Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, I just use their creations to have my wicked way with them. No copyright infringement is intended.
This story wouldn't be what it is without my wonderful beta, The Real Teacher, holding my hand and correcting my many errors. Thank you so much!
- 3 -
"Absolutely not." Most people probably would have taken the finality in his voice on board and abandoned their plea as it was a hopeless cause. After all, Uncle Eli was one of the best litigators in the state of Washington.
But I wasn't most people and, seeing as I was a lawyer too (and an arrogant ass, but that was beside the point) and lawyers always like a good argument, I decided not to drop the matter.
"Look," I started, carefully framing my request. "It's not like I actually want to be in the courtroom conducting cross-examinations or something. I know my dad's legal team has already been formed and I don't want to elbow anyone out."
"Edward…." Eli started, but I cut him off before he could come up with his probably very convincing arguments why a son should not be involved in his father's murder case.
"I just want to help out," I added. "He's my dad, Eli. I can't sit around here all day and do nothing while Garrett and his team are working on the case. I have to be in the know on this one."
I could see that I almost had him, his deep sigh as well as the way he rubbed his beard telling me that he was, at least, giving the matter some serious consideration.
If only he knew why I had such a special interest in the case.
I sighed, knowing that revealing my real reasons for wanting in on the case would probably do me no good. Sure, I wanted to help out as much as I did for my mom's sake, but for my own I just wanted to see what kind of evidence they had against my dad and make up my mind about whether or not I believed him to be innocent of the charges.
"And besides," I went on, trying to push the crushing guilt I felt every time I thought about my dad away. "It would be a good way for me to get to know everyone and see how this firm operates."
"Somehow I find it hard to believe that an ambitious young lawyer like you would willingly sit on the sideline," Eli replied after another long silence, his piercing black eyes scrutinizing my reaction. "I know you, Edward. The law's in your blood…."
I shrugged. "It's going to be hard, I'm not going to lie about that, but I won't exactly be standing by the sideline. I'll be doing research…maybe pick up a few small cases once I've found my way…."
"Does this mean you'll stay on after Carlisle's case has come to an end?"
I smiled, knowing that this was my uncle's main bargaining chip. Over the last half hour we'd come to the agreement that, while my dad's case went on, I would be entering the firm of Masen & Platt as a junior associate. However, I had avoided any mention of what was going to happen once the trial had ended, thinking I had handily outsmarted my uncle and kept my options open.
Apparently not.
I had to give him some credit; the guy really did know me. "I haven't decided on that yet."
"Then I may need some time to think about whether or not I want to endanger the name and reputation of my law firm just for the sake of my little sister's endeavors to get her son and her husband on speaking terms again," Eli stated, folding his hands underneath his chin as the cunning fox gazed at me from across the desk.
"That's fine," I shrugged, playing it cool when deep down inside I was raging with anger, frustration and – though I'd never admit it – awe. "I'll just go and talk to Garrett."
The most frustrating thing about it was that he was completely right, or he would have been about two days ago.
When I finally gave in to my mom's nagging and let her set up this meeting with my uncle, it had been merely to do my mom a favor. For the past ten or so years she had done everything she could think of to get my dad and me on speaking terms again but thus far, every effort had been in vain.
It was part of the reason why I went out of my way to avoid coming home while I was still in college: I couldn't bear to see her face fall when she realized that her latest effort to heal the rift had fallen flat.
Being the momma's boy that I was, seeing my mom hurt made me feel like a complete asshole. But I sure as hell wasn't the one who carried most of the blame.
And so my dad and I had come to a silent agreement to avoid family gatherings for as much as we could, the awkward annual family Christmas dinner being the only exception to the rule, citing work, school or all other kids of pressing engagements we could think of as a reason to skip out as many birthdays and holidays as we could.
But now, everything had changed.
Spending some time under my mom's roof had brought back so many memories of how things used to be before things went pear shaped. We'd always been close – my dad and I – not as close as I was with my mom, but close enough that, like so many boys my age, I worshipped him like some kind of half-god and wanted to be like him when I grew up.
