The minute William Jensen strolled into the glassed-in office, his face as somber as a deadly storm rolling in, Lukas Millar knew he was in trouble.

“Give it to me straight. How bad is it?” Lukas Millar waited with baited breath behind his massive cherry oak desk. The thing was dwarfed by the sheer size of his office. Only the best for San Diego’s Golden Boy.

“Basically you’re not going to jail but I won’t say that’s the good news.”

Lukas shifted in his desk chair, raising his legs and slamming them uncaringly onto his desktop. Pages and papers scattered to the floor. None of it mattered. The only thing that truly counted was that he was free.

William looked like every other lawyer. Tailored suit that cost hundreds, polished square toed shoes, leather briefcase, dark hair cut short and immaculately styled. His face was ordinary and non-descript but those dark eyes of his burned with intelligence. It was why people trusted him. He had an impeccable track record. He got the job done when it counted.

Lukas reached into his top desk drawer and pulled out a pack of smokes. He threw the pack on the desk, along with a lighter, before he reached lower and produced a silver flash of whisky. “If I’m not going to jail, why did you look like you just lost a case against the devil?”

Will’s dark eyes shifted. For a second Lukas’ confidence in his friend faltered. “Celebration might be premature.”

Lukas’ hand froze on the flask. “What do you mean? We both know that I’m not getting jail time. What could be a bigger win than that?”

“I wasn’t able to reduce your community service hours. Five hundred. That’s what it’s going to take to keep you out of jail. And of course the mandated courses and the normal fines.”

Rage choked Lukas’ throat as he slid his legs off the desk. He threw his flask aside, his thirst suddenly forgotten. “Five hundred hours? When do they think I would have time to do that? It would take years to put in that much time.”

Will’s eyes scanned the office. He ran a hand through his short hair. Lukas could tell something was definitely not right.

“Spit it out then, Bill,” he demanded. He used the name he knew his friend hated just to give rise to his anger. If he could spur Will to it, he might not be alone in his own personal hell.

“There’s talk that Stanton and Jones are going to put you on leave. Indefinite leave.”

His glassed in high rise office narrowed and spun wildly. Lukas leaned forward in his leather desk chair. “I couldn’t have heard you right? We both know that if someone is put on leave it damn well won’t be me. I’m the Golden Boy. The one who doesn’t lose. Do you know how much money I bring into this firm?”

His long-time friend and fellow lawyer stared him down. “That’s a load of bull shit. At least, thinking you’re untouchable. Three DUI’s in three years? Come on Lukas! It’s bad press and we both know it. They want you to take leave until this all dies down. The last thing that San Diego’s Golden Boy needs is for the entire world to know and remember that he’s a drunken mess. How confident do you think all your high profile clients will be then?”

Lukas stared at the hard line of Will’s jaw. He itched to plant his fist right into that rigid, angular face. He blew out a long breath and reached for pack of smokes he’d discarded on his desk. He slid one out of the package and lit it deftly. He inhaled, the buzz instantaneous.

Will glanced around wildly. “Are you insane? What are you thinking, smoking in here? If you’re looking to get yourself fired, just keep going.”

“Oh, I’ll keep going alright. No one lays off Lukas Millar. Before I started here twelve years ago this firm was nothing. Now look at it. We’re the best in the city at what we do. People come to us when they’re out of options and we fix everything for them. I haven’t lost a case in eight years. That’s why those old farts at the helm make the big bucks. It’s because of me. What would they do if I wasn’t here? If they think they’ll put me on leave, they have another thing coming.”

Instead of correcting him, Will just sighed. “You’re obviously humble as they come as well. Doesn’t it ever sit ill with you what we do here? Defending people we know for a fact are guilty? Letting them back into society again?”

Lukas shrugged. “Of course it doesn’t bother me. First of all, I don’t know they’re guilty. They never tell me one way or the other. Secondly, it’s not like they’re rapists and murders. We’re talking about fraud and financials here. We don’t take criminal cases.”

“Some would say they’re as criminal as any murderer.”

“And we both know that’s a load of shit.”

Will shook his head slowly. “I would ask how you sleep at night but I already know the answer. You don’t. You know where fast living gets you, don’t you Lukas?”

“Ahead,” Lukas ground out. “It gets you ahead. You only live one life. I have money. Shouldn’t I spend it where I see fit and on who I want?” He expected another lecture about the joys of marriage and family. It was utterly ridiculous that Will expected it would ever work out. Lukas gave him a few years before he was divorced, fighting a custody battle, his finances and career in shambles because he’d dared to believe in the same load of shit dream that the rest of the world bought into. Marriage was a farce. A money-making farce. He’d defended enough assholes in court to know the truth of it.

