My heels clicked loudly against the shiny floors as I rapidly walked back to my office. I could feel Wes behind me, a looming shadow. Once we all finally realized what had happened, Travis packed up with the excuse of research.
Wes had turned to me, mouth open to say something, hand reaching for me, when I bolted. I literally ran out the door like my ass was on fire. But he wasn’t giving up.
“Hold my calls, Tracy,” I said quietly as I passed her desk. There were things we needed to say.
“But ma’am you have a meeting with—”
“Please push it, Tracy, we’ve had a setback. And as you know, Mr. Alderman’s case takes precedent. Convey my apologies.” I hadn’t even turned to face her as I stomped into my office, the snick of the door closing behind me.
I stood behind my desk, my palms flat against the smooth wood. Glancing up at Wes through my eyelashes, I asked, “What does she have on you, Wes?”
He had the decency to look sheepish. “It’s nothing…”
“Don’t tell me it’s nothing. I know Delia Lawrence, and she always has something up her sleeve. I am your lawyer, and I can’t help you if you keep things from me.” My throat burned as I shoved the words out.
The meeting had gone way differently than I’d anticipated, and I hated being thrown off my game. On top of all that, the man I’d been casually seeing was keeping secrets. This didn’t bode well for a relationship in the future.
Wes sighed as he ran his hands down his face. “I don’t want you to look at me differently. I… I’m a different person than I was then. I’m not proud of what I did.”
I continued to glare at him. “Personal feelings aside, Wes, I need to know. As your lawyer, I will find out if it is brought to light later on. I need to know how to prepare.”
He crossed his arms over his chest before he reached up and began tugging on his bottom lip. His feet traced a path along my office carpet, to one wall and back again. My eyes tracked him, sensing the hesitation.
“Liv please, I’m not trying to keep secrets from you. I am this guy, the one you’ve been talking to. The one you let sleep in your bed. That is who I am. Don’t let the past define me.”
Narrowing my eyes further, I said, “By stalling like this, you aren’t making a very convincing case for yourself. I’m not here to judge you or define you. I care about the facts and about the case. If I lose, your father will fire me and probably blackball me from any other law firm. I have to get this right. I’ve worked my butt off to be here, and I deserve it. And I deserve the truth.”
Finally, he plopped down in the chair opposite me. His body sagged back, seemingly exhausted. I slowly lowered myself to my chair, sitting primly on the edge with my hands folded on top of my desk. Below, I discreetly slipped off my heels.
Wes glanced out the window behind me. “I was young and stupid. I’d just opened my first restaurant, and business was booming. I’d received my first Michelin star and I was flying high. Some buddies took me to Atlantic City to celebrate. There was gambling and booze, and the week flew by. Somewhere along the way, I’d picked up a girl.”
I swallowed subtlety. There was always a girl.
“She was cute,” he continued, “and I convinced her to stay with me that week. Most of the time, I was drunk and doing stupid things. When the week was over, I packed up early in the morning, leaving her asleep in my bed.”
I frowned slightly. There were many people, not even semi-famous people, who had had weekends or weeks of debauchery. Gambling and booze and consensual sex were all legal, if albeit a bit embarrassing to have paraded around to the public. I opened my mouth to say as much when Wes finally looked at me, his eyes lifeless. My mouth shut quickly. There was more to the story.
“She found me weeks later at the restaurant. Not like it was hard. She knew who I was. She told me she was pregnant and it was mine. First, I laughed her off, hardly remembering her. But then she showed me pictures of the two of us. Ones I had taken, some she had, others with our friends surrounding us. And she had a letter from a doctor confirming her due date and likely date of conception. It all fell into place.”
I leaned back in my chair. Wes had a child. Somehow not one word of this had been leaked to the press. Someone as talented, handsome, and rich as Wes was usually a prime target for gossip such as this. After taking the case, I’d combed through an embarrassing amount of tabloid articles to prepare myself, but there was nothing about a child.
Wes leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees and his hands cupping his forehead.
“I took her somewhere private. I told her there was no way in hell she was having that baby. I wasn’t going to be a meal ticket for someone I barely knew. I’d just started out and was making a name for myself. If that had gotten out, I’d have been wrecked.”
Here he stopped, his breathing shaky. His voice cracked a little. “I drove her to a clinic. She cried the whole way. I yelled at her, called her terrible names. Told her she’d ruined both our lives but had a chance to fix it.”
He stood quickly. He walked toward the door, his back to me and one hand on his hip as the other held his face. “I paid her five grand to get rid of it. Then I slipped the doctor a grand to lose the records. Once he confirmed it was done, I climbed into my car and left. When she woke up, they called her a cab. I haven’t seen her since.”