Because I was surrounded by his stuff and my mom kept digging up all of the happy memories of our time in Forks, I found myself not hating him quite as bad as I did before. It wasn't like everything was okay again, but at least I started to feel something again.
And feeling something soon morphed into an urge to do something.
This was really why I had requested to join the team handling my dad's legal case, not because I was merely doing my mom a favor.
Well, maybe a little but not entirely.
"If you want to go to Garrett then you do that, Edward," my uncle chuckled, seemingly oblivious to my inner turmoil. "But you and I both know you aren't going to get a more favorable reply out of him."
He was right, of course. Garrett Masen, though in skills and experience was very much the equal to my uncle, still mostly adhered to Eli's decisions. I would be willing to bet that this would be no different in my case.
"I'll think about it," I finally grudgingly gave in, focusing my attention on the Seattle skyline as visible from the 43rd floor of the Columbia Center, the highest landmark in downtown Seattle and home to the firm of Masen & Platt.
As far as law firms went, it was a very grand and prestigious firm, and had been for almost a century, but that wasn't the problem. In fact, had it not been for the fact that it was run by family, I probably would have been ecstatic if they'd offered me a job.
It was just that I wanted to make it on my own.
I knew that entering this firm would give me every opportunity to hone my skills and become a successful lawyer, the fact that both of the senior partners and major shareholders in it were related to me pretty much guaranteed it. But that was just it: I didn't want to trade on my family name.
"I'm a businessman as well as a lawyer, Edward," Eli spoke after a while. "When I see an opportunity – whether it is in the court room or in the day to day running of my firm – I grab it."
He sat back, his hands folded behind his head as he continued. "You are an opportunity Edward, a golden opportunity, in fact, as I think you may very well know."
I couldn't help a smirk from making an appearance onto my face. I knew I was talented, he was right about that, but still it was always a nice thing to hear.
"Don't be smug with me, Edward," he warned, sitting up a little straighter again as his bead-like eyes narrowed slightly, "It doesn't suit you and it is completely misplaced in one so young and as of yet unimportant in the legal world as you are. You have the talent and the name to make it out there, but if you really want to do that, you are going to need more than that."
"And let me guess," I snickered, leaning forward a bit as I match his stare. "You are going to help me."
He didn't seem fazed at all, though, as he continued. "Your talent needs to be developed slowly, if it's going to shine at all. Burn through it like the way most big law firms are doing these days and you'll be burned out and jaded by the time you hit forty. "
"Ouch!" I jested, wondering where this was headed.
"Indeed," he chuckled, leaning forward on his arms as he geared up to deliver the final punch. "Tell me, Edward. Who would be better at helping you wield your talent than one who has known you since childhood?"
I leaned back again, my face no doubt betraying my frustration at being out-argued by an old man. I should have seen it coming though. I knew he was going to start with this kind of shit and I had banefully prepared to rebut it. What I hadn't been prepared for, though, was my uncle's extreme talent of persuasion. Really, the man was a genius.
It was no wonder he won as many cases as he did.
I'd only seen my uncle in action once, during one of the few holidays I spent in Seattle and not interning in Boston. He'd been interrogating a witness for the other party and – damn – he worked it. He had just the right balance between being tough as nails and out for the kill while still doing all of that with a charm and humor that would ingratiate him with the jury.
I knew he had worked very hard to get where he was right now. He'd probably started out just like me, a young little fuck whose good grades and small successes had made him cockier than he probably should be. He'd lost more cases than a lot of lawyers would handle in the course of their whole career but, that was the key to his success, he'd won about three times as many cases as he'd lost. He had over twenty years of experience under his belt and in that time he'd seen pretty much anything.
And I had to admit it: there was a lot he could teach me.
