saunders’s voice had me almost jumping out of my skin. “Change your mind yet, Ms. Levine?” she asked.

I turned to look up at her. She was standing next to another associate, skimming through something they both seemed to be working on. She looked at me. Damn it. For Ms. Saunders, she was probably thinking about the glowing recommendation I received from Jared Crawford himself, only to have me on the team that was working against his case. In my mind, I was thinking about how he would view this, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with the stress I was trying to avoid in the first place. Damn it, Jared Crawford. He was like a parasite beneath my skin.

I wasn’t going to walk away from yet another job because of him. Besides, it wouldn’t look great on my resume. Not that I felt like an hour here would count on my resume. I groaned internally. This was law. This wasn’t personal. And I didn’t care what Jared thought because this wasn’t about him. He’d just have to get over it.

“No,” I responded to Ms. Saunders. “I’ll get to work on it.”

Chapter 19

Tiffany

“Whatintheworldis ‘Bonkers and Associates?’” my mother asked.

“Bronkers, Mom,” I said, nursing a glass of red.

“Well, it sounds bonkers,” Dad chimed in.

“It sure does,” my mother responded.

When neither of them were looking at me, I rolled my eyes and gulped back some wine. Coming up behind me was the voice of the passion I craved. My eyes fluttered up to look at him and I quickly pulled them away as soon as I caught myself.

“It’s a start-up company,” Mario said, and next to me I felt his arms brush against mine as he extended his hand toward my parents. “Nice to see you as always, Mr. & Mrs. Levine.”

A shiver passed through me that I tried to suppress and I felt my skin warm. If I wanted to protect our secret, I needed to move away quickly. But as I shuffled out of his touch against my skin, causing my nether regions to quiver, I bumped into Chris, who seemed to have accompanied him over here. Some of the wine spilled on my white top and I muttered a curse under my breath.

“Shit!” I said, gasping and groaning at the stain I knew I wouldn’t be able to remove.

I didn’t think as I spoke, and like a gust of wind slapping me in the face, I heard my mother’s voice. “Young lady!”

My father just sipped on his drink with his brows raised.

“You’ve been spending far too much time with Chris. Look at what he’s turned you into. You’re such a mess…,” Mother started, and I looked over at Chris, who was trying as always to drown her voice out with the bottled beer in his hand.

My heart ached at that moment for him, and I reached up to wrap my arm around his shoulders, my chunky, unattractive heels helping me to get closer to his height. He’d been the designated ‘bad apple’ because he dared to disappoint them once—not by being a failure, just by choosing a different path.

“Aw, Mom. Come on, give Chris a break,” I said, pulling him in for a squeeze. “Chris isn’t responsible for everything.”

Turning to Chris, I placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks for the party, big bro,” I said, walking off and leaving my mother’s mouth hanging open for all of five seconds before she turned her attention to Mario.

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