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“Stop it; you’ll hurt yourself.”
“Asshole.”
She goes very still. “Fine. Let me go.”
“Not until we have a conversation.”
“About whether I’m allowed to do my job?” she mocks.
“About whether I have to stand forty feet away and watch Griffin Cole put his hands on you.”
“He’s not going to put his hands on me.”
I turn her around, and we stand face to face. She meets my gaze with quiet, simmering resentment.
“Taya.” My voice drops. “I know you can handle yourself. I know you can handle Griffin Cole with one hand tied behind your back. That’s not what this is about.”
“Then what is it about?” she challenges.
I look at her.
“I spent three months gathering intelligence on a woman I was falling in love with. And now you want me to tolerate your ex-boyfriend running the same play on you and do nothing.” I let her go and step away from her. “That’s what this is about.”
The hard edges in her expression ease.
“Then do something…like…I don’t know be around when I talk to him,” she challenges.
“You flirted with him.”
She smiles, mischief dancing in her eyes. “Jealous?”
“Hell yeah.” I run a hand over my face. “You fucking giggled when you talked to him.”
“I know.” She rolls her eyes. “And he couldn’t tell that that isn’t me. What an idiot!”
“Tell me what this is about.” I walk to the kitchen and make more coffee.
We sit at the kitchen island and listen as she tells me Kaz’s plan.
“So, you’re going to do this.”
“I’m already doing this.”
“Taya—”
“Before you say anything.” She sets her coffee cup down. “I need you to hear me. I am a Harvard-trained water rights attorney who has been outmaneuvering men like Griffin Cole for ten years. I know exactly what he’s going to do in that room, and I know exactly how to let him do it in a way that puts Jessup in front of a federal grand jury.” Her chin comes up. “This is my case. My client. My play.”
I shake my head, knowing it’s futile to stop her, even if I want to chop Kaz’s balls off for involving her.
“I don’t like it.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to be there.”
She flips her hair with a little flair. “I asked you to be.”
“Yeah, you did—to provoke me. But in this case, it’s going to be one of those be careful what you wish for situations.”