"I'm just asking for a few years," he added, now really going in for the kill. "If, at the end of those years, you still think that this firm isn't for you then you can always go back to Boston. You'll have a few years of experience under your belt and – if you do your job right – a laudatory letter of recommendation from one of the best firms on the West Coast. You've got nothing to lose, Edward, just a hell of a lot to gain."
"Putting it like that I'd be pretty stupid if I didn't take you up on your offer, huh?" I snickered.
He grinned back. "You know I'd never call you stupid, at least, not to your face. Your mother would kill me."
"But…." I persisted, arching one of my brows.
"You're probably right," he admitted, leaning back again in his chair, every bit the cocky, confident lawyer that he was. "So, what's it going to be?"
I sighed. This was not going at all like I'd planned it. When I walked into this office earlier I had every intention of walking out as Masen-Platt's newest employee. The interpretation I'd had of it, however, had been completely different.
If it had been up to me I would have worked here for a few months, maybe a year tops, while my dad's case went on and a bit after to see that my mom was okay, only to hightail it back to Boston the minute everything was resolved around here. Seattle would be a temporary lay-over for me. Nothing more.
That was all going to change now, or so I guessed. I had no doubt about the fact that, in the next few years (and I was convinced that my contract would stipulate just how many those were going to be) both Eli and Garrett would bust their butts in trying to make me stay.
And, if I was being honest with myself, I had no fucking doubt in my mind that they were going to succeed. The question was: did I really want this?
Well, there was only one way to find out.
"Fine," I answered, after an appropriate pause to mull it all over. "I'll take the job but on two conditions."
A proud smile crept onto my uncle's face. "And those might be…."
"One," I started, "that I get to work on my dad's case. I understand that there are going to be restrictions to keep up the name and reputation of the firm but I am sure we will be able to work all of those out."
"Okay," he nodded, "and your second stipulation?"
"I get three days to look over the contract before I sign it." I figured three days would give me ample opportunity to call in a favor from my old Boston firm and have Lauren, who happened to be pretty damned good when it came to contract law, have a look at it.
"Done," Eli beamed, holding out his hand over the table which I took, the look of pride on his face taking me completely aback. "Welcome to the firm of Masen & Platt, son."
My mom sported a similar look of pride when she greeted me in the car after my meeting, her hands twitching around the steering wheel to start asking questions. "So, when do you start?"
"Mom!" I groaned. "I didn't even tell you whether or not I took the damned job!"
"Oh, come on!" she chuckled, turning her trusty little MG out of the parking space. "I've known you for longer than today, Edward. You never stood a change."
Her beaming eyes turned to mine as she went on. "And besides…you have that whole 'I've just been worked over by Eleazar Platt'-look on your face."
"That obvious, huh?" I snickered.
"Your poker face isn't yet as good as you think," she answered, as we both turned our attention to the streets outside, letting a comfortable silence fall around us.
"You didn't answer my question, by the way," my mom stated after a while. "What did Eleazar say?"
"Exactly what I expected him to say," I shrugged. "He offered me a job on the condition that I spend at least a few years at the firm and I managed to get myself on dad's legal team."
Mom nodded. "That's good."
"Wasn't easy though," I grumbled. "Man, that guy is as cunning as a fucking fox!"
"Language!" mom scoffed, lightly swatting my hand as a punishment.
"What?" I retorted. "It's true! Here I was thinking I was all smart and prepared and he completely blindsides me!"
"Edward!" my mom chuckled. "You should have known better than to think you could outsmart your uncle! There are very few people able to outsmart my brother and you, my darling boy, even in spite of all your brazenness and arrogance, aren't yet one of them."
"Don't I know it?" I growled.
"And would it really be so hard to spend a few years in Seattle?" mom went on. "I could think of worse places to live."
"I guess," I sighed, as my mom steered her classic little sports car onto the driveway, cutting around the few assembled members of the gutter press who were camping out in front of our gate a little close.
"And who knows?' she went on unwearyingly, "you might meet some nice local girl and settle down."
I snorted. "Wishful thinking, mom. I'm not ready to tie myself down yet."
