“Hey. What can I do for you?” he asked, straightening in his chair and pushing down on his phone to shut the Zen bitch up.
I took a deep breath and sat down across from him. This man had given me the opportunity of a lifetime twice now. First, when I came to him looking for a job in divorce law and he took a chance the moment I sat down and went over the reasons why I thought I’d be a good fit in his firm. Second, when he named me partner. Partner. My fucking name had just been painted on the outside of the goddamn building. Alessi, Cohen, and Reuben, Esq. I wasn’t ashamed to admit tears were almost shed when I saw that. And there I was, about to let it all go. Or most likely let it all go, because if he told me I needed to quit, I’d do it and start from scratch at a different firm. The thought alone made me want to throw up, but the thought of my life without Nicole in it was unacceptable.
“I’m in love with your daughter,” I said, surprising myself. That wasn’t the way I wanted to start the conversation, and from the way his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, I could tell I took him by surprise as well. He cleared his throat, blinking.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I’m in love with your daughter,” I repeated. “I’m in love with her, and I don’t know when it happened, but I do know I should have passed her case along to someone else when we were well underway with it. It was wrong of me, and I’m willing to take responsibility for all of it.”
Will stayed quiet for a long moment, just staring at me. He was going to ask me to pack up my shit and leave. I knew this, because he was giving me the same look he gave Roger Petit when he fired him in front of the entire staff.
“Does she know?”
I swallowed, nodding, and then shook my head. “Not . . . no. I don’t know. She should know. It’s obvious.”
At this, his mouth twitched. “Obvious to whom?”
“Everyone, apparently,” I said, shrugging.
He put a finger up as if telling me to hold on, and pressed the intercom button on the office phone. “Corinne, will you come to my office?”
I frowned. Maybe he would tell her to pack up my shit for me. At least then I wouldn’t have to do all the work. That may be a good idea. But then she wouldn’t know where to put what and she’d probably mix up my boxes and I’d have to work double. Fuck.
“Yes, sir,” she said behind me. I didn’t even turn around to acknowledge her.
She probably still had the mustard stain on her ivory top anyway, and my eyes would get glued to that and she’d think I was staring at her tits and get the wrong impression.
“Come here for a second,” he said, signaling for her to come in. I finally looked up at her when she stood beside me, and sure enough, the mustard stain was still there. “Have you heard anybody say that Victor is acting a little . . . off lately?”
I examined the side of her face. Her cheeks flushed. She shot me an embarrassed look before looking at Will again. “You mean, more off than usual?”
My mouth dropped. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged, cringing. “Just . . . you’ve been in a bad mood.”
“Says who?” I asked.
“Everyone,” William answered. “Everybody here has made mention about your mood, and it started the day after your promotion went through.” He looked at Corinne. “Thank you. You may go now.”
She scurried off. I narrowed my eyes at the betrayer as she left the room.
“That’s bullshit,” I argued.
“It’s not, and now you come in here telling me that you may have feelings for my daughter,” he said, raising an eyebrow as if to say what the hell am I supposed to think?
“I don’t think I have feelings for her, William. I fucking know it. If I didn’t know it, I wouldn’t be sitting here telling you, and if I wasn’t absolutely certain I was in love with her, I wouldn’t risk my job.”
I decided that if I was going to get fired or demoted, I was going to go out with a fucking bang.
And that’s pretty much how my two-hour meeting, later known as The Big Debate with William started . . .
“AND YOU JUST let him go?” I whispered, my heart and head pounding simultaneously.
“I had no choice,” my dad said.
I closed my eyes, sagging down to my living room floor. Bonnie climbed on my lap and nuzzled herself between my legs.
“He was okay with that?” I asked, running my fingers through Bonnie’s soft hair.
“He had no choice.”
Sadly, no choice seemed to be the only choice we had.
“Okay, Dad. I have to go. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’m sorry, pumpkin. I love you.”
“Yeah. Love you too.”