CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
ERIC
A note sits on top of the files on my desk. Sophie’s stack, not Sophie’s writing.
Ask Paxton about his girlfriend.
I tap a pen against the desk, debating. There’s clearly something going on here. I didn’t know Paxton had a girlfriend and I have no idea why someone would want me to ask about it unless it was something important.
A small piece of me wants it to be about Kate. In what capacity, I don’t know. If Kate is his new girlfriend, I’d kill him. I know that as certain as I know my own name. If he touches her — gone.
I don’t think he’d do that to me, though. There are established bro codes, rules we all live by. No matter the shit he gave me about sleeping with her, he would never go behind my back to do anything with her.
I ball up the note and throw it in the trash. If Paxton wants to tell me about his new girlfriend, he can come tell me about his new fucking girlfriend. I have work to do.
Inside the first file is another note: No seriously. Go ask him.
Goddammit.
There’s a similar note in the front of each of the files. It’s not Paxton’s handwriting, either. No way would that asshole write these. We’re an office of fifty attorneys, covering every type of law. It could have been anyone.
“All right.” I find myself in Paxton’s office, curiosity driving me more than anything. “Tell me about your new girlfriend.”
“What are you talking about?” He doesn’t look up from his sea of paperwork. Criminal law has always turned me off for this very reason. Too much work.
“I’m supposed to ask you about your new girlfriend. I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”
“You never asked.”
“Am I supposed to?”
“We talked a lot about the ass you were pounding over the last few weeks.”
“Touché.” I drop into a chair in front of him. “Who’s the unlucky lady?”
Paxton keeps typing away and doesn’t look at me. I’m not sure what the fuck is going on, but I don’t like it. Ever since we saw David’s interview in the bar, he’s acted weird. His obsession with my case was abnormal to begin with, but now it’s downright unsettling.
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Lily.”
Alarms shoot off in my brain. Kate’s best friend, whom she talked about a lot, is a Lily. Her partner in all her charity work. How common could that name be?
“What does she do?”
“Me.”
“Funny.”
He closes his laptop and crosses his hands over top of it. This whole exchange is uncomfortable as fuck. I cross my arms to join in his powerplay bullshit.
“What do you want, Eric?”
“I want to know why someone told me I should talk to you about your new girlfriend.”
“I don’t have that answer.”
“She’s Kate’s friend, isn’t she?” He doesn’t say anything, which is answer enough for me. “The fuck, man? Why didn’t you say shit?”
“Because it doesn’t matter. You aren’t working with Lily’s ex.”
“No, just her best friend. Which means Lily knows everything. Which means you probably know everything.”
“You may have come up.”
“Is that why you were pushing me so hard to go after her? I thought Lily was her best friend. What the hell, Pax? Is Lily trying to ruin her, too? What the fuck kind of games are you playing?”
“No games, man. This is your fucking job. Your job is to represent that slime bag. You can also get seriously fucked by screwing around with his wife — his wife, bro, because they are still legally married — and you’re already on thin ice with the state for doing this shit before.”
“You help me stage photos of innocent women. Now you get to play moral high ground?”
“I told you to stop fucking around with her.”
“You told me to smear our fake ass pictures all over the city. You don’t get to pretend you’re better than me.”
“I just wanted you to do your job.” Paxton is frustrated and I don’t understand why. “I knew you wouldn’t actually send them out. I know you gave a shit about this girl. But you were going to fuck over the entire firm if you fucked over David in this case.”
“That’s what this is about?” I stare at him, struggling to rectify the man I know versus the man talking. “You think I’m going to fuck over the firm, so you push me to do some dumb shit with the woman I was crazy about?”
“I knew you had a thing for her.”
“This is not the time to gloat, asshole. What do you know?” I narrow my eyes at him. “What have you been hiding from me? We are supposed to be boys, brothers.”
“David would sue the fuck out of us if he found out you were fucking his wife. And he would have a decent case against us. It was self-preservation.”
“You’re a real piece of shit, know that?”
“I think you should go.” Paxton opens his laptop and shuffles around some papers. “I’ve got trial in the morning.”
“I don’t give a shit.” I slam the lid of his laptop closed. “Paxton. Please. How is she?”
Paxton exhales slowly and checks his watch. He’s at war with himself for reasons I still can’t fucking comprehend. All I can think is she’s dying and panic starts to set in.
“David’s been harassing the fuck out of her. Threats, showing up at her place drunk, texting her at odd hours. A few weeks ago, he went over to her place and asked to talk over a drink. She went to get dressed to go out and came back to find him naked. She lost her shit over it, said she’d call the cops.”
David’s story. I knew it was bullshit. I knew it. I was so tied up with shit I didn’t give her enough credit. Christ.
“David showed me pictures of them fucking from that night.”
“That’s disturbing as hell. But different night. She slept with him once before mediation started, some sort of drunken-moment-of-weakness fuck, and he went nuts. I guess he was pissed she wouldn’t fuck him anymore. And then you put him on TV to tell some dumbass story about her wanting his nuts to get money.”
“You fucking told me—”
“I didn’t think you’d do shit. You were so up her ass, I thought you were a better goddamn person than that. I figured you’d just toss around some bullshit, a few harmless pictures she could easily deflect. I took plenty of shots that looked friendly if you ever fucking looked at them. Enough to protect the firm and her. But you were too goddamn busy thinking with your dick that you made a mess of all of it.”
I’m so shocked I don’t think I could come up with a comeback if I he paid me.
“Whatever. She’ll move on, you’ll find another bar whore to bang, and all this mess will end. Kate’s too good for your ass, anyway.”
“Did she really like me?”
“I am not getting involved in your stupid shit. Absolutely not.” Paxton reopen his laptop. “Bro, we can talk this shit out later, but I’ve really got court in the morning.”
“I’m not a monster, you know.” I find myself saying as I stand. “You could have fucking talked to me.”
“Aren’t you, though?” Paxton asks, staring me down. “Look at what you’ve done so far.”
Try as I might, I can’t come up with something to prove him wrong. So I leave.