It appears so," she sighed. "By the way, the Lexus dealership called. You can pick up that ostentatious monstrosity of a car of yours on Monday. They'll call you to set up an appointment later this week."
I was barely able to contain my smile as I watched my mom's face scrunch up in disgust. "That's great. I'm sure you're tired of driving me around already."
"Not as much as I will be of seeing that unseemly thing parked in our driveway," she complained. "I still don't see why you couldn't have just driven your father's Mercedes to and from work. It just sits in the garage collecting dust for now anyway."
She sighed when she watched me sigh with frustration. It had been a fierce debate between us, not just at the Lexus dealership but also at home. She wanted nothing more than to have me drive my dad's car, probably hoping that this would be a great start to having the two of us share more than just 612 horsepower captured within almost 5 thousand pounds of sleek, German design.
"It's a good thing you chose a rather civilized color because I don't know what the neighbors would have said if they saw a red sports car parked in the driveway," she added in an afterthought.
"Probably that you've taken on some rich, young college stud as a toy boy now that dad's out of the way," I snorted.
"Edward!" my mom cried, though her laughter and slight blush told me she wasn't really offended. "You know I'd never do a thing like that!"
"I do," I joked, "but the question is: do the neighbors?"
She shook her head as she chuckled, the first carefree smile I'd seen on her ever since she picked me up from the airport. "I still don't see why you couldn't have bought some nice little Volvo or something. You used to really love the one you had…."
"…when I was in high school," I finished for her. "And that's exactly why I loved it so much. It was my first car and, as I recall, it was the only car you let me have."
"It was safe and practical," my mom defended herself. "Not as much as can be said of the one you bought yesterday."
"It will suit me just fine," I shrugged. "It has enough trunk space for my case files, enough room to seat two and enough power to make driving to and from Seattle fun."
"But it won't…." mom started.
"And it has the added bonus of keeping my mom from nagging about grandchildren and other little pests," I added, much to my mother's disappointment.
I chuckled as she huffed with frustration while bringing her classic and elegant little sports car to a stop on the gravel driveway. "Don't worry mother. I'm sure that in another ten years I will be ready to settle down and provide you with the trophy wife, grandchildren and golden retriever your heart desires." I kissed her on the cheek before I stepped out of the car, though not before adding a little warning. "But not yet."
I went up to my room as soon as I got indoors. As much as I enjoyed living with my mom for now, it was harder to get used to than I would have thought.
And we'd only been doing it for two days.
Over the last couple of years I'd gotten used to having things my way without discussion or having to take other people into account. Going car shopping with my mom, late yesterday afternoon, had already served to remind me that was going to stop from now on. My mom had always been very hands on when it came to her responsibilities as a parent and, for some reason; I didn't think she was going to stop now that I had reached adulthood.
Yesterday's experience had been….interesting to say the least. When I told her I wanted to buy a car she'd immediately assumed I'd be interested in some safe, boring old sedan. The look on her face when, after we'd arrived at the Lynnwood Lexus dealership and I made a beeline for the new LFA was priceless. She'd just stood there gaping at me like a fish on dry land for a few seconds before she finally managed to muster that poker face she'd become so known for.
That, of course, was when the objections had started.
I sighed, shaking my head when I thought about the many insane things she'd come up with in her quest to talk me out of having the car. They ranged from not being able to transport babies in it (which was a plus, as far as I was concerned) since it was only a two-seater, to the car not being safe enough to transport her one and only offspring through the dangers and challenges of urban Seattle.
It had all been in vain, of course, though I had to admit that her remarks about the car being a magnet for thieves did make me stop and think.
I still wanted it, though, and I was sure that no matter what my mom said, great-aunt Marjorie would be very happy to see part of the money she bequeathed me with go towards such a fine piece of machinery.
After all, the old bird had driven around in a vintage Morris Minor, which was every bit as fast and flashy as my new car.
