Page 107 of It Must Be Fate

It’s a statement of facts, clearly not up for discussion.

“I don’t deserve—”

“I would have thought the exact same thing.” He gathers me into his arms, pulling me down into his lap on the floor. An arrogant smirk curves his lips, pulling an immensely relieved sigh from me that we’re seemingly getting back to normal so quickly. “All it means is that you love me and that you can’t stand the thought of me being with anyone else. How could I ever be mad about that?”

With a choked sob I throw my arms around his neck and crush my mouth to his. The kiss screams of desperation and wholehearted apologies. It roars of love and loyalty, the kind that most people could only ever dream of.

I’m lucky and I won’t forget it or doubt it again.

Rhys pulls back only just far enough to break the kiss, but his lips remain hovering over mine. “I’m going to fuck you quick and then we’re going to go pick up the girls and bring them back here. I don’t care how late it is, I’m not letting my family be fractured away from me for even one night over this. We’re sleeping together under one roof tonight.” He fists my hair and yanks my head back. I wince at the sting in my scalp but my eyes widen when he shifts his face to loom over mine. The anger is back in his gaze for a moment, just long enough to issue one final warning. “No more talk of leaving me. No more second wife jokes. If you’re no longer my wife, it means I’m already dead. Now lay back on the table and spread your legs.”

***

Sixteen years after graduation

Chapter Twenty-Five

Bellamy

There’s a loud commotion on the other side of the door. Angry, raised voices filter in through the wall, although what they’re saying remains indecipherable. I’m about to go investigate the matter for myself when the door to my office flies open. It bounces violently against the wall and almost shatters in the process.

Quick to gather both my wits and my jaw from off the floor, I shift my gaze over to the man storming my way, groaning internally when I recognize him.

I’m not shocked he’s here to confront me, only surprised at how long it took him.

“Peter,” I say coolly. “I see you’ve decided to treat my door with as much regard as you did your wife.”

My words stop him dead in his tracks.

He’s not used to me being this blunt with him but I don’t need to pretend to tolerate him anymore now that he’s been convicted.

“You stupidbitch,” he spits. “You were supposed to get me off.”

Rachel, my assistant, rushes in, wide-eyed and concerned. “Should I call the police?”

I smile at her. “It’s alright. Looks like Peter has decided to give me his feedback in person rather than via our survey. I’ll handle it, thanks Rach.”

She hesitates at the door, loath to leave me with him. It’s brave of her given that she’s all of five feet tall. I give her another reassuring smile and this time she ducks out, leaving me with him.

With a world-weary sigh, I stand and pick a loose piece of lint from off my dress. “I’m good at my job, Peter. Great, actually. No,spectacular. But I’m not a miracle worker. You beat up your wife in the middle of a public street, in broad daylight, in front of three witnesses. And that’s not even accounting for the Ring camera footage which broadcasted a 4K replay of your assault for the jury. Even Muhammad Ali couldn’t have won this fight.”

He storms to my desk and slams his palms down on the surface. “Then why the fuck did I pay you hundreds of thousands of pounds if you couldn’t get me acquitted?”

Unflappable, I reply, “I’m glad you brought up payment actually, Peter. Accounting tells me you have an outstanding balance of eighty thousand pounds. Since you were kind enough to come visit me in person today, I’m happy to escort you to our CFO’s office so we can get that all squared away.”

He slams a fist down on my desk. “I’m not paying you a fucking dime. Youlost.”

Men like Peter Gingrinch make me want to quit this job and never look back. I thought there was something noble in being a criminal defense attorney — in representing the wrongfully accused or in helping everyone get equal representation under the law. But these days, I find myself almost universally representing men like him — spoiled, selfish, privileged assholes who hurt those closest to them the second they don’t get their way.

They were taught the world revolves around them and that there are no consequences to their actions. Well, in the adult world, there are. And when those consequences have come calling, I’ve yet to see one of those men rise to the occasion and bear them with accountability.

This tantrum is just another example and reminder of the weakness of the man before me.

I give him a placid smile, not rising to his level.

Or, in his case, abasing myself down into the pits of Hell where his level is, in fitting company with the rapists and pedophiles.

“You’re paying me for my legal advice. And my consistent advice to you starting a year ago was to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. You ignored me repeatedly, even when I told you time and time again that this case was unwinnable and the jury would hate you.” His face gets progressively redder the more I speak. A vein pops out in his forehead, tracing a line down to the bridge of his nose. “But that’s the issue with you, Peter. You think you’re smarter than every woman you meet, which is exactly why when your wife kindly informed you that you’d gotten the time of your meeting wrong, your knee jerk, instinctual response was not to thank her for her help, but to beat her to within an inch of her life for her perceived impertinence.”

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