“If he doesn’t start checking letters before they’re sent, we need to start disciplinary procedures. Same with phone calls: we’ve had three complaints from different clients about his manner with them in two months. He needs some intense mentoring, or a new job. Most likely a change of career.”

The rest of the scalding coffee hit the back of my throat and I reached for the jug for some more. One of the new qualifieds we had employed potentially needed to go back to law college or find himself at the end of my very stretched wrath.

“I’m going to ask Michael to supervise him and his caseload for a couple of months. He can fucking assist. If he doesn’t pick up from Michael how to deal with clients we’ll be parting ways,” Jackson said, making a note in what must’ve been his eightieth notebook of the year. “We’ve had a very successful week, even with David’s cock-ups. I propose setting up a bar tab for drinks after work. I might even see if the room upstairs in The Bear’s Den is available. Make sure all staff know about it—it’ll do us good to celebrate. We work fucking hard enough.”

“Are you asking Vanessa?” Seph asked.

I assumed the question wasn’t worth asking as aside from working hours, my brother was wherever his fiancée was. I was pleased for him, rather surprised at first as Jackson was as much of a workaholic as I was, and I had accepted the change in our relationship as easily as I could. Jackson had always been my best friend, but Vanessa meant his time was shared. I liked her a lot. She also put up with our drunken poker nights and looked after Seph when he couldn’t find his way home. But things were different and that had meant Seph and I had become closer—Victoria had been right.

“Van’s coming. Sophie too,” Jackson said.

He mentioned Vanessa’s best friend who was the most prolific man-eater I’d ever met, which was saying something when compared with a couple of the women from the science department. And one of the men.

“So it’s fine that I asked Victoria?” Seph said, eyeing me with as much innocence as he was capable.

I was on my feet before I spoke, coffee covering Jackson’s notebook. “What the fuck? Why are you contacting my…” I searched for the correct adjective and couldn’t find the appropriate one. “Friend.” It was lame, fucking lame.

Seph glared at me over his glasses that I was pretty sure were just for show. We’d been interviewed for an article in a legal magazine a few months ago—something Vanessa had organised for our rebrand—and Seph had ended up with a following of fans on his social media. The photographer had styled him with glasses for a few pictures and they seemed to have stayed as an accessory. Quite possibly an accessory to murder.

“We share friends, Maxwell. Victoria is my friend too. I thought she’d appreciate a chance to meet some new people,” Seph said, his tone purposefully patronising.

“Do you need to take this outside?” Claire asked, just back a couple of days ago from her hideaway and in a much better mood than she had been for months. “Or even better, a boxing ring. Knock some sense into each other.”

I sat back down. “No, Seph’s right. Let’s move on.”

“Let’s not,” Seph said, passing some paper towels to Jackson to mop up his notebook. “Let’s talk about Victoria. Maybe mention the photos she sends you.”

“Fucker,” I said. “I told you to forget that. Don’t ever mention it. To anyone.” My fist was clenched and waving at him. It had been awhile since I’d hit Seph, and even then it had been under controlled conditions with pads and boxing gloves.

“I give permission for Seph to enlighten the rest of us,” Jackson said, chucking the paper towels at my head. “Because something’s got your ballsac in a twist.”

“There’s absolutely nothing to tell,” I said, feeling a bit too warm.  I knew why I was feeling slightly odd; Victoria had altered the course of my trajectory.  However, this wasn’t something I wanted to analyse with my siblings.

There was a general wave of laughter. 

We met like this once a week, usually early on a Friday morning to evaluate the past few days.  It didn’t always happen; leave, a New York office, a Manchester branch—the possibilities of one of us being absent on a Friday were endless—but when it did it was priceless. Except today; today was a bad time to be a Callaghan.  

“Max, you’ve been weird for a couple of weeks.  We know something’s changed and from what Seph’s said it’s this Victoria,” Claire said, looking a little too victorious.

“We’re just friends.  She’s a really nice girl, but she’s looking at moving to America once she’s finished her dissertation so she doesn’t want to get involved.”  I knew the words sounded false as in the past that would’ve been ideal for me and still should’ve been, but Victoria had been very clear she didn’t want anything more than to be friends.  I hadn’t thought too much about how I felt about this, instead just trying to accept it and keep the can of worms closed. Tightly.

“So why the reaction at Seph asking her out tonight?” Claire said, phrasing her words right to annoy the shit out of me.

“I wasn’t aware that she and Seph were friends,” I said, deciding at that moment to be as honest as I could without losing face.  “Seph knows me and Victoria weren’t just friends, so if he’s making a play I think that’s wrong.  Anyway, can we get back to business?”

I felt Seph’s eyes pierce through my skull and tried to ignore them.

