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  “I figured as much. And you don’t even have a landline. I’m sorry, Mr. Ryan.” Her flustered movements and frantic voice were setting me off.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Your meeting. It was moved. They’re here now. Have been for about twenty minutes.” She followed me into my office as I gathered what I needed for the meeting. “And there’s one more thing,” she said shyly, almost as if she feared my reaction to whatever it was she had to tell me. “Your father is already in there.”

  “Shit,” I cursed, running my hand through my hair. “Okay, thanks.” She had to have seen how thrown off I was if she didn’t say anything about my language.

  Gathering my scattered thoughts, I walked toward the conference room where we were supposed to meet. I knew I had to keep my cool, but it completely eluded me at the moment. When I pushed open the door, I was shocked to see Avery sitting on the table in front of my father, her legs widening as she spoke. I was too far away to hear what they were saying, but some things don’t need to be heard. “Ahem,” I called out loudly from across the room, making Mrs. Maxwell nearly fall off the table and into my father’s lap.

  “Parker,” my father greeted, standing from his seat. “Better late than never, I guess,” he scoffed, walking toward me.

  “The meeting isn’t until ten.” Standing my ground, I slid my briefcase on the table. “But since we’re all here a little early,” I paused, shooting Avery a hard look, “we may as well get started. Where’s Ashton?”

  “We’ve made some changes,” my father cut me off. “You’re off the case.”

  Shock, anger, confusion, and rage mixed with the ice flowing in my veins. “What?” I seethed.

  “Avery.” My father turned away from me and placed his hand on the small of her back, escorting her out of the conference room. “Why don’t you wait for me in my office?”

  Without so much as saying a single word to me, my former client walked right past me and down the hall.

  Pinching the bridge of my nose wasn’t nearly enough to keep my fingers busy when what they wanted to be doing involved punching my father in the face. “Care to tell me what the fuck just went on?”

  “So emotional. You know,” he paused, shaking his head, waggling a finger at me, “that’s your flaw.”

  “Flaw? There’s just one?” I replied, mocking him with every single breath I took.

  Then the bastard said something for which I’ll never forgive him. “No there are plenty and if it were one single flaw that I was going to turn you away forever for, it would be that you take it up the ass.”

  With a cool smoothness I didn’t feel, I slowly clicked my briefcase closed, and glided it off the glass conference table. “Since we’re exchanging ideas here, you’re a narrow-minded asshole who’s nothing more than a dirty lawyer looking to steal his clients’ money.” My words only garnered a smug look of satisfaction from the man who’d donated his sperm to my existence and nothing more.

  And just because I knew it would make his skin crawl, when I was at the door, I stopped and said, “And for the record, I don’t take it up the ass. I give it.”

  By the time I walked back to my office, I’d talked myself out of resigning on the spot. Even I knew I was too fired up to make a major decision like that now, but something had to be done about my father. “How did it go?” Serena twisted her hands into knots before me, clearly nervous about my father’s subversion.

  “Fantastic,” I snipped and she followed me into the office.

  Flopping onto the small leather couch, I sighed, folding my arms behind my head. Serena pulled a chair over from the desk and sat across from me. “You’re better than him, you know that, right?”

  Somewhere deep down I did, but he’d always managed to make me feel like who I was, or what I did, was never ever going to be enough. So I lied, “Yeah, I know.”

  “No, you are,” she insisted. “You have morals and standards. You’re a good man, Parker. You’ll just never be good enough for him, but that doesn’t change your integrity. Nothing will.”

  “You know, in just those few sentences, you’ve managed to be more encouraging than I think my father has been in my entire life. He thinks just because I’m ga–”

  She cut me off. “Who you sleep with and what you do behind closed doors has nothing to do with the kind of person you are. Gay or not, you are a good man.” The insistence in her voice bordered on demand, but there was a motherly quality to it, one that reminded me why I’d hired her in the first place. For me, there was never a reason to hide my sexuality. It wasn’t as if I had a rainbow flag outside my office or anything, but over the years, it was something that came up with a few colleagues, or people made assumptions. With Serena, I’d been up front about it right from the beginning and it was a decision I knew I wouldn’t regret.

  “You’re a good person, too, Serena.” I smiled at her, feeling slightly better about the confrontation with my father. “Now, I just need to figure out how to prove Avery is not a good person. I need to get to the bottom of this case, to help this kid. And since I’ve been taken off the case that makes it a touch more difficult.”

  Standing, Serena smiled down at me with pride on her face. Patting my shoulder, she said, “See? That right there makes you an extremely moral man.” She pushed the chair back to the desk, and then turned to me to ask, “Can I get you some coffee?”

  “Better make it two. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

  By the time I caught a breath, I looked at my watch and was shocked that it was already one-thirty. If it hadn’t been for the text that popped up on my phone, I would have forgotten all about lunch with Liam.

  Still on for lunch? Where?

  Looking over the shitload of paperwork and case files I’d been scouring over all morning, I knew I couldn’t really get away, only if just for an hour.

  Punching out a quick response, I hoped he wasn’t too mad.

  I’m sorry, but things are a lot crazy here today. I’m stuck in my office all day. Maybe another day?