I had a feeling the car-debacle was going to be only the first of many arguments with my mom, though. Being under her roof, I knew I had to adhere to her rules but at the same time she had to come to accept the way that I was an adult professional with my own life now. I knew it was going to be tough to get her to accept that, though. For someone as formidable and set in her own ways and beliefs as Esme Platt – Cullen was, adaptation was a well-neigh impossible thing to achieve.
One thing was for sure: living under my mom's wings was going to wreak havoc on my sex life.
I sighed, quickly discarding my formal clothes as I stepped into the shower. If things had been different I would have moved into a nice condo in town, preferably with a view over the water or the city skyscraper. Not only would that make my commute to work a lot easier, it would also offer me with all the distractions and entertainment I'd come to know and love while I was in Boston.
Being as it was, though, I had no other choice but to stay at home.
My mom may have been one hell of an actress but she wasn't able to fool me. The events of the past week had taken their toll on her and anyone who knew her could see that she was perpetually living on the edge of a breakdown. It didn't exactly help that those press hounds were basically following her everywhere she went, asking all kinds of fucked up things just to see if they could get a reaction out of her.
It completely freaked me out, even though mom had gotten pretty good at ignoring them. A woman like her shouldn't be asked questions like 'how do you feel, knowing your husband was screwing around with his students?'
How the fuck was a woman supposed to feel?
I growled, my anger almost causing me to tear my undershirt into pieces as I struggled to release myself from it. I just wanted to be there for her when that happened and comfort her in any way I knew, even if that did mean me and my hand would become even more intimately acquainted then we already were.
I groaned as the warm water cascaded down my body from the huge rainforest shower head. Being back in Seattle had me one edge 24/7. In Boston all I had to do was be a good lawyer and a decent enough human being. Here I had to be the model son, a good lawyer, a worthy representative of my illustrious lineage, a decent human being and, on top of all of that, deal with the guilt I felt when I thought about my dad, locked up in jail.
If anything, it made me hate the bastard even more.
"Fuck my life," I growled, slamming my flat hand against the cold tiles of the shower.
I knew I should have been grateful for what I had. A lot of guys would kill to be living the life I had and get the opportunities I just had thrown into my lap.
It was just that this wasn't the life I wanted.
It was fifty ways of fucked up and – with my dad's trial kicking off tomorrow with the appeal hearing on my dad's bail conditions – or lack thereof, since bail had been denied – it was only going to get worse before it could get any better.
Desperate to relieve some of the tension that had started to built in my body, I blindly grabbed for the shower gel and squeezed a generous amount of the stuff into my hand, rubbing the suds into my chest before letting my hand drift down and palm my cock.
Its reaction was immediate, as were the images my mind started to conjure up.
As always, when I hadn't gotten laid in a while or when the last bit of action my dick had seen wasn't quite so memorable to make a lasting impression, no amount of trying to think about supermodels or actresses dressed in next to nothing could stop my mind from wandering to the same image that had served me for as long as I could remember.
Her.
Bella fucking Swan.
The most fucked up thing about it was that I didn't even know what she looked like. All I had to go on was the way she'd looked more than ten years ago and the fantasy of those basic features – deep brown eyes, long and wavy matching hair and a skin so pale you'd wonder whether it had even seen the sunlight – and my own fantasy of how they'd come into bloom.
"Fuck!" I groaned as my hand built up a steady stroke, imagining a pair of plump, raspberry lips wrapped around my cock as her brownie colored eyes peeked up at me through her long eyelashes.
I closed my eyes my hand pumping my dick in an increasingly fast pace to keep up with the building, churning tension that had started to rise in the pit of my stomach. She was all around me; the subtle smell of strawberries that always seemed to hang around her, the pertness and firmness of how I imagined her breasts would be pressing against my chest as she stood up, her small hands wrapping around my rock hard cock and slowly but surely working me towards my climax.
"Dammit!" I snarled, my free hand clenching into a fist as I came hard against the black tiles, my body shuddering with the intensity of its release as my mind was spinning with frustration.
Why wouldn't she leave me alone?
