Fool Me Once (First Wives #1)

The woman blew out a sigh. “Oh, thank goodness.” With long, red fingernails, she picked out a card in her handbag and gave it to Lori.

The name Susan Wilson was printed on plain gray cardstock with a phone number.

“This is you?”

“Yes . . . and no. I have to explain in private.” Susan looked around them. “I’m sure you understand.”

Lori smiled, tucked the card away. “Of course. Someone will get back to you.”

With a nod, Susan walked away.

When Lori looked up, Paul was no longer in sight.





Chapter Twenty-Five




When another week passed without so much as one sighting of Ruslan and his men, Lori shooed off the bodyguard.

“Neil isn’t going to be pleased,” Cooper told her as he tried to talk her into changing her mind.

“Good thing Neil’s opinion isn’t needed here. I might feel a little guilty if I thought you’d be out of work, but I know that isn’t the case.”

“The Harrisons will be back in a week. I can hang until then.”

Lori felt the need to pack Cooper a lunch to send him on his way. “And I’ll talk to Sam in a week. Sooner if I need to. Now c’mon . . . you’re a young guy. I’m sure there’s some hottie out there waiting to spend time with you.”

Lori stood behind her desk and checked the time. Her next client was in five minutes. She’d scheduled the time to buzz Cooper off between clients to avoid argument.

It wasn’t working.

“Just because everything is silent doesn’t mean there aren’t things in play.”

“That may be, but my life has been interrupted enough because of one man’s weak threats.”

The intercom on her phone buzzed. “Your nine o’clock is here.”

“Thank you.”

“Lori—”

“No. I appreciate your concern, but the truth is, you’re not needed. I’m either here or at home, or with Reed. I don’t need a driver or someone hovering over me like I’m some kind of head of state. I’m a divorce attorney with a few high profile clients. That’s it. Ruslan Petrov has no real beef with me.” Or so she’d been telling herself for the past week. The last straw was when she went to the nail salon to have her fingers and toes painted and her regular girl kept eyeing Cooper at the door.

Lori could never be one to marry one of these rich men with all their rich problems and security.

“Call Neil, do what you have to, but no more.”

Cooper held his hands up. “Fine. But if anything changes. You feel the hair on your neck stand up, you call me!”

Lori grinned. “You’re a good guy, Cooper. Now go find your hottie you’ve been neglecting and make it up to her.”

The slight gleam in his eye told her she’d hit a nerve.

He walked out of her office, his cell phone already to his ear.

She pressed the intercom on her desk. “Okay, Liana, send Mrs. Maghakian in.”

Lori opened a legal pad and waited for her new client.

Wearing a dark blue pantsuit and a simple pair of pumps that complemented the Prada purse, the woman walked in with dark sunglasses hiding most of her face, her hair disguising the rest.

Lori walked around her desk, extended her hand.

The closer she got to the woman, the more makeup Lori noticed. “Mrs. Maghakian, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.” The woman’s voice was as weak as her handshake.

“Can we get you something to drink, coffee? Water?”

“No, your secretary already offered. I’m fine.”

With that, Liana left the office.

“Please, sit. Or if you’d like, we can talk over here.” Lori indicated a couch and chair setup she’d placed in her office to help her clients relax. She’d learned long ago that half her job was being a therapist to her clients. Many, like the skittish one in front of her, often needed time to open up about their marital problems. Even if they’d spent time on a marriage counselor’s couch, things took a turn when you were sitting across from an attorney to discuss ending your failed marriage.

Mrs. Maghakian turned toward the couch and sat.

Lori gave her the minutes she needed before taking a seat across from her.

Back rod-straight, the woman looked everywhere in the office except toward Lori. For a moment, Lori wondered if she’d say anything at all before bolting out the door.

Then, with a lift of her chin, Mrs. Maghakian removed her sunglasses, revealing the reason for all the cosmetics. Makeup might have covered up the color of the bruise, but the swelling and broken capillaries in her left eye required more than powder and paste.

“I need to leave him before he kills me.”

Lori’s blood chilled.

“Or I kill him.” Mrs. Maghakian leveled her gaze to Lori’s.




Lori took her work home with her all the time. It was part of the job. There were only so many hours in the day, and then you had face-to-face meetings and days spent in court. The paperwork she needed to go over alone was more time-consuming than any typical day job. Her paralegal secretary was one of the best, and flagged what needed her attention first and what could wait. When a case like Ana Maghakian’s walked through the door, Lori was reminded why she chose the law as her profession.

All day Lori thought about Ana’s side of the story. The story that manifested in bruises on her face, arms, and thighs.

Vivi poked her head through the door at five. “I’m outta here.”

“I’m right behind you.”

“I left the files for the Charleston case on top. You have court in Van Nuys at eight in the morning.”

“I got it.” Lori grabbed the files, which measured two inches thick but would end up thick enough to be dragged in using a small handcart by the time the Charlestons were officially divorced. “I’ll see you in the afternoon.”

Vivi left with a wave and Lori moved around her office gathering the files needed for the morning as well as the one she’d started on Maghakian vs. Maghakian. As far as everything else was concerned, it could wait.

She turned off the light in her office, closed the door, and then paused when she saw Reed sitting in her lobby with a magazine in his hands, one ankle crossed over one knee.

“What are you doing here?”

Reed dropped the magazine and smiled. “Hello, Counselor.”

“Reed?” She looked around.

He stood, took two steps, and took her briefcase from her hand. “Cooper called me.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “He shouldn’t have.”

“He said you fired him.”

“I told him I didn’t need him anymore.”

“Because Ruslan Petrov has been silent, yeah, I heard.”

“You don’t agree.”

“Did it ever occur to you that Ruslan is just waiting for you to tire of the bodyguards and surveillance to make his move?”

Lori grabbed her briefcase from him. “Not you, too.” She started for the door.

“You know I’m right.”

“No, I know I’m right. Trina is closing up the New York house this week and moving to Texas. Ruslan is in Germany, according to my resources.”

“And do you think he would be the one to come after you? The man is smarter than that.”

“Is he?” Lori was more than a little irritated. “And how would you know that?”

Reed opened his mouth and promptly closed it.

“Exactly. I’m fine, Reed.”