Chapter 15

"We're positive it was Talissa?" I ask.

Beck and I cleared our schedules today and rushed to Asher's office to discuss the possibility we've been caught up in some shady shit.

"It was her. Bruno checked with reception. She gave the name Talissa Smith to the desk girl when she got here." Asher's face is red with bottled temper.

"Don't you think it might have been wiser to find out what she was doing here before siccing security on her? At least then, we'd know what's going on," Beck reasons.

"Fuck off, Henning. I panicked." The admission's gotta rankle. Powerful litigation attorneys, who make opposing counsel quake in their shoes, don't panic.

It says everything about how deeply meeting Talissa at Club Sin affected Asher that he could be so thrown off his game. I don't blame him. Waking up to find her gone this morning put me in a gray mood. And now this.

"I tried calling her on the way over here. Straight to voicemail," Beck admits.

"Why would you call her?" Asher demands.

"How else will we know why she was here? If she's running a con like you suspect, failing to get close to you ought to have her happy to reach out to Hud or me. But she cleared my call and didn't even let it ring the full cycle."

"So what? You think it's just a coincidence she showed up at the firm my family founded, the one where I'm a third generation named partner, the day after we ran a train on her?"

"Ran a train? Fuck man, don't be crass. It wasn't like that." Now, I'm getting pissed. Only a hypocrite looks down on the very activity they were all too happy to participate in.

"Dammit, I know. I'm sorry. I need to rein it in." At least, he's got the good sense to look ashamed of himself. Best friend or not, neither Beck nor I are likely to let him get far with the asshole routine.

Maybe, he's right, and Talissa pulled one over on us. Maybe, he's wrong, and there's a plausible reason for her being here today. Either way, I won't let him shit all over what happened last night by playing as if he wasn't all in. We were there. One hundred percent in. All of us. I refuse to believe differently until I know for sure.

Asher's paralegal pokes his head into the office, a sheepish look on his face. "Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Myles is insisting he needs a moment of your time."

"You can send him in as long as it's not confidential to our clients and is an emergency," Asher says. He turns to us. "I apologize, but if Darius says he needs my time, it must be critical. The man's a genius and will likely be a partner one day."

"I wouldn't put the cart before the horse on that one." An incredibly tall black man, with a voice so deep it sounds as if it's coming from his toes, steps into the room at the tail end of Asher's comment.

"Don't be so humble, Darius. The firm knows when we've landed true talent, and you're an incredible attorney, even without decades of experience," Asher brags.

"I'm well aware of my skills, Mr. Banks. As well as how they benefit the firm. What I'm not aware of is, what went on here involving my sister this morning. If my family's not safe and welcome here, neither am I. Sir." It's obvious the sir is tacked on at the end as a mere formality.

"I don't… Your sister was here and something happened to her? I haven't been informed of any incidents, although maybe security knows something? Is she alright? I didn't know you had a sister? I thought your backgrounder said you were a ward of the state growing up?" Asher frets.

What a nightmare. Two incidents at his bougee old-money law firm in one day? What are the chances? I mean, really, it defies logic.

"Sister-in-law, to be specific. She's my husband's twin. We grew up together. Tali's as much my sister as she is Teagan's." The man's hands are clenched almost as tight as the muscle ticking along his jaw.

I'm so busy thanking my good fortune that whoever pissed off his sister isn't me that it takes a beat too long for realization to dawn. Apparently, I'm not the only one slow on the uptake.

"Talissa's your sister." Asher's flat voice hangs between us all like a guillotine poised to drop.

"You have two minutes to explain why my sister's name is in your mouth before I deliver my resignation letter with one hand."

I'm looking at that hand, and I sure don't want to be on the receiving end of it. The guy's furious stare takes in each of us, his broad shoulders heaving with restrained anger. The coincidence of two incidents clears up in time for Beck to step between Asher and Talissa's brother-in-law with his hands raised in a calm down position.

"This has been a misunderstanding, Darius, is it?" Beck offers.

Darius moves into the room far enough to close the door behind himself. His stony expression makes it clear he expects answers, but at least, he's not swinging on anybody. Yet.

I have to believe that, as an attorney, he's got better control than to storm around half-cocked, knocking heads together. But then, if he really was a state ward and grew up with Talissa as a de facto sister, maybe not. Shit, he's not the only one itching to throw fists at this point.

Knowing my dream girl was escorted out of here because Asher's so damn paranoid about scandals has me feeling my own blast of rage. I dial back my fury, hard as it is to wrangle, because it won't help me get to Talissa.

Asher rounds his desk to stand directly in front of his employee. "Sit down, Darius. I have some explaining to do, and then perhaps, once you hear everything I have to say, you'll consider helping me correct my mistake."

It's clear to everyone in the room he's making himself available for Darius' punch, should the man decide to throw one. Instead, Darius shows more restraint than I think I'd have in his shoes, and definitely more than Asher's bullshit deserves. He steps to the side and gracefully drops into one of the chairs next to where Beck and I had been sitting.

As we all sit for Asher's confession, I hope things aren't fucked up beyond all repair for the three of us with Talissa. Because, while this was Asher's fuck up, there's no part of me that thinks things can work with Talissa without him as part of the equation.

What's more, after the way my feelings changed for my dumbass best friend last night, I'm fairly sure I can't give him up any easier than I can walk away from her. Or Beck. It's all for four and four for all.

Shit, that joke's lame, even for me.