Page 1 of Make Me Yours
1
LILAH
“Where are you, darling? You’re going to miss the start of the game,” Aunt Evelyn asks as I rush through the doors of the building where I’ve worked as a lawyer for the last three years.
“I know, I know.” I wrangle my Louis Vuitton bag onto my shoulder while digging around inside for my keycard. “I just need to fax some paperwork to a client for Devon. I found the file lying on the counter. Pretty sure he forgot to grab it this morning. It’ll take two minutes, tops. Promise. And then I’ll be over.”
“That man is lucky to have you,” she says lightly. “I certainly hope he realizes it.”
Even though she doesn’t tack on more, I’m sure she’s dying to.
My godmother is not Devon Peterson’s number one fan.
“He does,” I force out with more confidence than I currently feel. The sound of my voice echoes off the empty corridor as I give Mike, the night guard, a wave while striding to the bank of elevators and taking one to the twenty-fifth floor where our law offices are located. “He’s been working on a big case, and all his attention is focused there at the moment.”
“Seems like that’s how it always is, Lilah,” she says gently from the other end of the line. “Maybe, just once, his attention should be on you.”
“It is,” I reply, a little too quickly. The lie slips out before I can stop it, and I wince.
There’s a brief pause. The kind that says she heard everything I wasn’t saying. “I hope so, sweetheart. You deserve that. Whoever you’re with should make you feel like the most important person in the world.”
“He does.” Even as the words leave my lips, I realize they’re not true.
Devon’s life revolves around work. It always has. I knew that before we became a couple. Our families had been pushing us together since I was barely old enough to understand what dating meant. Once I started at his law firm, it just felt inevitable. Like the pieces had been arranged for us, and all we had to do was fall in line.
“Okay,” she says, dropping the topic. That’s one thing I love about Aunt Evelyn, she always senses when to back off, giving me the time and space to figure something out on my own.
Which is the opposite of my parents.
Even though I’m twenty-eight, they havea lotto say about my life. And most of it isn’t good.
As soon as that thought pops into my head, I push it aside. It’s been a long enough day already. I’m looking forward to unwinding at the game and watching the Chicago Railers demolish the Baltimore Baddies.
“Did you ever mention to Devon that you’re not very happy and have been thinking about doing something else?” Evelyn asks, her motherly concern warming my heart despite my rush. “You know I’d give you a job at the arena in a heartbeat. Wouldn’t that be fun? The two of us working together?”
“I doubt Hugh would be very happy about that.”
While Aunt Evelyn owns forty-eight percent of the Railers,Hugh Landry holds an equal stake in the team. For over twenty-five years, the two families have been at odds, which is why the remaining four percent, held by a third-party investor, often acts as the tiebreaker when they inevitably disagree. Aunt Evelyn never talks about it, but once upon a time, she and Hugh were engaged.
Until everything fell apart.
“That’s just an added bonus to sweeten the deal,” she says with a chuckle.
“You’re bad, Aunt Evelyn.”
“I know. It’s part of my charm.”
“Is he still trying to buy you out?”
“Of course. Although, that’s not about to happen. This is my team and my family’s name on the front of the building. I’m not going anywhere. Sooner or later, he’ll have to realize it.”
“Let’s just hope hell doesn’t freeze over first.”
She grumbles before saying, “Getting back to Devon… You should just tell him you’re not happy. If he loves you, he’ll want the best for you.”
“I haven’t made any decisions yet.” I chew my bottom lip as the elevator doors slide open and I step into the hallway. “What I need to do is find something I’m passionate about because law just isn’t it.”
“What about something that involves baking? You love puttering around in the kitchen.”
