Charlotte
“I won’t be gone much longer,Sunshine. Promise.”
I stare at the calendar on my desk and slash lines through the days Marcel’s been gone. How many more?
“Sunshine, you there?” he asks.
His warm voice doesn’t soothe me the way it usually would. “Just be careful, okay?”
“I will,” he assures me.
My emotions are so tangled, it’s hard to concentrate on the file in front of me after we hang up. The day’s already off to a rough start. After the bombshell news Marcel received, and his abrupt trip out of town to cope with the life-altering revelation, work has seemed impossible.
I should’ve gone with him.
Except, he didn’t ask me to.
And I didn’t push.
At least Marcel isn’t the father of Inga’s baby. I might have had to skip town if that test had come back positive. If I don’t try to find the silver lining in this whole mess, I’m going to lose my marbles. Marcel didn’t father a stripper’s baby—that’s the upside.
Rock and Marcel are father and son. It’s too complicated to put it in the good news or bad news column.
Quickly, I sort through a stack of mail, a chore I hate. My struggling solo law practice doesn’t have the funds to hire even a part-time secretary. Not for the first time, I consider the offer from one of my law school classmates to join his high-end firm. At least then someone else would open my mail.
Bills, bills, advertisements, and a notice from the Johnsonville family court that I stop to add to my calendar. A shady company offering to add me to their directory of “distinguished” lawyers for the measly sum of five-thousand dollars. Next, a reminder that I need to fulfill my continuing legal education requirements. I set that one aside. Maybe I can talk Hope into taking a class with me after she has the baby. Who am I kidding? She checked out of anything legal-related the second she found out she was pregnant. I brush my hand over my stomach. Maybe I’ll get to do the same soon. Hope’s friend Mara will probably go with me, and I scribble a note on the letter to remind myself to ask her.
The familiar thump-creak of someone prying open the front door to the building reaches me. The sticky lock always catches and makes it hard to open the door. It finally groans whooshes open. I tip my head up and concentrate on any familiar sounds. Postman delivering a package? Nope, he’d call out to get my attention.
Potential client?
Uncle Chuck stopping by to deliver some inane threat?
Silence.
It can’t be Uncle Chuck. He’s on the road and out of my business. He and Marcel seem to have come to some sort of biker understanding that I’m under the protection of the Lost Kings MC and no longer the concern of the Wolf Knights MC.
The door thumps closed and heavy footsteps clomp over the thin hallway carpet.
A chill slithers along my neck.
Quick and silent, I slide out of my chair, grab my heavy red stapler, and hurry to my open office door. I peer around the corner.
Rock’s in the small waiting area, staring at the box of toys I keep in the corner to entertain my younger clients. My gaze slides over the back of his leather cut. The blue and gray Lost Kings MC patch. Discolored, faded, and well-worn from years of life in the club.
Why would he come to my office? He’s never been here before. That I know of. His vice president did place surveillance cameras in my apartment, though. Maybe Z and Rock bugged my office at some point.
Fear edges down my spine. Is the secret of Rock and Marcel’s true relationship one Rock wants to keep hidden for good? In some weird, twisted biker way, it could be used against Rock by rival clubs. Maybe he still doesn’t trust me.
Stop it.
I’ve spent plenty of time around Rock and the rest of the MC. Rock isn’t a threat.
“Mr. North—uh, Rock. My, uh, what are you doing here? I thought you were headed out of town. Is everything okay?” Damn, why I can’t I get my voice under control?
He turns away from the toy box, the hard lines of his face softening. As if he’s trying to coax a frightened kitten out of hiding, he holds up his hands. “Have you heard from Marcel?”
Really.Marcel hasn’t touched base with Rock yet?