I groaned, shuddering as the last remnants of my orgasm started to wane, pulling my body slowly back to earth. It was like she'd put a spell on me sometime during our childhood because, no matter how much time and distance separated me from that fateful day, she had never really gone away.
No, instead of fading into the background, like almost every other memory from that time had done, she'd kept on popping up at the most inopportune of times over the years. The strangest thing about it was that over the years she'd matured from the sweet, gawky fourteen year old into the most beautiful woman my mind could form from those same basic ingredients.
"Edward?" I jumped as my mom's voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Are you alright, honey?"
"I'm fine, mom!" I croaked, my voice a few octaves higher as I scrambled to wash away the evidence of what had just happened and get my disgusting ass out of the shower before my mom would find me here stark naked, with my cock flying half mast and my face full of guilt. "I just…..had a little…erm….accident."
"Oh," I heard her speak, the tone of her voice implicating that mom, smart woman that she was, had finally managed to put two and two together.
Kill. Me. Now.
"Well, err…..I'll just…wait for you downstairs," she added, the slight strain in her voice betraying how hard she was trying to act as if she hadn't just caught her son jerking off in the shower.
I groaned, wondering how on earth I was going to face her now. "I'll be down in a minute, mom."
I emerged from my en-suite bathroom long after her fading footsteps had made it safe to come out, hoping my mom would be as happy to pretend this never happened as I was.
I guess this was why it was a bad idea for a grown son to still live at home….
After stalling my way through dressing and spending more time than I think I ever had on trying to tame the scraggly mess on top of my head, I finally made my way downstairs, but not after my mom had called out for me a second time.
"What is it?" I asked, as soon as I stepped into the drawing room to find her ready to go out.
"I'm sorry I disturbed your…ahem…shower, Edward," she muttered, her embarrassment laced with just a small hint of humor. "I guess that will teach me to go barging into your room without thinking…."
"Mom," I pleaded. "Can we just…not speak about this, please?"
She chuckled. "As you wish."
"So what where you doing in there in the first place?"
She let out a deep breath, her face turning serious again. "Your dad's visiting hours will start in just over an hour and I was trying to get you to come with me."
"Mom," I sighed, trying to think of a polite way to stand her up.
"I know, I know," she muttered, the sagging of her shoulders making me feel even more like a complete asshole, "but you can't blame me for trying, can you?"
"Of course not," I answered, burying my face in my mom's hair as I pulled her into a hug. The familiar smell of garden, Chanel no 5 and mother gave me more comfort than it should. After all, she was the one who needed me, not the other way around. "It's just…not the right time yet."
"Nor the right place, I imagine," she added as she slid out of my hold. "I'll be back in a few hours. Could you make arrangements for dinner?"
"Sure, mom," I nodded, watching her as she walked out of the house.
I wished I could have come with her and – even more – that I could give her any sort of reassurance that things between me and my dad would soon get better.
I couldn't. I didn't know.
All I did know was that, even if it was only for her sake, I'd try.
- x -
And that was why, early next morning, I found myself shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with my new colleagues. I was sure that, even in spite of the three day reprieve I'd requested, my uncle had known that it would take me next to no time at all to accept it.
And he was right.
Between my mom's not so subtle hints and my own impatience to 'do something' I'd made up my mind late yesterday evening to just cut the crap and give in.
So here I was.
Eli looked on with a proud grin on his face while fondling my signed contract as if it were 'the precious', before Garrett handed me over to the guy who would be responsible for showing me the ropes.
Jasper Whitlock.
He was only a few years older than I was, but from what Garrett told me, he'd been with the firm for a couple of years now. He had the good looks and easy smile of a great lawyer, was a hard worker and a standup kind of guy.
I'd you'd asked me, though, I'd say the guy was a complete son of a bitch.
And that was putting it lightly
We'd been sitting in his office for well over half an hour now and he hadn't said a word. All he had been doing was studying a piece of paper any dumb fuck would have read through in a matter of minutes and glare at me from across his desk.