My face was frozen in shock. This was not what I’d been expecting. I knew there was probably scandal in his past, especially since his father had wanted his top lawyers on the case, but this was beyond the scope of my imagination.
Silence filled the room as both of us were frozen in place. I couldn’t believe he’d been so cruel. Not even staying to make sure the girl he’d forced to have an abortion was okay. My stomach churned as I fought the urge to hurl.
It didn’t matter though. I was first and foremost his attorney. I would have to deal with my personal feelings later.
I began to make notes in his file. The sound of my pen scratching across the paper caused him to finally turn around and face me. My eyes never looked up from the paper, scared of what they would reveal.
“One very drunken night after we were married, Delia and I were talking about having a family. She said she wasn’t ready for that yet, didn’t want to ruin her figure or what was left of her 20s. She said we had time. But images of a little blond-haired, gray-eyed baby haunted me.”
Here I did look up. His eyes shone with unshed tears and grief. “I told her the story. I told her about what a prick I was back then, and how selfish I was. I forced that poor girl to do that, and for what? My reputation?”
I swallowed roughly, my mouth insanely dry. “Does Delia have proof, Wes?”
He ran a hand through his rumpled hair as he laughed humorlessly. “You obviously know what she’s like. Clearly you two have a history. Does she have proof?”
I nodded once. “She wouldn’t show her hand like that if she didn’t have proof. What was the girl’s name, Wes? Do you at least know that?” I couldn’t keep the ice and disdain from my voice. Bad choices I could handle, but this was a whole other level. My heart hurt as my mind screamed at me that whatever this had been, it was over.
“Renee. Renee Samson. Last I knew, she’d moved about an hour away from here.”
I made a note before glancing back up at him. “Is there anything else you need to tell me? Any other secrets your wife could be thinking of using against you?”
He slowly shook his head. “After that incident, I didn’t date or sleep around. I stopped drinking except for when I watched a sports game at home. I threw myself into my work, trying to forget what a prick I was.”
Glancing down at my notes, I skimmed through them quickly. Satisfied I had all I needed, I slipped my heels on and stood. Walking around my desk, I passed Wes, making sure we didn’t touch.
I opened the door and gestured out. “I’ll be in touch, Mr. Alderman, thank you for the information. I’ll confer with my cocounsel, and we’ll see where to go from here.”
“That’s it? You’re just going to push me out the door? We need to talk about this, Liv.”
I held up my hand, stopping him from saying anything more. I closed my eyes for a moment, summoning my strength.
“Right now, I need to focus on this case. I told you I was here purely as your lawyer, and you told me some crucial information. Work has always been, and always will be, my focus, my pride, and my joy. As for what your news means for us, honestly, I can’t tell you right now,” I kept my voice low, making sure no one could hear my words. Not even my trusted secretary.
“I need some time to process this. I have to come up with a game plan, and quickly. Delia intends for the divorce proceeding to go to court, and I’m sure this will come up. If you want to keep your restaurants, and me my job, I have to give this my all.”
Wes stared at me, his eyes shone with hurt. With a small nod, he walked toward me. His arm brushed against mine as he passed, sending shockwaves through my body, but also a new feeling.
My chest ached at what he’d just revealed to me. I was angry at his stupid, selfish, younger self for making such awful choices and for being such a dick. At the same time, my heart hurt for him. He’d had to live with the guilt of what he’d done. The guilt of treating that girl and her baby like they were nothing.
He paused in front of me. His voice rumbled out smoothly, “I know what you’re thinking, I can see it in your eyes. Just know you can’t hate me more than I hate myself.” With that, he walked away.
I took a deep breath and closed my office door, throwing my back against it. Tears prickled at my eyes. I made a fist and bit down roughly on my knuckle while I screamed.
I never would have thought he could be that type of person. Funny, smart, giving Wes was just as bad, if not worse, as every other guy out there.
What if my own parents had made the choice he did? Would it have been better for me? I’d always been adamantly pro-choice—a woman’s body was her own. But to have your decision virtually stripped from you and offered cash like some cheap whore? If he could throw away his child, what would stop him from tossing me away like garbage?
Again, I felt my throat burn as I suppressed the urge to vomit. This changed everything, both personally and professionally.
I took a moment to collect myself, taking a sip of water and gathering my notes. When I was ready, I headed to Travis’s office. It was time to formulate a game plan.
I needed to keep my eyes on the matter at hand, my job, and definitely away from the matter of my heart.
