It had been a few days since the encounter with Matthew at the house, and I felt safe enough to get back to my office. Clay reassured me that my presence at the house was no longer necessary, though I felt that was more because of Callie than anything else. Still, knowing that Callie hadn’t heard from that asshole since we’d both read him the riot act made me feel better.

My cell phone vibrated against my desk and I picked it up. I really didn’t need to be taking personal calls today. The finalized payment for our headquarters was going out today, and I needed all of my lines open in case anything fell through last-minute. But when I saw Callie was calling, I didn’t hesitate to pick up the phone.

And I was glad I had.

“Callie? Are you all right?” I asked.

I heard her sigh on the other end of the line and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

“Where are you and what’s going on?” I asked.

And when she sniffled, I leapt out of my chair and grabbed my briefcase.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“I’ve known you for the majority of your life, Callie. I know your sighs. I know your sniffles. I know your looks. You’re in distress, so now I need you to tell me why. What is it, sweetheart? What’s going on?”

I locked my office door and strode down the hallway as my heart slammed against my chest. But when she spoke, her words stopped me in my tracks.

“I think I need legal help.”

I furrowed my brow as I stood in the middle of the hallway.

“Why?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. But if I’m reading this letter correctly, then I think I need a lawyer.”

“Walk me through what’s happened. What letter are you holding?”

“I was served with it a couple of minutes ago. A woman in a very tight pencil skirt knocked on the front door, and when I opened it she asked if I was Callie Roper. I said I was, then she handed me a manilla envelope and told me I’d officially been served.”

“Served? Callie, what does the letter say?” I asked.

“Colt, I think Matthew’s suing me.”

My entire world came to a grinding halt. She had to be reading the letter wrong. That little boy wouldn’t have the balls to do something like that. And anyway, what did he have to sue her over? Absolutely nothing.

“Okay, are you listening?” I asked.

“I am.”

“I want you to stay put. Go sit at the dining room table and wait for me to get there. I’m coming along with legal counsel, and we’ll figure out what the hell’s going on.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Don’t talk to anyone, and don’t answer the door. Don’t pick up anything until I get there, do you understand?”

“I hear you, Colt. I’m going to sit down now.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I hung up the phone and dialed our lawyer immediately. I told him to meet me at the house because Callie was in some sort of legal trouble, and that I’d pay him double for his time. Technically, he dealt in business affairs. Things to help us with our real estate empire if things got fishy. Going over contracts, keeping clients in line, appearing in court if someone wanted to try and legally wiggle out of a contract. Things like that.

But I knew he could give counsel on something like this.

I raced home and pulled into the driveway just as Mr. Clemmons stepped out of his car. I shook his hand and thanked him for coming so quickly, then I barged the two of us into the house. Callie sat at the dining room table, waiting for us patiently. But the redness of her eyes and the puffiness of her cheeks gave her away in a heartbeat.

“Callie.”

“Colt. There you are.”

She flew out of her chair and wrapped her arms around me as I slid my briefcase onto the dining room table. I wrapped her in my arms as our lawyer reached for the stack of papers, and he quickly began to read over them. I stroked Callie’s hair and massaged her back, trying to get the shaking in her body to settle down. And when I felt her relax into my embrace, I sat her down in her chair and pulled up a seat next to her.

“So, what is it?” I asked.

The lawyer held up his finger before he continued flipping through pages.

Callie put her head in her hands and I placed my hand on the small of her back. I ran it in small circles, trying to comfort her as best as I could. And without a second thought, she leaned into me. Naturally, as if we had been doing it for years. I slid my chair closer to her and wrapped my arm around her waist, then pulled her into the crook of my body.

I gave our lawyer plenty of time to look over everything before he sighed and dropped the stack of papers.

“First off, have you contacted your father, Callie?” Clemmons asked.

“No. I want to know what I’m dealing with before I fill him in on things,” she said, shaking her head.

“That’s a good idea. I was going to tell you that I know your father very well. Before he knows, we need to approach him with all of the information at our disposal.”

“Good. Because that’s the plan,” she said.

I felt a surge of pride fill my chest. I was the first person she called. The first person she wanted to lean on through all this. I stroked her side with my fingertips as she leaned closer into me, her head falling to my shoulder. I mindlessly pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Like I always did when comforting her through a trying time.

“What are we looking at here? How bad it is?” I asked.

“Well, it depends on how you swing it. In this paperwork, Mr. Jennings and his lawyer are asking for a great sum of money he’ll never see in court,” Clemmons said.

“What does that mean?”

“Mr. Roper, this idiotic man is asking for over seven hundred thousand dollars worth of money he spent on Callie here over the course of their relationship.”

“He’s what?”

“Yep. And it’s not uncommon, either. The back eleven pages of this massive document is nothing but outlined expenditures. Everything from shared hotel expenses to spa resorts to credit card payments.”

“Credit card payments?” I asked.

“That’s insane. We shared a credit card we took out together my senior year of college. But we paid it off together and the card hasn’t been touched since,” Callie said.

“Can he do this?” I asked.

