Page 13 of Wrangled
“So, I took care of some of the things you asked for. I’m not sure what your thought process is here, though. Most people would just hire a security team or something.”
“I don’t want a team of people around me. I want to be left alone.”
“Still…I worry about you.”
I look over at her and grin. “It’s not me you should be worried about. I’m not the same naive little girl I once was.”
“Hey, I was rather fond of that kid. She was a lot stronger than you gave her credit for.”
“Hmm…maybe.”
I gaze out the window and watch the world pass by in a bland vision of browning grass and winding road as far as my eye can see.
“How did the eviction process go?”
“There was resistance.”
“I didn’t expect anything else.”
“There were also mentions from various sources of suing you.”
“Anything I should be concerned about?”
“Nope.” She flashes me the patented grin that earned her the nicknamebarracuda.
“Good.”
We drive in silence for the next ten miles or so before I ask, “You ready to tell me now?”
She looks over at me briefly and frowns before fixing her eyes back on the road. “Tell you what?”
“How a lawyer in your price range ended up with me as their client.”
She’s quiet for a minute before she curses under her breath. “Smart people are really annoying.”
“You think?” I give her a pointed look.
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“Tough.”
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
“You’ve been my only contact with the outside world for fifteen years, Jen. You’ve clearly been a bad influence on me.”
She huffs out a laugh, but the tapping of her fingers against the wheel gives away how tense she is.
“I thought about it a lot over the years, you know. But I knew I needed someone in my corner, and as long as you didn’t screw me over, what did it even matter?”
“We’ve come a long way since then. I like to think we’re more than just lawyer and client. I think of you as a friend.”
“And that’s why I’m asking, as a friend, who hired you to represent me?”
She sighs, admitting defeat. “Austin Dyer.”
I fist my hands at his name, though I had my suspicions. Only he or my father could have afforded her. As my father was the reason I was there to begin with, it wasn’t him. I don’t understand why Austin would do that…unless he was getting Jen to report back to him about me.
The plastic bag crinkles under my fingertips as I keep my temper leashed. Nothing good will come from my losing it now. “You’ve been reporting back to Austin this whole time? Telling him everything I told you?”
