Page 47 of The Art of Scandal

Nathan didn’t respond with his usual “Okay, Dad.” That joke only worked when your real father wasn’t dying. Or when it didn’t feel vaguely true.

“Speaking of unlikely marriages, I could never figure out what Mom saw in Beto,” Nathan said. “He’s not exactly a good time.”

“Money.” Joe popped a tiny fry in his mouth and shook the bag, seeking more. “He was better looking back then too. More Diego Luna and less Gomez Addams.”

Nathan laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think it was only money. Mom’s not like that.”

“Not like what? Human?” Joe sighed. “They’re just people, Nate. You get that now, right?”

He thought he did. Or at least, he was starting to. It was getting more difficult to see Beto as an all-powerful malevolent force if he was being defeated by a few mutated cells. Joe had been saying for years that Nathan gave their father too much power over his life. Nathan used to think it was hypocritical, but now he realized that it was a warning. Joe had really been saying,Don’t be like me. I took these hits so you don’t have to.

Nathan sat up straighter in the chair. “Thank you. For believing in me.”

Joe cleared his throat and started shuffling papers on his desk. “It’s nothing,” he mumbled. “Now get out of here so I can get some work done.”

Nathan saw a picture on the wall on his way to the door. Joe was at the family lake house, beaming, holding up a tiny fish Angel had caught, while Zara leaned away with exaggerated disgust.

“Is it really over?” Nathan asked. “With Zara?”

Joe stared at the picture. “Yeah, it is.” He paused. “I always thought I’d be good at this family stuff. Because I wanted it so bad. But I don’t know. First Mia. Now this. Maybe it’s not my thing.”

His brother had nearly fooled him. Nathan had almost walked out of this office thinking that while Joe was stressed, he wasn’t on the verge of another breakdown. But Joe never mentioned Mia Williams. Not since she dumped him by leaving her engagement ring with his assistant, wrapped in a Post-it with a note written on the back:Tell Beto he wins.

Nathan still saw Mia regularly at the laundromat because she couldn’t afford to replace her washer and dryer. She would always bring something with her, like muffins from a new bakery or a book she’d been reading, and use it as an excuse to stay and talk. But he never told Joe about those conversations. Knowing that she’d stayed in Nathan’s life would break his brother’s heart all over again. After she ended things, Joe had barely spoken to anyone but his assistant for months. Beto had finally snapped him out of it by threatening to fire him. Nathan always wondered if things would have turned out differently if Joe had fought for Mia the way he had his job.

“Why don’t you ever fight for anything, Joe?” It slipped out before Nathan could stop it.

Joe was still staring at that photo. “I don’t know,” he said, and then looked at Nathan. “Why don’t you?”

The Law Offices of Julia Beaumont was practically hidden between identical storefronts in a strip mall on the southwest edge of town. The reception area consisted of a pair of cheap chairs and a scarred wooden desk. A sign was propped beside a dated call button that instructed Rachel to ring for service. She knew that ringing for service wasn’t how most reputable lawyers greeted new clients. But Ben Abbott had been adamant about his referral.

Rachel rang the bell and waited. A door opened behind the reception desk, and a stunning Black woman with huge dark eyes appeared in the doorway. Her natural curls were cut into an angled bob that framed razor-sharp cheekbones and a 1950s pinup mouth. She wore a suit with dark suspenders, tailored so perfectly to her body, it could have been a sexy-lawyer Halloween costume.

“Rachel Abbott.” The way she said it made Rachel sound infamous and inevitable, as though Julia Beaumont had always known she would show up at her door eventually. “You’re a long way from home.”

“Ms. Beaumont? A friend of mine referred me here. He said you were one of the best attorneys in town.”

“It’s Julia. And your friend is wrong.” Julia nodded toward her office. “I’mthebest lawyer in town. Come on in.”

A few minutes later, Rachel sat on the opposite side of an L-shaped desk, while Julia drummed her fingers. Rachel spotted a framed photo of Julia smiling at the camera, standing next to another woman. It took her a moment to recognize Mia, with loose hair and Mardi Gras beads draped around her neck. “You know my cousin?”

Julia didn’t look at the picture. “We’ve been best friends since high school.”

There really was nowhere to escape in this town. “Oh. Well, maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

Julia’s fingers stilled. “I’m a professional, Rachel. Whatever you tell me won’t go beyond this office. Not unless you want it to.”

Maybe it was Julia’s bullish tone that made Rachel believe her. Or maybe she needed to confide in someone whose only vested interest in her life was a contingency fee. Rachel told her everything. From dick pic to rosebushes to the million-dollar hush money. Julia’s expression didn’t change, except for a slight nostril flare when Rachel mentioned Matt’s election.

Julia wrote something on her legal pad. “Why one million? Why not two. Or ten?”

“Because I was drunk, and math isn’t my strong suit.”

Julia had no reaction. Just more notes. “What’s your current net worth?”

“I have less than a thousand in a joint account.”

“Have you started looking for work?”

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