  His response was immediate.

  Everything okay? Is it the Maxwell case?

  It is. It’s not great, but I’m trying to fix it.

  I understand. I’ll talk to you later. X

  For some stupid reason, the X at the end of his text made something seem right for the first time since I’d kissed him goodbye this morning. It was a simple statement of his feelings, maybe ones he couldn’t yet put to words. I certainly couldn’t put mine to words, but by giving me at least the single, seemingly insignificant letter, I knew he was feeling the same as me.

  Thanks for understanding. Will call you later. X

  Turning my phone over, I refocused my attention on reading through the statements with which Avery had provided. There had to be an error here, something I could use against her, or at least ask her about and see if it would trip her up. But, the more I read, the tighter her case became. Self-doubt wiggled its way into my head. What if she hadn’t been lying all this time? What if everything she’d told me was the truth and I was the one screwing everything up by constantly believing there were cracks in the story needing to be uncovered.

  Dropping my elbows on the table, I cradled my head in my hands. Frustration at the entire situation weighed on my shoulders. And what started out as a mild headache this morning had grown in epic proportions. After popping a few Advil, I buzzed Serena. “Hey, would you mind ordering me some lunch?”

  “Sure,” she responded immediately. “Anything in particular?”

  “Surprise me.” Absentmindedness consumed me as my fingers flew across the keyboard.

  The intercom hadn’t even cut off before my office door opened to reveal Liam standing on the other side.

  “What the–”

  Holding a brown paper bag up in front of him, he stood by the threshold, almost afraid to step into the room fully. “You said you couldn’t get away.” He shrugged. “So I brought lunch to you. I hope that’s okay.�
�� His words held a tone of apology even though that was the last thing he should be worried about.

  “Stop it. Of course it’s fine. Come in.” As I shut the door behind him, I saw Serena sitting at her desk, smiling like a mad woman.

  Seeing Liam in my office, his world colliding with mine in this way was not nearly as odd as I would have expected it to be. To be completely honest, I was extremely surprised to find him willing to be here.

  “Look, I can go if you want,” Liam started to ramble nervously. “I know you’re busy and I didn’t want to distract you. I just didn’t–”

  Feeling his lips against mine was the exact sensation of calm I was craving. Holding his face in my hands, I angled his head so that I could kiss him as deeply as I needed. Each sensuous slide of his tongue in my mouth made me feel the world in a different way. Pulling back from him, I rested my forehead against his. “Stop,” I said firmly. “I’m happy you’re here. Happier than you could know.” Directing us over to the small table, I said, “Today might just be the worst of the worst around here.”

  “Yeah? How so?” As he took a few deli sandwiches out of the bag, he waited on my answer. The genuine interest was etched on his concerned face.

  I sank into a chair, unwrapped my sandwich, and stared blankly at the wall across from me—on which my diplomas proudly hung. “Let’s just say I’m no longer involved in the Maxwell case.”

  Liam’s face fell. “What?” he gasped, twisting the cap off his iced tea. “What the hell happened?”

  “My father.” There wasn’t much more of an explanation needed, but still I offered it. “There’s something going on with him and Avery.”

  “You mean, like, a little somethin’ somethin’ on the side?”

  My iced tea almost shot out my nose at hearing him talk like a teenager.

  “What?” he defended himself. “Tell me how else you’d describe it?”

  Scratching my head, I tried my best to come up with some other, more logical, adult-like explanation, but the only one I could come up with was ‘a lil’ somethin’ somethin’ on the side.’ Through my laughter, I managed, “Nope, there’s no other way to describe it.”

  “What about the kid?” The hesitancy in his voice was clear as day. I knew it had taken a lot of effort on his part to even bring it up, but my heart swelled at his attempt.

  Taking a bite of my sandwich gave me a minute to try and figure that out myself. “There’s something there. I just don’t know what it is.” After wiping my mouth, I put my sandwich down on the wax paper. “I was supposed to meet with him and his mother this morning, but it was conveniently canceled. I’m sure me being dropped from the case was totally separate as well.” Sarcasm and anger mingled together in my words and neither were lost on Liam.

  He covered my hand with his, stroking his thumb over the top of my wrist. “So what are you going to do?”

  “You ask as if I really have many options.” Snapping at him hadn’t been my intention, but my frustration rolled off my tongue all too easily. “Besides, I’ve been over the paperwork all morning. I can’t find a crack in her story.”

  “But you looked, right?” Arching an eyebrow, he gave me a lopsided smile, reading my answer though I spoke no words. “See? That’s what’s different about you. It’s not in you to leave it alone, especially because there’s something about the case just not sitting right with you. Keep looking. You’ll find something. Or figure out a way to prove what you know. I have faith in you.”

  Hearing those words, watching the way his face melted with sincerity and warmth, it changed me. No one had ever really told me they had faith in me that they knew I would do the right thing. It was always just expected of me. And even then, those expectations had only been about succeeding. It was never about my moral integrity or honest character.

  “Thanks,” I said shyly. “I was actually thinking . . . No, you know what? Never mind.” Shoving the rest of my sandwich in my mouth, I kept the idea I’d been tossing around in my head all morning to myself.

