Tom was having a good day. He was getting to text-flirt with Ross under his desk, he was getting a lot of work done, Enid had brought him lunch, and Adam had congratulated him on the research he’d done for their latest case.

And then this guy walked in.

Tom had no idea who he was, but he knew the type. Fancy suit that was worn just for the sake of being fancy and looking better than everyone else, or what Tom liked to call snob fashion.

His blond hair was slicked back, and he was striding into the office like he had a mission, but was trying to pretend that he was just window shopping or something.

Which, why would you do that when you were entering a damn law firm, Tom thought.

“Hi,” the guy said, walking up to Tom. He looked kind of familiar—he’d been talking with one of their clients outside near the elevators earlier, hadn’t he? Well, not earlier that day, but a week or so ago, something like that.

Maybe he was looking to file a case himself?

“Hi,” Tom replied, wondering why this guy wasn’t talking to the secretary and had gone straight for the paralegal. “Can I help you?”

“You’re Tom, right?” the guy asked.

“Um, yes?” Tom replied. “Can I help you?” he repeated, unsure what else to say.

“I’m Jeremy,” the guy said, sticking out his hand.

Tom stared at him. He supposed that it could just be a coincidence. This was a big city, and there had to be plenty of guys named Jeremy who lived in it. But…

“I was Ross’s last boyfriend,” Jeremy said, tucking his hand back into his pocket when it was clear that Tom was kind of busy having a heart attack and wasn’t going to shake it.

“I’ve heard about you,” Tom managed.

This had to be one of the most awkward moments of his life. What was this guy doing here? What could he possibly want?

“Oh, I’m sure.” Jeremy gave a put-upon sigh. “Ross was really struggling with his mom’s illness. I hope he hasn’t dumped anything on you. He likes to find someone to blame, you know what I mean?”

Tom just arched an eyebrow. He was pretty sure that Jeremy was trying to pass off whatever things Ross had said to him when they’d broken up as Ross just being upset over his mom, but Tom wasn’t going to add fuel to the fire by actually asking for confirmation.

He’d been in enough courtrooms. The witness that talked a lot was the witness who was easy to manipulate, to confuse, to catch in a lie. The witness who stayed silent and only answered direct questions was the one who got out relatively unscathed.

Jeremy looked a little disappointed that Tom hadn’t risen to the bait. “Well, in any case, as someone who’s had to deal with some of Ross’s issues before, I just thought it was fair to warn you.”

Tom stayed silent, although he definitely wanted to know how Jeremy knew that he and Ross were dating. That sounded kind of creepy to him.

“Not much of a talker, are you?” Jeremy asked.

Tom shrugged.

Jeremy looked put out. Probably wanted to try and verbally spar with Tom, or something equally ridiculous. “Look, I’m just saying, if I were you, I would bail out now before it all gets too crazy.”

He was being vague on purpose. Tom decided to wait it out—Jeremy looked like the dramatic type. He’d tell Tom what he meant eventually, since he wouldn’t be able to stand Tom not knowing.

“I mean,” Jeremy went on, “I know that it’s Ross’s job that’s technically at stake, but it’ll bounce back onto you as well. This is a high-powered kind of law firm, wouldn’t you say? Big, important clients? Your boss wouldn’t like it, I’m sure, if his employee was caught up in a medical drama, accused of helping his boyfriend break the medical code.”

Oh.

Tom couldn’t help the little shiver of fear that worked its way up his spine. He knew that he and Ross weren’t really doing anything wrong. But he’d witnessed enough criminal trials to know how this could go.

At the end of the day, it almost didn’t matter if the person was innocent or guilty. The process of going through the court case was often enough to damn them anyway, to ruin relationships and jobs.

It weighed on all of them, Tom knew that. Even if they got someone off who was innocent, or someone condemned if they were guilty, even if things worked out the way that they were supposed to, the process of going through a case was draining.

If Ross was brought up before the board and asked about his relationship with Tom, it wouldn’t matter, would it, if he was innocent or not? The process alone would lead to gossip, and perhaps the hospital board would want to dismiss him at once, just to sweep it all under the rug and prevent any real lengthy debate about it.

It was a terrifying thought.

But he couldn’t let Jeremy know that he was spooked in any way. Instead he asked mildly, “I don’t suppose you could elaborate on where you got this information?”

Jeremy smirked. “Everybody knows you two are dating. Doctors are such gossips, didn’t you know?”

Tom couldn’t tell if he was just saying that Ross’s coworkers were gossipy, or if he was suggesting that Ross himself had been talking about his relationship to everyone. Tom knew it wasn’t the latter, and that was all that mattered.

“It was such a coincidence that allowed me to put the pieces together. I’m an investigative journalist, I’m not sure if I mentioned that.”

If by investigating he meant looking into rich people’s personal lives, then sure, Tom could see that word applying.

“I’d hate to have to come forward with this information,” Jeremy said. “I have a civic duty, you know. When something like this happens, it’s important that we have transparency. Don’t you think?”

And there it was. Jeremy was threatening to get Ross fired, essentially. Tom almost wanted to roll his eyes at the cliché of it, except that this was now a very real danger and a very real threat that he was being presented with.

“I’m sure it’s very appealing, getting to have a clandestine affair and all that. Goodness knows, celebrities seem to do it all the time.” Jeremy was really grandstanding now. Tom was inclined to just wait him out.

“But of course, I thought you should realize the consequences that it has on your job as well. Then,” Jeremy shrugged, “it might not seem so appealing.

“Ross is a lot to deal with, I know, and with this all on top of it, well … I thought that it might be wise to let you know, so that you’re prepared. You’d be admirably loyal to stick by him, but I would understand if you decided to back out while you could. He’s been through a lot recently, and with this happening now … it would take a lot of your time, a lot of your patience. I could understand if it was just too much for you.”