“I’ve asked her as a friend, Max.  That’s all.  I figured she might fancy a night out with someone different.  Nothing more, especially because I’ve seen the way you look at her.”  Seph poured himself some more coffee, his expression triumphant.

My thighs didn’t ache as I stood, as legs’ day at the gym hadn’t happened for too long. I needed to get back into my routine. 

“If there’s no other business to conclude I have things to do.”  And that was the truth: I had a backlog of work to get through that was unheard of for me, as I’d either spent the time messaging or speaking to Victoria or thinking about her which had meant my work rate had been slowed.  Rather than being resentful of this, as I would’ve been previously, I was mournful. 

I left the room, seriously conscious of the amount I had to get through.   Victoria needed to be elsewhere than my mind and not at the forefront of it while I got the shit done that I was paid to do. 

“Hey, big brother,” Claire said. I hadn’t realised she’d followed me out. “Don’t be pissed off at Seph. He’s trying to do a good thing. Tell me about Victoria.”

“There’s nothing to tell.” Just that she was intelligent, feisty, beautiful and had a pair of tits I’d jacked off to at least twice a day since I’d seen them. I liked talking to her and looking at her and I figured she thought the same about me. Sharing stuff with her about my mother hadn’t been hard like it had been in the past with other people. She’d accepted it and not tried to analyse me or the situation.

“That’s total shit, Maxwell. You like her.”

As far as sisters went, Claire was the least annoying except when it came to our love lives. She liked to matchmake. She said she wanted to see us happy and settled, but why that had to involve a relationship I was completely unsure.

“I like her. She’s a good person, but like I said, nothing is going to come of it.” I headed to my office.

“So you’re fine if Seph does ask her out?”

I held the door still, knowing that fine was the last way to describe how I’d be. “He’s too young for her. He’d drive her mad.”

“He’s not going to. I think he likes the idea of you seeing someone.”

“He’ll lose his man card if he thinks things like that.”

“Seph doesn’t have a man card. He just borrows mine occasionally,” Claire said. “But he has mentioned about you dodging relationships.”

“Does he know why?”

“He figured it out but he doesn’t understand it. He asked me last night why you were so scared of losing someone you loved when me and Jackson had our heads around it. And he made a fair point about Marie and Dad; as much of a dick as Dad was when we were younger, he and Marie have done a decent job of having a solid marriage.”

“I know,” and I did. I’d seen a couple of counsellors, both as a child and as an adult and they’d helped rid me of the guilt I’d felt that I didn’t stop our mother from taking her own life. I’d also learnt that I wasn’t my siblings’ keeper, and that being the oldest didn’t mean I had to be the most responsible. Jackson running the firm instead of me gave me the first taste of freedom I’d properly had since being a kid. “But I’m not husband and father material, Claire.”

“Why?” she said softly. “You were an amazing big brother when I was a kid and you know how good you were with Payton, Seph and Ava. If your wife or girlfriend struggled with depression after having kids you’d know how to deal with it, Maxwell. You need to stop thinking you’re like Dad.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got work to do.” My office was in its usual state of organised insanity, which meant I had a lot of excuses to not think about Victoria—not that I’d achieve that.

The door creaked open. “Max, you’ve been different since you met this woman. I don’t think you’ve noticed it but you’ve been lighter. You’ve smiled more.”

“You’ve been tucked away in the wilds of Cornwall for the past couple of weeks: how would you know?”

“Jean told me,” Claire said, grinning.

“When are you telling everyone about Killian?” Firing Jean wasn’t an option, no matter how much she snitched on me to my sister.

Claire shook her head. “Not yet: it’s too early. We need to just be us for a bit longer before everyone goes hysterical over it. But we won’t leave it too long. People need to be used to it before Jackson’s wedding.”

“I’m pleased for you. Killian needs to understand I’m not going to beat him up for sleeping with my sister both now and when you were eighteen,” I said, meaning it. I knew they’d had a relationship while they were at university and one they thought had been secret. Since Killian had left the Navy, they’d done nothing but goad and attack each other.

“I don’t think he’s worried, Max,” she said.

Killian was ex-Navy, slightly taller than me and a wall of sheer muscle.

“I’m looking forward to meeting Victoria. Even if you say she’s no more than a friend.” Her words were intended to rile me.

The papers on my desk became infinitely more interesting than they actually were. “Sure. See you later.” I sat down waiting for her to leave. She watched me for another few seconds before clearing off, just long enough to be more than mildly irritating.

New clients always took that bit of extra time at first as you found out what they were like and the best way to handle them. Some needed clear boundaries as to how often and when to correspond, others needed everything broken down for them, a few needed this to be their therapy. My newest client was the last. He was missing his wife and was now the sole parent of a thankfully happy and healthy daughter, but he was continually having to rehash the worst days of his life. I knew he would win his case, that there would be a good financial payout which would go some way to looking after his daughter, but it would never replace the loss of his wife and the little girl’s mother. The negligence shown by the hospital was obvious: mix ups with staff rotas, a lack of communication and organisation with medical notes and the failure of staff to spot the errors timely enough to prevent Jenna Hughes from taking her life were undisputed. Technically, it would be an easy case. Emotionally, it would not.

