Page 98 of Forged in Peril

BRISTOL

Bristol didn’t bother to hide her surprise.

It was clear now that Cameron had found out a whole lot more than she knew.

While her own stubbornness hadn’t helped matters, she was no longer sure that the situation could have been prevented as easily as she’d first thought. Suddenly, Jaclyn’s motives made a whole lot more sense.

“Chase’s death wasn’t something that any of us wanted,” Cameron was saying, offering the same gentle, soothing tone he’d been using since he sat down. “Including Reilly. It was an accident. I want you to know that.”

Jaclyn’s pale eyes were wide as she stared at Cameron. For a second, Bristol thought that perhaps she believed him, but her hope was short-lived.

The next time she spoke, her voice sounded as hollow as it had before.

“Chase was my life, but that doesn’t mean he made things easy for me. But I made things hard for him, too,” Jaclyn bit her lip and glanced down at the surface of her desk, her eyes lingering on an empty space next to her monitor for longer than necessary.

Perhaps there had been a photo of her late son there at one time, but it wasn’t while she was working here. No one at FBS had ever mentioned that Jaclyn had a son at all, let alone that he’d died and that their own company had somehow been involved.

No. Bristol was sure that the lawyer had omitted that information on purpose.

Whatever Jaclyn was about to say next, she still found the situation incredibly sad.

Dealing with death and loss was always difficult. It had to be a million times worse when the grief was hidden away.

“What do you mean, Jaclyn?” Cameron prompted after a moment.

“Albert and I were young when we met,” Jaclyn said, a half-smile rising to her lips for a moment before falling away. “But he was already married. Worse, he was already firmly ensconced in Dorling & Porter’s world. It kind of happens that way automatically when your grandfather is one of the firm’s founders, and your father is the one who put it on the map.”

Bristol’s chest felt tight. The Albert on the phone had indeed been one of her former bosses, Albert Dorling, just as she’d thought.

“Anyway, Albert’s wife knew her place in the family. She was there to have his children, to host dinner parties, to help him charm clients, all the rest. She was a good match, love had little to do with it, on either end.”

“But you and Albert loved each other?” Cameron asked.

“We still do,” Jaclyn said, nodding. “But for the last decade and a half or so, it’s been a much more secretive kind of affair. I certainly couldn’t keep working at D&P, for business reasons as well as personal ones. Needless to say, we’ve kept my long history there very much out of public view, right along with the fact that I’m in an adulterous relationship with one of the senior partners.”

Bristol noticed that as soon as Jaclyn’s eyes fell away from Cameron for just a moment, he glanced down at his smartwatch.

He was stalling, but what was it he was waiting for?

“Where does your son fit in?” he asked.

Bristol could see his jaw tightening slightly as he spoke. It was not the safest topic, she knew, but she was glad to finally be getting some answers–even if Jaclyn’s gun still rested way too close for her liking.

“I got pregnant with Chase only about a year into our affair. Though Albert’s wife had been rather indifferent until then, I guess carrying her husband’s bastard was a step over the line,” she gave a wry smile. “But I wasn’t going to give him up. Albert didn’t want to, either. He already had two with his wife, and he was–is–a great father. We adored that boy, but obviously, we couldn’t treat him just like one of Albert’s other kids. It would have been bad for his image, and more importantly, for the firm’s image. So we didn’t. In private, he was our son. In public, he was mine.”

Bristol’s throat felt tight.

Her own father had abandoned her and her mother, and she’d carried the pain with her ever since. But having a father around who pretended you didn’t exist seemed somehow even worse.

“Albert supported us financially, but I didn’t really need his money. I was a good lawyer. Still am. That much is true,” she said, giving a quick laugh.

“I don’t doubt it,” Cameron said mildly, glancing over at Bristol, who nodded.

“Anyway, I was able to be a part of D&P’s inner circle from a distance. I helped them out in various ways while I worked at other firms. It’s amazing what a little insider knowledge can do when it comes to how a case pans out in court.”

Bristol wanted to tell her that it would be better to be a mediocre but honest lawyer than a lying double-crosser, but she kept her mouth shut.

“When the Iron Prophets deal came around, I made sure I kept up to date on the news. After all, both my firm and D&P had clients linked to the gang, and to the cartel, not to mention the clients that belonged to some of our friends in Mexico. We had interests, you understand.”

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