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“We’ll need your signature of course, but yes.”

I think I’d waited for so long for my issues with Shane to be over that I didn’t have a clue what to do now that things had turned in my favor. Even as Nina stood, mumbling under her breath, and storming out of the room with him right behind her, I sat in shock, unable to move.

My lawyer stood as well, making his way around the table to spark a discussion with Jamie’s mom that I didn’t hear. I was too lost in the fog of realizing that I’d won. I had no idea how long I sat suspended in time.

“Nyx,” my lawyer called, bringing me back to reality. “We should go.”

“Actually, Nyx, may I speak with you for a moment,” Elizabeth asked, stepping away from my lawyer once they’d wrapped up their chat.

“Liz, I’m not sure⁠—”

“This has nothing to do with the case,” she assured him, touching his arm. “It’s personal.”

He still looked as if he didn’t approve, but relented, nodding at her.

“Nyx, I’ll be in the hall if you need me. Do not say a word about this case without me present.”

“Now, Rick, you know me better than that,” Elizabeth frowned.

Giving her a sheepish grin, he pulled out his phone and walked out, giving us some privacy.

“Listen, if this is about Jamie, you should probably kno⁠—”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted before I could finish speaking.

That’d been the last thing I was expecting.

“Wait,” I wrinkled my nose. “What?”

“I was wrong. I misjudged you based on what I’ve heard, and it was ignorant of me. I stumble across a lot of people in my line of work, a few good but mainly bad, and I can admit it’s skewed my views. I’m also fiercely protective of my children. When I saw you at Jamie’s, I acted without thinking and for that, I apologize.”

“Would you feel this way if I hadn't been able to prove that Shane and his wife were lying?”

“I can’t say for sure. Probably not and if you want nothing to do with me because of that, I completely understand. But this isn’t about me. I don’t want you holding my poor decision against my son. He doesn’t deserve that. Not when he’s finally found someone who’s managed to touch the part of him he’s kept locked away for so long.”

I folded my arms. “No disrespect, but you don’t know anything about us to know what our dynamic was like.”

“I know he cares enough about you to defend you without blinking. He’s never spoken to me that way, let alone put me out of his home. That alone speaks volumes. I don’t have to know the dynamic to know that’s a side of him I’ve never seen before. Whatever happens between you two, I don’t want to drive a wedge between you.

“As a woman, I’m owning up to my bullshit and letting you know I hope the day comes where we can put this behind us and start over. Even if that day never comes, just know I won’t get in the way of you and Jamie.”

Giving me a smile, she left the room, leaving me feeling more torn than I had before. Her disliking me was the only excuse I had for pushing Jamie away. Now that she was no longer a hurdle, I had no reason not to fix things with him.

I should have been jumping for joy, but instead, I was even more terrified than I’d been before.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

JAMES

“I mean, I think you’ve ignored her long enough,” Ximena crossed her legs, hugging a pillow to her chest. I’d just read her the contents of the text message my mother sent asking if I was willing to meet her for dinner and talk. “You don’t at least want to hear what she has to say?”

“Not if what she has to say includes talking crazy about Nyx. She can keep that shit to herself.”

“Damn, best friend. I was joking the first time I said it, but you’re really in love, huh?”

Exiting out of my messaging app, I sat back, thinking of how I wanted to answer her question. Determining whether I was in love with Nyx had been at the forefront of my mind ever since she’d run out of my house.

“Yeah,” I admitted, allowing myself to be completely vulnerable. “For the first time, I think I’m actually in love. With a woman who doesn’t feel the same about me.”