At five past five, I started to shut down my computer, deciding that I wouldn’t work this weekend and instead would visit my dad and Marie for a break. Usually, I would have a couple of drinks with my colleagues, wait for the traffic to die down and then head over to Oxford but as Victoria was allegedly coming out, I didn’t want to depart too early and leave her with Seph.

The tapping sound at my door registered only partially as I was too engrossed in thinking about the new case.

“I don’t want to disturb you,” a quiet voice said. “But you look so lost in thought.”

She looked stunning: her hair was loose, her lips painted pink and she was wearing a tight top tucked into a pair of skin tight jeans, highlighting all those curves.

“You’ve rescued me.” I closed the file and turned to her, trying to keep my reaction at a respectable level of perv.

“You don’t mind me joining you tonight?” she said, her expression concerned. “I don’t want to gatecrash. Seph mentioned it when I was in to see Jackson on Wednesday and I could do with a night out.” Her smile was watery.

“Bad week? You should’ve told me.” We’d spoken every day and texted several times.

Her smile was a little stronger. “My brother paid me a visit at work. It went exactly as you’d imagine.”

“Why didn’t you tell me. I could’ve done something.” I stood up and undid my tie. There wasn’t enough time to have a shower and I didn’t want to leave Victoria to Seph, even briefly.

“You’d have gone round and growled at him,” she said, leaning against the door. “Am I getting a striptease? Can I film it?”

Her eyes followed my fingers as I started to undo the buttons of my shirt. I’d seen most of her naked, but she’d seen very little of me and I was keen to see her reaction, even if this was just friends. I worked out a lot. I lifted and boxed. I kept myself fit and healthy.

“Sure. As long as it’s for your use only. Seph gets jealous when I get more fan mail than him.”

She smiled, her eyes flickering over my chest. “How many tattoos do you have?”

Ignoring the last few buttons I pulled the shirt over my head. “I don’t know. I’ve been having them done for about eight years and just building them up. It’s the best therapy I’ve ever had.” I had sleeves on both arms, my pecs were pretty much covered and my upper back. Nothing on my lower half.

“They’re amazing.” Her stare followed the black lines reading the words and pictures that told the story of my life. She stepped away from the door and came closer, and I felt her heat and presence cause something in me to bubble.

A finger lifted and she started to lightly trace the tree that formed the main part of the sleeve on my left arm. “Whoever did it is really talented.”

“Rachel,” I said. “She’s an artist. Do you have any?”

She nodded. “On my back. I love them and I’m planning another when I can afford it, which may be sooner rather than later. I may get her number from you.”

The physical connection between us was slight, just the tip of her finger but my dick was hard and my body was blazing with some all-consuming heat. “I’ll take you to see her. I want to listen to what you want.”

Her laugh was breathy and then the palm of her hand was flat on my chest. “Your body’s amazing,” she said. “We should have you stuffed and mounted.”

I put my hand on top of hers and kept her touch, not wanting to lose it. “You can look any time you want.” Her eyes caught mine and I wanted to spin her round onto my desk and bury myself deep inside her. “Crap, Victoria. I thought we were just being friends.”

“I know,” she said and I thought her expression was regretful. I hoped it was. “I don’t want to be just friends.”

My door flew open, both Jackson and Seph walking into my office ready to go for drinks. Seph’s eyebrows rose tellingly, his head nodding. Jackson stared, forcing himself to look bored.

“I’m sorry, we’re clearly interrupting,” Seph said. “How you doing, Vic?”

She turned, her hand still held onto my chest by mine. “I’m good. Just feeling up your brother. Hope you don’t mind.”

I started to laugh at her openness and lack of embarrassment. “There’s not much I can say to that.”

Jackson shook his head. “Feel him up all you like, but I’d rather not see it; that’s not my kink.”

“Nor mine,” Seph said. “Clearly you’re still getting him dressed, so we’ll see you over there. If you get round to it.”

They left and I reluctantly let her hand go, walking to the closet where I kept spare shirts.

“Sorry,” she said. “For groping you in front of your brothers. I can be a bit forward sometimes.”

“You can grope me whenever you like,” I pulled a shirt off its hanger aware that my trousers were rather tented. I hoped my brothers hadn’t noticed as that would be something they wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring up. “And wherever you like.”

Her laughter lifted the remains of a grim day away from me. “I’ll keep that in mind for when I’m in the mood to grope a man. You don’t need to wear a shirt on my account. And I still haven’t taken my video.”