This wasn't going to be fun.
I took one look at the huge pile of paperwork to know just how impossible it was to wade through that in the three hours we had before we had to leave for court. I just had to settle for an aural elucidation, even if my new mentor seemed to be as happy to give it to me as he would have been to be fucked in the ass by King Kong.
"Who found her?" I asked, thinking that was probably a good place to start.
"The cleaning lady," Jasper grumbled in reply, his ice-blue eyes glaring at me from over his own files.
"What?" I frowned. "I thought they found the body at four in the morning?"
He didn't even look up this time, but his voice still held that same gruffness as he answered. "They did."
I was beginning to see a pattern here.
"Then how the hell did the cleaning lady manage to find the body?' I pressed on, his fucked up way of welcoming me into the team really starting to get on my nerves. "I've never met one who starts that early in the morning."
"Read the goddamn file," he snarled. "It's all in there."
Okay.
"What the hell is your problem?" I growled, unable to keep it bottled up any longer.
He bristled, the whites in his eyes showing as he glared at me with a barely veiled disgust. "You want to know what my fucking problem is?" he snorted, as if it was all pretty fucking obvious. "I'll fucking tell you what my problem is.
"Well, hop to it," I snorted, not caring that I was playing with fire. "I don't have all day."
"Do you know how hard I worked to get where I am today?" he asked. "I started out as an errant boy, slowly working my way up through the ranks as I got further and further into getting my degree. For years I spent every fucking moment I didn't have to spend at school and at this place, doing everything they asked me to do in the hopes of one day fulfilling my dream."
I didn't have to ask him what his dream was. It was probably the same one as I had, only with a difference in location.
"And then you walk in with your fancy ass Boston ways and the fancy degree your daddy's name and money probably bought you, thinking you fucking own the place… And you know what? The most fucked up thing about it is that you probably do."
He shook his head, another sarcastic snort permeating the silence before he spoke. "Out of the two of us, who do you think will make it to partner first?"
In that moment I genuinely felt sorry for the guy, even if he was being a total jackass.
After all, he was right.
However, I also felt like I should at least argue my case before I let him pass judgment.
"I understand, really," I tried. "If I were you, I'd probably feel the same. I do want to ask you for one favor, though, before you decide I'm just another piece of shit."
"And that is?" he asked, his arched brow telling me he wasn't quite buying into my shit just yet.
"Let me plead my case," I said. "We're both lawyers here and well…didn't Aristotle say that law is reason without passion?"
He chuckled, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Fair enough."
"Look," I started wishing in that moment that I had my uncle's powers of persuasion, "I don't want to be here anymore than you do."
The look on Jasper's face told me he didn't really believe me.
"It's true," I shrugged. "Up until a week ago I had a good job in Boston that I'd worked every bit as hard for as the one you have right here and I had no intention of spending more time in Seattle apart from holidays, weddings and funerals."
I sighed dragging my hand through my hair as I geared up to get myself through the hard part. "Then my mom called me and told me my dad had been arrested and suddenly my whole future was turned upside down."
Jasper nodded, his reaction being the first friendly gesture I'd gotten out of him ever since I'd set foot into this office.
"You know how things go…." I went on, "and I think you also know why I had no other choice than to take Eli up on his offer. I'd be crazy to let this chance pass me by."
"That's all good and well," Jasper quipped, "but why didn't you enter this firm when you got out of law school?"
"Because I never wanted to be the kind of guy that only got to where he was because of his last name," I shrugged. "I always knew both my mom and Eli were chomping at the bits to incorporate me, but I kind of wanted to see how far I could get on my own. I mean….my dad's name and Money – as you so eloquently put it – may have gotten me into Harvard Law, but I don't think his annual donations reached quite far enough to get me to graduate with high honors if I didn't at least have some talent."
"Okay," he nodded. "So you may have what it takes. So what?"
"Look," I pleaded, this time dragging both my hands though my hair. "I'm not asking for you to bow down at my feet or for us to become besties or anything. All I'm asking for is a fair chance. Judge me for who I am, not what I am."
