Page 16 of The Monster and the Masochist

He wasn’t even a good lay.

Jesus.

“Give a man an inch…” I grumbled, and Alyssa laughed nervously next to me as she rushed to keep up on her much shorter legs.

I slowed down slightly to give her time to catch up, giving her a tight smile.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll deal with Mr. Cross. Can you just make sure my calendar is clear by at least six so I can get to Chez Guillame at a reasonable hour? You can head out at four today if you’re finished with all your tasks, in case you need to get ready for the event.”

“O-of course, Ms. Walker! Thank you!” Alyssa squeaked, and I smiled at her, handing her my now-empty cup of coffee.

Theo had a lot of faults, but she had good taste in coffee, I’d give her that.

“And if you could get me another triple long, I’d appreciate it.” Alyssa nodded and rushed off, leaving me to deal with Nolan.

I paused before the door to my office. Taking a moment to straighten out my blouse, I let out a slow, grounding breath. Dealing with Nolan was always a little taxing. I was beyond irritated that he was the first person I had to meet with today.

‘Not the first. Your street fighter was the first,’ my monster reminded me with a swish of its tail.

My lip twitched, but I forced Theo into the box I tried to keep her in at the back of my mind.

‘Not now, pest. Let me work.’

Opening the door to my office, I did my best to fix my face as Nolan glanced up from whatever he was doing on his laptop, where he’d made himself at home on one of my leather couches.

My office was a corner office, and two of the four walls were floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Silent Hollow’s financial district. All my furniture was a fresh blend of bright ivory whites and rich sandstone.

It was very bright and modern. I’d intentionally avoided the cliched ‘boys club’ look that I’d noticed most of my male counterparts had favored when decorating their offices.

I had original signed black and white posters from Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe on the walls, along with some more modern signed posters from powerhouse female celebrities I’d had the privilege of meeting at various events over the course of my career. The rest of my space was pretty standard legal stuff, like floor-to-ceiling bookcases full of law books and a TV I used to keep an eye on news segments surrounding whatever cases I might be working on.

“It’s nearly eight am, and you’re just getting in now? Better late than never, I suppose,” Nolan drawled from where he was sprawled on my couch.

Nolan was waspy, and everything about him screamed old money. His honey-gold hair was a perfectly crafted flow of waves, styled with a bit of soft pomade, and his eyes were boy-next-door blue.

They looked even brighter than usual, as he wore a navy bespoke suit with a deep gold tie. He had one ankle crossed over his knee, and his socks had little golfers on them, making him seem a little more human than I knew he was.

Nolan was a lot like me, minus the boatloads of childhood trauma.

Not that we’d ever sat around braiding each other’s hair and swapping tragic back stories. I just knew Nolan didn’t have anywhere close to as brutal an upbringing as I had, simply because not many people did.

I was basically raised in a cage for the first thirteen years of my life, for Christ’s sake. I wasn’t trying to win the trauma Olympics or anything, but I mean… if the Louboutin fits.

Unlike me, I don’t think Nolan had to fight for a single thing he had in his life. Most of his success had been inherited, and his father was a successful lawyer for a firm in New York. I suspected he got this job because his father and Edmund Sinclair were friends from when they’d gone to Princeton together.

Despite all the nepotism, Nolan was a good lawyer. Even if he hadn’t earned this job the same way I had, he’d earned my respect in that regard.

Outside of being competent, he was also hot… but he was hot in an arrogant, egotistical, self-absorbed sort of way, which, honestly, is what made him an excellent lawyer.

I knew that I was also hot, arrogant, and egotistical.

But again, you kind of had to be to be successful in this industry.

Law was not a place for morals or self-doubt.

To be the best, you had to believe you were the best, and you had to be willing to step on others to prove it.

I was all of those things.