Eternal Adoration [ON PAUSE]

15. The Lawyer

ARISTIDE

Seraphina is right, I did have a meeting.

In fact, an hour ago, I was on the way there, driving toward the hotel where Berto, my lawyer, had set up camp for the week, when I took a sudden turn at an exit.

That turn led to another turn, then a short drive down the highway, until I was in underground parking and couldn't convince myself any longer that I wasn't at the mall because Seraphina was there. Truth is, I hadn't seen her since the morning after dropping her off at school and forcing myself to drive away to take care of business and fuck me, I missed her.

One of my men had eyes on her as usual, and he'd claimed she was at the mall with another girl and safe, but the urge to see her had been instinctive, irrational. So I made my way to the store, relief surging when I saw her. She was holding up a shirt to herself, zoning out as her friend tittered around her.

I thought she would notice me, standing a few aisles away, but the store was packed and my girl's mind was obviously somewhere else. Probably on the heavy load of matrimonial deal that I had dropped on her the day prior.

Either way, I liked watching her from afar, without her knowledge. My chest warmed when she sighed, yawned, or mindlessly played with her hair. And when she leaned down to grab something from a lower shelf, the heat spread to my groin.

Before she and her friend moved out of the store to the next one, I'd caught sight of a familiar figure sliding next to me. "She's uncomfortable using your money, boss," Daren, one of the men I'd assigned to her, another cousin a few years younger, said to me drily. "I bet you just threw that on her with no warning."

"I pay you to watch and take action if needed, not offer commentary," I had replied, patting him on the back because, despite his meddling, he's my least infuriating family member. Probably because we have similar personalities.

Now, after watching her eat and fending off thoughts of how food from her mouth would taste, I'm dragging her along with me to meet up with my lawyer.

"So he's here in Hilltop?" Seraphina looks curious, her hands under her thighs as we wade through traffic. "All the way from New York just to meet with you? You must be his favorite client or something."

"I damn right better be," I mumble, glancing at the rearview mirror. A few cars behind, Daren is following us. "Given that I'm his nephew as well."

"Ah." She nods. "Family business. That's what's up. So is that why he came all the way here? It just seems like this could have been a video call."

"Berto's got a thing for the dramatic. He also has a thing for trying one-starred hotels with complimentary food in different cities and towns. Not to mention, the man is unresponsive if I can't get in front of him." I shake my head, unable to explain my family members without expressing that they are just weird.

She laughs. "Oh my gosh, I love him already! My Grandma used to love hotel complimentary breakfasts. She said the food tasted better when it came with a room."

I scowl at her. "You don't fucking love him, Seraphina."

She only giggles and rolls her eyes at me as if I'm the odd one. Not her, claiming that she loves my fucking lawyer while my dick is still hard from her hand sliding up and down my thigh in that damn food court. Her hand . . . on my fucking thigh.

We keep driving down the fairly busy roads, passing shops and businesses, families, couples, and teens walking along the sidewalks. Seraphina grows quiet, her eyes drifting to the window as we merge into the highway, speeding down the ramp. And God knows why, I don't like it. Not one bit. Especially because the silence feels heavy with things unsaid.