“We’ll make it a project for later. Let’s go, else… never mind.”

“Never mind what?”

I put my hand on the small of her back and guided her out of my office, saying goodnight to Kevin who supervised the cleaners and locked up most nights. “Else we won’t leave.”

“Oh. This friends’ thing’s quite hard, isn’t it?” I caught her glancing down at my trousers.

“It’s very hard. I need it to stop being hard else there are going to be some very uncomfortable questions,” I half muttered.

“I’ll try to make it as easy as I can,” she said. “And seriously, if me being here isn’t a good idea then just say.”

“I want you here,” I said, feeling the truth to the statement everywhere. I wanted her with me: underneath me, on top of me, on her knees in front of me. “We just need to keep it friendly.”

By half past ten, I was in pain in more than one place. I’d spent a third of the night on high alert for any men who spent more than thirty seconds talking to Victoria. Her hair and curves and downright prettiness, plus the vibrancy she seemed to ooze captured more than my attention. My sisters and Vanessa monopolised her, working their way through the cocktail menu and Seph kept bringing her water. I kept to the bar, drinking lime and soda and pretending I was interested in what my office manager had to say about the weekend’s rugby fixtures.

“I think I’ve had too much to drink,” Victoria said, her legs looking like a newborn deer’s. “Your sisters can drink.”

“It’s how they find shit out. Especially Claire,” I said. “You want to head off for a coffee? Escape the alcohol?”

She shook her head and I felt half disappointed. “I could do with some fresh air. And five minutes of no noise.”

“I’ll come out with you,” I said as I knew there were at least three blokes who were eagerly waiting for the chance to chat to her alone, myself not included. I felt her hand on my back and wrapped an arm around her waist. She wasn’t unsteady and I’d figured she could handle her drink pretty well, but her heels were high and the flooring wasn’t the best.

I led her out of the bar and down the side of the building, the sounds of people laughing and the faint thud of music still audible. “I love nights like this,” she said. “When it’s still slightly warm in the evening and everyone’s in a good mood like tonight.” She leaned back against the wall, taking a deep breath. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright. I stepped in closer to her.

“It’s been a good evening.”

“It has.” She smiled at me. “Except I’ve hardly spoken to you since the strip show in your office. That was the highlight of the evening.”

“Like I said, I’m happy to repeat it anytime.”

“This friends thing is really shitty.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve had to watch at least five guys hit on you.”

“They weren’t going to get anywhere. You didn’t have to worry. I’ve seen at least three girls try to give you their number.”

“They weren’t my type.”

“What is?”

I stepped in closer, one hand on the wall next to her. “Petite and curvy. Long thick hair. Intelligent and argumentative and the best pair of tits I’ve ever seen. Fuck it.” I moved into her, my other hand now on the opposite side of her, boxing her in. She leaned forward, her mouth meeting mine and her arms going around my neck. The kiss was hungry and desperate. I could taste the tequila from her margaritas and mint. The scent of her hair pulled me in further and she wrapped a leg around my waist, pulling my crotch against hers.

My hands left the wall and went to her waist, seeking the soft skin under her top. She pressed her tits against me and all the blood in my body went south. My hand crept further up her top, over her bra to her nipple. She moaned into my mouth as I ran a rough thumb over it.

“Fuck,” I said, pausing the kiss. “I would right now, here,” she said, tilting her hips into me. I wondered how wet she was. “But I don’t want your family or employees to catch you.”

I chuckled. “You’re protecting my honour?” I pinched her nipple making her sigh and squirm.

“Something like that.”

I took her mouth with mine again and the kissing became heavier, our hands greedily searching each other. The alleyway didn’t offer much in the way of privacy, something I was conscious of as I unbuttoned her top to her chest and dropped my mouth, desperate to take a nipple in my mouth and find out how sensitive she was. Her bra was black lace, her nipples dark and dusky through the material. I moved my head back so I could see. “You’re perfect.”

Her chest heaved. “If we plan this better, I won’t wear a bra next time.”

“Then I’m not letting you out.” I pinched both her nipples at the same time, just about aware of footsteps nearby.

“Max.”

I pressed myself close to Victoria so no one could see. Seph stood nearby, keeping enough distance so it was clear he couldn’t see anything, although what we were doing was obvious. “We’re heading to get something to eat. Are you, um, coming?”

Victoria started to laugh, her arms around my back. “We are. To get food, that is.”

“Cool,” Seph said and I could tell even in the darkness that he was shuffling his feet. “I’ll leave you to sort yourselves out.”

I groaned and stepped back enough that I could do up her buttons. “We’re not just friends. I want you too goddamn much to be just friends. I can be your friend as well as the person who gets to worship your body and make you come.”

She stood on her tiptoes and nipped my chin. “You haven’t made me come yet, Maxwell. So yes, I think you need to work on that.”