Jasper nodded, his cold blue eyes dancing with humor as he looked at me, making him look more human than he had looked so far. "You're full of shit," he finally chuckled.
I laughed along. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Though I am rather proud of that last line I sprouted off."
And just like that, the ice was broken.
We spent the next couple of hours going over my dad's case and, even though at the end of them I still had only a very basic understanding of it, at least now I knew what we were playing at.
And how it was going to be a hell of a job to get my dad out of this mess.
- x -
I started to get more nervous as we were driving to court. It wasn't because I was afraid Garrett and his team of lawyers were going to mess up or anything, it was because today would be the first time I'd see my dad in almost a year.
And it wasn't under circumstances I would have preferred that to happen.
My mom met me in front of the entrance and, while the rest of the team went in, I gave her a quick lowdown on what I'd just discovered. A lot of the information I had to share with her probably wasn't the kind of stuff a mother wants her son to tell her, but I gathered it was better to have her walking into that courtroom embarrassed yet prepared, than walk out of it completely squicked out and blindsided.
When we did, finally, make our way into the courtroom it turned out we were among the last ones to do so. Almost everyone who had any business being there was already seated and ready to go….including my dad.
The first thing that struck me about him was how old he looked. In front of me sat not the handsome doctor with the boyish grin and the glint in his eyes but – in every aspect of the word – my old man.
I had to give it to him, though. As my mom and I slid into the bench behind Garrett, Felix and Jasper, he never once took my eyes off my mom, and neither did she with him. The silent conversation that took place between them seemed too…intimate, for a place like this but on the other hand, seeing it take place gave me more respect for my dad than I had had in years.
They really did need each other.
"Are you sure Garrett will be able to get him out?' my mom asked anxiously, as she wriggled in her seat to get a better view.
"It's the law," I sighed, taking my mom's hand in mine. "Nothing's certain."
I didn't want to give her false hope, not when it seemed so much of her happiness was riding on this ruling.
"We have a pretty decent shot, though," I added, still wanting to give her something rather than nothing.
The truth was, I still didn't know how I felt about all of this. Part of me wanted nothing more than to get my dad out of prison and back home with my mom. I kept telling myself that it was just about her, but even I knew I was lying.
But that was part of the problem.
Having my dad back with us in Woodway would also mean that there would be no more running. If we were going to be living under the same roof and – in my dad's case – spending every damned second that wasn't spend in court, in there, would mean that we had to talk.
It was only a matter of time.
As we waited for the judge to come in, it seemed that my mom and I hadn't been the latest to arrive to this particularly party. As the door opened with more noise than any door had business making, all heads turned towards it to see two women entering the courtroom.
The first one strut in with the confidence and fake air of glamour of a woman used to getting both attention and everything she wants, smiling like she half expected everyone to stand up and bow for her.
So much could not be said for the other one.
She hid herself carefully behind a wealth of deep brown hair, her small figure almost cloaked in it as she scurried towards the bench closest to the exit. It was only when she slid in that I managed to catch a glimpse of her face.
"No," I gasped. "It can't be!"
"What is it?" my mom asked, tearing her eyes away from my dad for a second to shoot a worried glance over her shoulder. "Is something wrong?"
"It's fine," I lied, trying to control the swirling vortex of questions and feelings that was raging inside of me. "It's nothing…."
But I knew it was a lie.
In fact, I concluded, as the judge and his court entered the room, thereby cutting short our conversation, it was the blackest form of blasphemy known to man.
There had been a time when the woman who'd just walked in had been my entire world and even now, she still was an important part of it. As I shot another sideways glance at her I had to admit that my sex crazed mind hadn't been able to come close to capturing her beauty.
Bella.
And that she was, in every sense of the word.
I know. I know. I know.
I did get them in the same room, though, and that was all I promised last time. Next up: what will happen now that those two are in the same room? Will they argue? Panic? Make out?
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