Page 83 of Daddy's Laws

“Exactly.”

“Well, you obviously know how to handle her, so I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you told her you’re planning to leave the firm?”

“No. I’m still not sure how she’ll take it.”

The look James sent him was one he’d only ever seen leveled at Olivia. “If you fuck this up again by keeping another secret from her, I will personally kick your ass into next year.”

“Relax. I’ll tell her before I make any final decisions.” Rolling his eyes at his brother’s pointed look, he held up his hands in mock surrender. “Fine. Tonight. I’ll talk to her tonight.”

“You better.”

“Who died and made you the boss?”

Leaning back against the seat, James grinned and picked up his coffee. “Big brother’s prerogative.”

“Ten minutes! Ten minutes does not give you special older sibling rights!”

“Sure it does. Baby brother.”

“Asshole.”

“Jerk.”

Goddamn, it was nice to have everything back the way it belonged.

* * *

Exhausted from laughinglike complete lunatics for the past hour, Shannon and Olivia collapsed against each other on the couch.

“I’m glad we’re friends again,” Liv said, linking their fingers together.

“Me too. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too. And I’m sorry again about everything. We should have told you.”

It surprised her to realize it no longer hurt so much to think about it now that they’d talked and made up. “I’m sorry I called you stupid and naive.”

“It’s okay. You were upset.”

Despite Liv’s easy forgiveness, it still sat in her gut like a rock, and she had a feeling she’d be ending her evening over Bryant’s knee to help relieve the guilt. “Still. I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry.”

“Then I forgive you and we don’t ever have to talk about it again.”

They fell into a companionable silence, the kind they used to enjoy before everything went to hell. “I went and saw her. MaryAnn.”

“Seriously?” Sitting up, Liv twisted around to gawk at Shannon like she’d just grown an extra head. “How did that go?”

“Good, actually. By the time I left, I understood better why you wanted to help her. And it’s pretty damn clear she didn’t have anything to do with what happened to me.”

“Huh.” Liv’s eyes took on a faraway look, like she was trying to decide how she felt about the news. “Well. Good. Does Bryant know?”

“I haven’t told him. And before you ask, I don’t know why.”

“What haven’t you told me?”

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