  But Liam had a different plan. “Tell me,” he prompted me to finish the thought I’d started. “Look,” he cut my protest off before I could even begin to say it. “You said it yourself over the weekend. We’re never going to get wherever it is that we’re going if we can’t be honest with each other. Me coming here today was part of that, you know.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I wanted to see you and even though you were busy, I needed you to make time for me. So instead of getting all pissed over a stupid cancelled lunch, I figured I might as well stop here. Even if we couldn’t eat together, I would at least get to see you.” He kept his eyes away from mine, his voice trailing off toward the end and I knew he’d just admitted something that wasn’t necessarily easy for him to say.

  So I rewarded him in the best fashion possible. Leaning across the table, I grabbed the collar of his plain T-shirt in my fist, pulled him close to my face and softly grazed my lips across his. A gentle bite and tender kiss over the same spot was the perfect follow-up. “Thank you.” Releasing his shirt, I sank back into my chair. “Not just for coming here, but for saying that, and for pushing me.”

  A victorious smile spread across his face as he leaned back in his chair, cradling his head in his linked-together fingers. “So what have you been thinking?”

  After taking a deep breath, I bit the bullet and spit out the words I’d been afraid to even think about speaking since they popped into my head. “About maybe opening my own firm.”

  “Do it,” he responded immediately and with much more conviction than I had in my own words. “I’ve never met your father, and I can tell I’m really missing out because he sounds like a real stand-up guy,” he joked with heavy sarcasm. “But just think about how much happier you would be, how much good you could do if you weren’t under his thumb.”

  “Ahh, I don’t know,” I moaned, protesting the idea of starting over—of making waves for which I’d certainly take some shit. But then, as I sat there, it occurred to me that was a shitty reason. Call it an epiphany, but here I was, a twenty-nine year old man afraid of what his father would think of him, when throughout my entire life he’d never thought anything but the worst of me. This would just be the nail in the coffin where he was concerned, but it just might be my first step on the path to freedom if I played my cards right. With more confidence than I had moments ago, I said, “You know what? I’m going to look into it. I’m tired of living up to the dreams that were never mine in the first place.”

  “Good, Park. I’m proud of you.” Liam stood from his chair and pulled me into his arms. Basking in his warm, gentle strength, I felt more courageous about my plans to start over than I had all morning. “I’m gonna run now. Call me when you get home? I did enjoy that last late night phone call we had,” he said on a wink. Twisting my tie around his fist, he tugged me against his body. Grabbing my ass with his other hand, he attacked my mouth, driving his tongue past my teeth, letting it slide against the heat of my own. Breathlessly, he pulled away and stared into my eyes, “Or you know, you could come over when you get off and then I could get you off.”

  The pressure of his stiffening dick resting heavily against mine was all I needed to make my decision. “I’ll be there around eight.”

  After one more heated kiss, he left my office. When I sat back at my desk, a moment of clarity opened my eyes to the Maxwell case.

  With renewed enthusiasm and hope for getting to the bottom of it all, I finally felt like everything was falling into place.

  My father be damned, I was going to do what was right for Ashton, for myself, for my future.

  “It’s about time.” Paulie’s comment was meant in jest, but I felt guilty for being gone all afternoon. “Did he actually have the parts or was he just jerking you around like last time?”

  Holding the box in my arms, I shot him a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look. “No this is actually Gwyneth Paltrow’s head.”

  “What the fuck?
” Paulie’s face fell at the joke that was obviously lost on him.

  “You’ve never seen Seven?” Shocked, I dropped the box on the table and pulled out the crankshaft, crankcase, and sparkplugs. “The whole scene at the end where Brad Pitt is losing his shit, asking about what’s in the box?”

  Paulie shook his head, looking at me like I’d grown an arm out the side of my head. “What kind of weird-ass movies do you watch?”

  “Seriously, watch it. You won’t be able to sleep for days, but it’s awesome.” Still in disbelief, Paulie walked over to me and inspected the remaining parts we needed for the engine.

  “If you say so, psycho.” As he pulled the new parts out of their boxes, he laughed at me, and my affinity for horror movies. Growing up, I’d taken to them as a means to escape the dreadfulness that was my real life. As an adult, they’d just been a part of who I’d become. “We’re all good,” Paulie announced after making sure we’d ordered and received the right parts.

  “You sound surprised?”

  “Well, shit,” Paulie laughed. “It’s about time the old man came through.”

  Turning the music up, I said, “We better get to work.” Glancing at the clock over Paulie’s shoulder, I realized we only had about two hours to finish up the engine before Parker arrived. He’d been so involved in the project since we’d started, but in the last few days, he’d been working all sorts of crazy hours and he was stressing that he hadn’t been able to get in as much time at the shop as he would have liked. Since it was Friday, he knew he could spend some time here tonight and not have to pay for it too much in the morning. Between everything going on with being removed from the Maxwell case, and looking into starting his own firm, Parker had been nothing but stressed and exhausted. His pressure became mine and I wanted to somehow lessen it for him.

  I wanted to make him smile because he was beautiful when he did. He was spectacular when he smiled for me.