Lawful Mates - Liam Kingsley Page 0,9

he’s okay. I shot him down pretty hard, and I was worried he might be pining over me.”

Tuck snorted like he didn’t buy it for a second. “Don’t worry about it. Easton is not the type of person to pine.”

“Great! Okay, great. That’s really great.” I gritted my teeth. Yeah, really great. Although I didn’t want it to bother me, it really rubbed me the wrong way that Easton wasn’t affected as much as me. Maybe he didn’t care at all, no matter what Tuck said. “Hey, well, I should probably get back to work, but I just wanted to check in. I’ll touch base with you this weekend about taking Amy out for an afternoon.”

“Yeah, sure thing. Talk soon,” Tuck said.

I could have sworn he was about to say something else about Easton, but after a second, he ended the call. I sat back in my plush leather office chair and blew out a breath. Right, so Easton hadn’t asked about me. Well, now I knew he couldn’t care less, it would be easier to get him out of my head.

With that settled, I got back to work and managed to get quite a lot done over the next few hours.

Just as I was wrapping things up for the evening, there was a knock on my door, and my father walked in without waiting for an invitation. I’d thought he’d left the office earlier. Apparently not.

Even though we both worked for the family law firm, our interactions were pretty limited. I’d spent my entire life trying to live up to his expectations and gain his approval. Still, most people didn’t even realize we were related unless they knew us personally because he barely acknowledged me. One more thing I tried to ignore. Though I’d managed to make a name for myself in the legal world on my own, my father still seemed to think I was just riding his coattails.

“Follow me,” my father said. No greeting. No asking how my day was. Typical. I should be used to his apathy, but maybe finding out about Easton’s indifference was making me overly sensitive to my father’s brusque attitude.

He was out the door without waiting for a response, and I sighed and followed after him. He stopped just outside the conference room door and looked at me with a stern expression.

“I have a case I want you to take over.” His eyes narrowed as he assessed me. “Don’t fuck it up.”

Of course. Even after all this time, he still doubted me. But I didn’t comment, just followed him into the conference room.

I immediately recognized Senator Bates, the Montana state senator, sitting in one of the chairs, a stack of files in front of him. His expression was what caught my attention, though. The man was always a picture of composure, but right then, he looked utterly distressed.

My father made introductions, taking a seat at the head of the table, and then he immediately got to the point.

“Senator Bates’s son has gone missing. There’s suspicion of foul play.”

I glanced between the two men, surprised. That was the first I’d heard of it. It had to be a pretty high-profile case, but somehow the media hadn’t gotten wind of it. I was instantly on alert.

“There have been accusations that the Senator is involved in the disappearance of his son,” my father said.

Careful to keep my expression neutral, I accepted the file my father handed to me—but he didn’t release it right away. I met his gaze, and his hazel eyes that were so much like mine bored into me. A challenge. And a reminder of his warning: Don’t fuck this up.

“I’m putting you in charge of keeping Senator Bates out of prison.”

I clenched my jaw and pulled the file from him, opening it without replying and then quickly scanning the contents while my father briefed me on what was going on. There was an investigation that had been opened against the senator, and from the looks of it, they had some pretty solid evidence against him already.

But my father was entrusting me to handle this. It could end up being a really high-profile case. I set my jaw, determined that I would come through. Maybe for once, my father would see that I was good enough. More than good enough, really. I was the best damn attorney in the region. Even more than him, though he’d never admit that.

Still, the fact that he was giving me this case said something. Maybe he recognized