“It’s been done before. Or, at least the attempt has been made. So, hypothetically speaking, if Mr. Jennings and his lawyer can make a case in court that these expenditures were not gifts, but expenses that were supposed to be shared between himself and Miss roper, it’s possible a judge might grant Callie the requirement to pay him back,” Clemmons said.

“What judge in their right mind would do that?” I asked.

“I don’t have that kind of money,” Callie said.

“That’s where the sticky part of all this comes into play. Since you don’t have wages to garnish and you don’t have property to put a lien on, if this were ruled in his favor there’s a chance it could be post-dated,” Clemmons said.

I felt capillaries bursting throughout my fucking body as my grip tightened on Callie’s waist.

“What does that mean? I don’t understand,” Callie said.

“It means he can put a lien on any future paycheck or any piece of property you purchase. It’ll all be held as possible assets to cash in on if you can’t pay back the money,” I said.

I felt Callie go weak against me as my eyes locked with Clemmons.

“How possible is it that a judge will rule in his favor?” I asked.

“Well, them being able to outline these purchases in great details means they’ve got receipts lying around somewhere. So, they’ve done part of the leg work. However, it’s not likely a judge will rule in his favor. At least, not for all of these purchases. Lawsuits like this are, at best, slashed in half merely because some of the items are clearly gifts.”

“I don’t have three hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” Callie whispered.

“He would need some incredible documentation and some sort of pseudo-written agreement where Callie outright stated she would pay him back for these purchases,” Clemmons said.

And then, I heard Callie groan into my shoulder.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Oh no,” she said.

“Miss Roper, talk to me. That’s the only way I’m going to be able to help you with this,” Clemmons said.

“I always told him I’d pay him back. That if I ever needed to pay for something, I would. The money he spent on me always made me uncomfortable. I never wanted him for his money, and I figured that was a way for me to get him to understand that so he’d trust me more. You know, in the beginning of the relationship,” she said.

“Did you say that out loud, or is it written down somewhere?” I asked.

“It’s everywhere,” she breathed.

“Define ‘everywhere,” Clemmons said.

“It’s in text messages and emails. Voice messages and cute little handwritten letters we used to swap back and forth in between my classes. It was this thing we did. On my busy days, I’d leave a note for him on dorm room door and--.”

“Not to be rude, but the details don’t matter, Miss Roper. What matters is the fact that it’s documented somewhere. Which isn’t good,” Clemmons said.

“But it’s not a contractual agreement. She didn’t sign her life away,” I said.

“Depending on how good Mr. Jennings’ lawyer is in court, the words could be twisted. Especially if it’s been documented multiple times.”

I felt Callie sniffle against my shoulder and I pulled her into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her as her face fell to my neck. I kissed the top of her head and stroked my fingers through her hair. I felt her sigh against my skin as my arm curled tighter around her body.

“Matthew isn’t going to get away with this. I promise you that,” I said.

“You think he’s going after my practice?” Callie asked.

I bit down onto the inside of my cheek as Clemmons furrowed his brow.

“Your practice?” he asked.

“Yeah. I mean, my mind is kind of swirling right now with reasons as to why he would do this, and the only one I keep coming back to is spite,” she said.

“Walk me through what you’re thinking,” Clemmons said.

I felt Callie sit up before she climbed back into her seat.

“Matthew came over a few days ago to talk. I mean, he wouldn’t leave me alone. Kept calling and texting. Even took to the media and did this weird plea where he got down on one knee and asked me to talk or whatever. I don’t really know what the point was. What I’m saying is, when he came over to talk for the first time since I broke off the engagement, one of the things we talked about was where our lives were headed,” she said.

“And?” Clemmons asked.

“One of the things I used to differentiate how drastically different our life plans were was my future practice. I want to open up my own clinical psychology office here in L.A., while Matthew wanted to travel the world with me, have me push out kids, and then I could set myself up wherever we landed. And with the anger Matthew brought to this conversation, and you mentioning post-dated court rulings--.”

“You think it’s because you still refused to marry him,” Clemmons said.

“Is that a possible thing? I mean, a theory maybe?”

“It is, but I’m more concerned with the legal implications. If we go to court, and if the judge rules in his favor even the smallest bit, and you do open your practice? That lien would essentially state that he owns your practice--tied up in the hands of the court--until you pay him back. Whether it’s through paychecks or whether it’s through selling it out from underneath you.”

“Which means I’d have no practice,” she said.

My vision dripped with red. Holy hell, Callie was a smart woman. And it all made perfect sense. Matthew couldn't get her to sit down and talk with him, so he harassed her until she caved. Then, she told him she still wasn’t coming back, so he was still harassing her to try and get her to come back. Take away the obstacle that makes their future knock heads, and in his mind, Callie comes running back.

I’d never experienced anger that made me calm. I’d never experienced fury that made me stoic. But as I sat there with my hand on Callie’s thigh, my eyes locked with Clemmons and my mind settled onto one thought.

“You do whatever it takes and you bury that son of a bitch,” I said.

“Trust me, it will be a pleasure,” Clemmons said.