Jeremy paused, like he was hoping for a response. Tom sighed inwardly. “Are you asking me to break up with Ross?”

“I’m suggesting that it might be the best thing to do. Nip this potential scandal in the bud before it hurts you both. And you really don’t want to have to deal with all of the issues he has, honestly. His mother, and his workaholic nature…”

“Let me get this straight,” Tom said, straightening up in his chair. He wished he could stand without crutches; that would help to put him on more even footing with Jeremy. Unfortunately, he’d just have to find some way to radiate calm and control from his chair.

“You want me to break up with Ross, or you’re going to find a way to use our relationship to get the both of us into trouble. Despite the fact that however you obtained the information that you’re hinting at, it was probably done in a not-so-legal fashion. Last I checked, you couldn’t just waltz in and ask for the name of the surgeon who operated on a patient.

“And how you even found out we were—just now—starting to date is fishy. You must have done a lot of digging for this. This sounds like more than you just found an opportunity to screw over your ex. You were looking for one.

“You’ve been waiting for this moment, haven’t you? Maybe in an ‘if I can’t have him, nobody will’ kind of way, or maybe in an ‘I’m going to screw you over for what you did to me’ kind of way. But either way, it’s pretty damn clear you’ve got a bias.

“Nobody’s going to buy this story you’re concocting. You’re just out to cause trouble for the both of us, especially Ross, and I’m not going to stand for that. You screwed him over once, but you’re not going to get the chance to do it again. Leave him alone, or you’ll be the one regretting it.”

Jeremy looked surprised to be so blatantly threatened in return. Tom kept his expression neutral and his voice calm, the way that Adam did when he was in a courtroom. Enid would use emotions to her advantage, but Adam’s strength was in staying completely collected during trials, acting like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

Tom tried for the same attitude, staring Jeremy down like Jeremy was the cricket who’d been annoying him all day, and he was finally getting a chance to drop a book on him.

Jeremy’s expression turned sour, the corners of his mouth turning down and his eyes narrowing. “I see you’re determined about this whole thing.”

“Pretty much,” Tom replied. “It’s what happens when you’re in a healthy relationship; you stand by each other and respect each other. You don’t break up with someone because their asshole ex-boyfriend threatens you with some vague mumbo-jumbo.”

“I’m sure you’ll be singing a different tune shortly.”

“Uh-huh. I hope you have fun going back to your job as a bottom feeder. Tell me, do you actually still feel shame at what you do, or has that passed by now and you’ve moved into the ‘numb to all decent human emotions’ stage?” Tom asked conversationally.

Jeremy looked like he wanted to punch Tom, but knew there were other people in the office who could easily step in at just the wrong moment. “You have a lovely day,” he said instead, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Tom just smiled at him placidly.

The moment Jeremy was gone, Tom grabbed for his phone. The last text from Ross had been about what kind of movies he liked to watch—they were planning a movie night at Tom’s apartment—nothing that indicated he knew anything about this.

Had Jeremy just intended to swoop in, scare Tom, and then leave? It seemed like the kind of tactic someone like Jeremy would use, based on what little Tom knew of the guy.

He wouldn’t tell Ross this over the phone. That didn’t seem fair. They both still had their work days to finish—although how he was going to concentrate now that Jeremy had stopped by, he didn’t know. But he’d get through it, and then he would talk to Ross about it when they went back to Tom’s place for the night.

While he was definitely looking forward to when his leg was better and they could go out and do things, he was liking this whole idea of just hanging out together at home, watching movies and talking, and making dinner or ordering in. Going out to an escape room, or rock climbing, or some other fun activity was definitely something he wanted to do. And he wouldn’t say no to a classic dinner at a restaurant and then the movie theater—or the other way around.

This whole relaxing together at home thing, though … he could get used to that.

Now it was looking like he maybe shouldn’t get used to that.

There was no reason for the hospital to truly suspend or fire Ross. But the whole process would just be so ugly. He didn’t want to put Ross through that.

And of course, when people asked about it and investigated, they would have to find out about his whole relationship with Jeremy. Because they were going to ask why someone had gone to so much trouble to try and discredit Ross and cause him problems, and then the truth would come out, and it would just be this big mess.

And Ross had worked hard to protect that painful part of his life. He should talk to people about it when he was ready, and only tell the people that he wanted to tell.

Tom wanted to bury his head in his hands and not come out for the rest of the day. Or hide under his desk or something. Maybe the earth could just do him a solid and open up and swallow him whole?

Was this a sign that he shouldn’t be with Ross? That felt like giving in to what Jeremy wanted, either because Jeremy just wanted to see Ross unhappy, or he thought that if Ross was single, Ross was somehow going to actually be stupid enough to let Jeremy back into his life.

But if breaking up with Ross would prevent the whole mess of Ross getting dragged up in front of the board and having to explain his entire personal life … it would be worth it. Tom couldn’t be the reason that Ross had to expose his private life, or the reason that Ross would be subjected to rumors as the inquest took place.

And it wasn’t like he was the one who’d been gung-ho about this, right? He was the one who’d said that he didn’t have the time for a relationship. It was why he and Ross hadn’t seen each other since they’d gone to see everyone at the bar. Their schedules were so busy.

Getting to see his boyfriend only every few days was not how he wanted to spend his relationship. But if it was logical for them to break up, why did he feel so awful about it?

And not just awful in a feeling bad for Ross kind of way. Awful in that he didn’t want to let Ross go.

He wanted to be with him.

But he had to do what was right, and what was right was protecting Ross and helping him out. That was what you did for the people that you loved. He and his parents weren’t super close, but they’d always taught him that.

They were going to have to break up.