Mr. Smithfield - Louise Bay Page 0,15

feeling like I had a spine of steel.

“Yeah, and not for me either,” I said. “I have a round-the-clock job attending to Mike Green’s arsehole, apparently.”

“Why is it that when Gabriel says something like that, it’s like hearing my dad swear?” Tristan asked.

“I wouldn’t wish arsehole-attending on anyone,” Joshua said. “But Mike Green? What did you do to deserve that?”

Mike Green was known as the client from hell. And Joshua knew better than most, because if it wasn’t for Joshua, I wouldn’t be working with Mike. “Yeah, I must remember to thank you for introducing him to me,” I said.

“You have to get rid of him. Walk away,” Joshua said. “I’ve never been so happy to lose a client.”

“Easy for you to say. If I wasn’t doing three deals for Mike, I wouldn’t have any work. Law has been hit hard in this recession. Especially M&A.”

Tristan mumbled something in Dexter’s ear and Dexter just shook his head.

“Ever thought about retiring?” Beck asked.

“I’m thirty-three. You want me to take up golf and bowls?” I took a sip on my pint. As if I was just going to give up my career. Law was long hours, that was just how it was. And it wasn’t like Beck left the office at five thirty every day.

“No, but you could give up law,” Tristan said.

“I like my job. It’s Mike Green I don’t like.”

“At least you have a reliable nanny for Bethany now though, right?” Dexter said, quite obviously changing the subject.

“Oh yes, how is Hot Autumn?” Tristan asked. “That red dress on her the other night looked incredible.”

I tried not to crack my jaw as I clenched my teeth. Tristan had better keep well away from Autumn. “Bethany likes her a great deal, and it’s nice not to have to worry about finding someone.” I tried to keep my tone even, but I was sure it sounded like I wanted to wipe that lecherous look from his face. With a hammer.

“You seem tense when I mention her, mate. Protective. Has anything happened between the two of you?” Tristan said. “Have I missed something?”

“No,” I barked.

“If you even look in her direction, I’m going to have to kill you,” Dexter said.

I glanced up, ready to reassure Dexter that no lines had been crossed. But he was addressing Tristan, not me.

“So do me a favor,” Dexter continued. “Just don’t ever mention her again. And don’t even think about asking her out.”

It wasn’t as if I was about to ask her out, but I wondered if she was off limits to me too. Dexter probably thought I was so responsible, I’d never even consider making a move on Bethany’s nanny. Or that my manhood had shriveled up and fallen off. But it hadn’t and . . . there was something about Autumn. Something compelling that drew me to her. Something that had me buying tickets to musicals to make her happy. Something making me sit next to her at dinner parties. Autumn just had me thinking about possibilities far more than I’d done before. Far more than I should be.

“Fucking hell, what is the matter with everyone?” Tristan asked. “I was talking about a hot woman that I’m sure all of us around this table would happily bang. Why am I in the firing line?”

“Why do you make every relationship between a man and a woman about sex, Tristan?” I asked. “It’s like you never grew up past fifteen.”

Tristan looked as if I’d slapped him. I instantly felt bad.

“Sorry,” I said. “I got draft divorce papers by email this morning.”

The obligatory I’m sorrys followed and I nodded as if their condolences helped. It was just good to be with people who knew me.

“What has she asked for?” Dexter asked. “Can you say yes to it to get it over with?”

“Nothing,” I replied. “She wants nothing—not her daughter, not her husband, and not any of his money.” That’s what I’d assumed when she’d first gone. That she’d been a gold-digger all along. I’d been stupid enough to be in love and hadn’t bothered to ask for a postnuptial agreement to protect what I’d inherited from my father. But when she didn’t ask for anything during the legal separation, I’d started to wonder why she’d left. I’d never come up with an answer.

It was like Bethany and I had been some huge mistake she’d rather just pretend never happened.

Erasing me from her past was one thing, but her daughter? Her own flesh and blood? Penelope was abominable.

“You know