Mercifully, Will kept his mouth shut. “Word is they’re putting you on leave. It’s a certainty. That’s what I came in here to tell you. I think this is the end of the road for us, at least as colleagues. We both know that your pride can’t withstand a blow like this.”

“My pride!” Lukas stammered. Rage ripped through his veins. “This has nothing to with pride.”

“Doesn’t it?” Will raised a dark brow in that annoying way he had when he knew he was being lied to.

“Of course not! It’s the principal of the matter. If they can’t stand by me after I’ve made them millions, then they can fucking go at it alone and see how they like that.” Lukas crossed his arms. He gradually became aware that he was holding a smouldering cigarette. The ash was at least two inches long. He flicked them carelessly onto the top of his expensive wood desk. He finished the cigarette off in another long inhale. He exhaled the cloud of smoke and flicked the still lit butt onto the brand-new carpet.

Will rolled his eyes. “You’re really something, Millar, you know that don’t you? You make a man wish that he hadn’t tried so hard to keep a useless prick like you out of jail. Maybe a year behind bars would teach you some respect. The hard truth is, you’re not untouchable. Three DUI’s in three years hints at a larger problem. Don’t you realize that you could kill someone driving intoxicated? Then where would you be? You could harm someone. It’s not a fucking joke.”

Lukas refused to rise to the bait. Will often blew off steam. It bothered him not at all. “You’d let your old Harvard friend rot in a cell for a year? Think of all the degenerates that would go to jail, all the money lost if I wasn’t here. Each time I was pulled over I hadn’t had more than a couple drinks and that’s the honest truth.”

“A couple drinks is still over the limit, drunk or not. Maybe you had the misfortune of being pulled over. Either way, it looks like this is the end of the road. I know that you’ll find somewhere else to work or you’ll go it on your own. Whichever path you choose, I wish you well.”

A cold tendril of shock washed over Lukas. Was this really it? Was he really going to be put on indefinite leave? He never believed the partners, both so old they were one step away from senility, would ever take such action. With his track record, he truly did think he was untouchable. He lived life on his own terms. Hard and fast.

He slowly stood, so that he was on the same level with Will. He didn’t like being talked down to. “So, there’s no convincing them otherwise.” Will shook his head. Dark eyes burned right through Lukas. “Well. I guess you’re right then. There’s nothing for it but for me to leave.”

“Just like that? It’s all over?”

“It’s far from over. You’ll get the chance to finally rise like you deserve here, with me out of the way. I’ll take my abilities elsewhere. There is no shortage of firms or maybe you’re right. It could be time to go out on my own. It’s much more lucrative that way.”

“Like you need the money,” Will muttered sarcastically. “Do you want to know where your community service hours are or not? I went out of my way to find you a small, discreet place. You won’t be noticed there and you’ll be hard to find.”

“Let’s see? The end of the world? Antarctica? The depths of the ocean?”

Will rolled his eyes. “I see your imminent departure hasn’t knocked a grain of humility into you. Maybe serving others will. I arranged for your hours to be spent at a tiny soup kitchen in Logan Heights. Mostly in the back sort of thing. Preparing food, out of the public eye. It shouldn’t be too humiliating.”

Lukas’ mouth dropped open. “Are you fucking kidding me? A soup kitchen? Logan Heights? It might as well be Antarctica. Why didn’t you just ask me to go beg out on the street for five hundred hours? It couldn’t be more humiliating.”

“I’m sorry. What did you expect? Five hundred hours Pro Bono work? That’s not how this thing goes down. Your only other option is a year jail time. That’s on top of all the fines and courses and license suspension that you’re going through. I hope you enjoy having that interlock back in all your vehicles again.” Will shook his head, truly disgusted. “You know what gets me? You’re supposed to be this firm’s best lawyer. Hell, maybe you’re even this city’s Golden Boy. Everyone knows your name. Everyone comes to you when there is no one else that can help them. You’re a brilliant lawyer even if you’re shit as a human being. If you’re so damn smart, why the hell can’t you just take a cab once in a while? It would have saved me a great deal of trouble defending your useless, unappreciated ass.”

A jolt of actual emotion ripped right through the haze of rage that clouded Lukas’ mind. He rarely felt anything at all. There was a hole in his chest where his heart should have been. That happened over the years, especially in his profession. He couldn’t say how or when the numbness had taken over but it was there now, a permanent fixture.

“I’m sorry Will. Really. I don’t want nearly two decades of friendship to end like this.”

Will blinked. His defenses immediately slammed into place. Lukas had seen that expression a hundred times before. It was the same look Will gave clients when he knew they were guilty. Lukas expected some kind of confirmation. Some kind of shared sentiment or regret that he was leaving. Instead all he got was a blank look.

Didn’t that just sum up the current state of his life.