Page 54 of Breaking His Law

“I told you why.”

She did, but I still don’t believe her, or she never would have accepted being my secretary so quickly. We work long hours, and the paperwork can be tedious, and yet she’s never complained. Not once.

Dedication is one of her strengths. She’s also tenacious and determined and everything she does for me makes my job easier. Like a dream come true, she’s been sent from an otherworldly planet directly to me.

Switching the focus away from herself and onto one of my cases, she says, “I think if you threaten the pharmaceutical company with negligence, deceptive practices for actively falsifying clinical trials and failure to warn, they’ll back down and agree to an out-of-court settlement.” And while I hate that she doesn’t want to talk about herself, I appreciate her passion for my work.

If she had gone to law school, I know she would have breezed through it, because she’s capable of being a lawyer herself. She’sso fucking smart and clued in. Caring is a huge part of my job, which Arianna seems to understand.

“I agree.” For the next hour Arianna and I eat and talk work and tactics. While it might have been my plan to invite her out for dinner, she seems to have railroaded me, and I still don’t know that much about her.

I swirl the last of my ice around my glass then ask her, “Do you have many friends, Arianna?”

“Not many. My best friend is Maeve.”

“How did you meet her?”

She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear before she answers, “When I was moved to a foster home. Maeve was assigned to me on my first day at my new school as my buddy and we’ve been friends ever since. She’s like family to me.”

“Foster home?” How did I not put the facts together? With no family, foster care is where she would have been placed and that makes me feel unsettled. Volunteering for the foster kids’ charity makes sense now too. She wants to give back.

She’s kind.

I grew up in a loving family home, with three brothers who may have driven me insane, but while my childhood was noisy and busy, it was wholesome. And I was loved. I still am.

She adds, “After the accident, I was placed in care with a woman named Jean. She was amazing.”

“You were well cared for?”

“Yes,” she replies with confidence, smiling fondly.

I’m relieved; not everyone in foster care has the same experience.

“Is this twenty questions, Nathan?”

She’s got me pegged.

I shrug. “I just want to get to know you better, that’s all.”

“Okay. Well, here goes.” She lists dozens of things, giving me an insight into who she is. “I loveHarry Potter, Coldplay is myfavorite band of all time, but I do like old eighties music, the cheesier the better. My favorite color is navy, because it goes with everything. I’m saving up to buy a house in Nob Hill, which is wishful thinking, but it’s a dream of mine. I once fell over and flashed my panties to the entire football team in high school, which was the most embarrassing day of my life. I love watching true crime documentaries. I subscribe to every subscription service known to man and watch everything and anything on all of them when I get the time. My go-to karaoke song is Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out for a Hero’. I don’t have any children, but I would like a family. The first concert I ever went to was a local band from our school and they were terrible. The last book I read was calledOwenand it was about a runaway groom who meets an aerobatic pilot. She was a badass and I want to be her when I grow up. I can quoteFriendsby heart. I hate liars. My favorite cocktail is a Manhattan, which you knew already, and I think you might just be the smartest person I have ever met.” She sounds out of breath as she says her last word.

Wow.

“You?” she challenges.

I reply, watching her closely, “I’m not a fan of fantasy movies; action is more my thing but I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie. Coldplay is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I like old eighties music, the cheesier the better.”

That makes her smile wide.

I add, “Navy can’t be a favorite color of anyone’s because it’s like black, it’s not a color.”

“It is. Like I said, it goes with everything,” she counters, sounding lighter.

“I did have a house in Nob Hill once but sold it, and had I known that’s where you wanted to live, I would have sold it to you. I once fell over in court and split my pants in front of the jury, which was the most embarrassing day of my life. I likewatching true crime documentaries but never get the time to watch them. I don’t subscribe to any subscription services. I’ve never done karaoke.”

Her mouth drops open in shock at that fact.

“I don’t have any children, and it’s not something I’ve ever considered before. But all my friends have family and recently, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” I clear my throat, as I have never admitted that to anyone. “The first concert I ever went to was a local band from our school and they were dreadful. The last book I read was calledThe Regulation of Healthcare Professionals.”

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