Page 14 of Forbidden Sins
As she’d learned during her first weeks at Burnham & Associates, most of the junior attorneys worked long, tough hours. That was fine with her. She’d made it through law school; she knew how to function with little sleep, and coffee was her new best friend. This was the career she’d chosen. She would do it, and she would do it with a smile on her face.
Twenty minutes later, she pushed into her office and saw an email from her father, requesting her presence at a meeting in his office at 8:45 to meet her new mentor at the firm. It was the first time her father had summoned her for anything professionally. Ellie had to dismiss the voice in her head that told her that it was only because her father was one of the founders.
“You graduated at the top of your class,” Ellie said aloud in her empty office, as a reminder to herself that there was a reason she’d been hired, beyond nepotism. “You’re here because you’re good at what you do, and you have a promising career ahead of you.” Sure, she had secured a spot at a top firm because her father was a founding partner. But she’d still interviewed like anyone else. She’d studied hard and gotten the grades just like anyone else. “You deserve to be here,” she told herself.
She took a deep breath after her pep talk, as she won today’s daily fight against imposter syndrome. Some mornings, it worked; others, it didn’t. And those mornings just made her work harder. But that didn’t mean she didn’t see the looks from the other associates, or hear their cutting words, that she owed her success to nepotism, or that she was adaddy’s girl.They had no idea how far from the truth that was. Keeping her head down, and not getting involved with office gossip and jealousy, she would do her work. She had a lot to prove—to her father, to her coworkers and mostly to herself.
Gabe drank his coffee and rubbed his tired eyes. The past weekend had taken a lot from him—physically, emotionally, mentally. Sleep had eluded him. Every time he’d closed his eyes, he saw Ellie. He could still smell her in his kitchen, feel her, like she was still there.
He’d started the filing for their annulment, and hopefully when it was all settled, he could put it and her behind him. Not because he didn’t want to see her, but she affected his focus. He was on the cusp of getting everything he wanted, everything he’d worked for, and he couldn’t screw it up now.
It was his first day back after the Hong Kong trip, and looking over his agenda, Gabe saw the one-hundred-and-one things to do that day, and every day for the rest of the week, the month. That was fine. He’d been working sixty-hour weeks since he’d started at Burnham & Associates as a junior associate, just out of law school. And making partner wouldn’t reduce his workload any. Research, filings, client meetings came with the territory, and he was ready to get back to it.
He tried to start in on his to-do list, in an attempt to make at least a small dent in it. But he couldn’t seem to keep his mind on track. He drummed his restless fingers on his desk. And that didn’t make the stack of files miraculously become any shorter. He looked at his computer monitor. The blank document he had open mocked him. It was barely past eight thirty, and already he was restless, bored and he wanted to get the hell out of his office. Maybe he should have taken a personal day,but potential partners didn’t take personal days.He could have hit the gym, or the road on his motorcycle. Both things normally helped clear his mind. But it was nowhere close to quitting time, especially on his first day back. All he could think about was Ellie—his wife—who had quickly fled his house after he fucked her on his kitchen table.
“Focus, goddammit,” he chastised himself in his empty office. He really had to get to work, or he wouldn’t have a job to worry about.
He knew the meeting he was about to have with Charles Burnham would probably change his career. But he couldn’t shake the flashes of Ellie that cruised unabated through his mind. His gut clenched in response and he blew out a harsh, frustrated breath. Why had she walked out on him? In a moment of weakness, he’d asked her to stay with him, and he knew it was for the best that she didn’t—but tell that to his empty bed as he’d spent Saturday and Sunday night tossing sleeplessly.
It would be stupid to think that there had been something special between them. Hell, they’d had a one-night stand—well, a two-night stand—and he’d been so taken by her, he’d gotten drunk enough to suggest heading to the chapel.
An annulment was the only option; getting married after too much champagne was perhaps the stupidest thing he’d ever done, and he had to put it behind him quickly and quietly before Charles or any of his clients found out. The works were in motion, but it would have to wait—he checked his watch—it was time for his Monday briefing with Charles.
Tension formed a tight band across his forehead, and Gabe rubbed his temples, reached into his drawer and shook a couple of aspirins into his hand. He popped them into his mouth, swallowing them with a mouthful of hot, black coffee.
Gabe took the elevator up to Charles Burnham’s office. As his father’s partner, Charles had been a fixture in Gabe’s life since he’d been a child. He’d become Gabe’s professional mentor, and with Charles, he shared perhaps a closer relationship than he had with his own father.
Charles’s assistant let him into the office. The older man was sitting behind his desk. He stood, and gestured him toward a sitting area on the other side of his large office. As Charles greeted him, Gabe again found himself distracted by thoughts of Ellie. He took a deep breath and blinked hard, again finding himself trying to banish her image from his mind. He had to focus on work. The work, and nothing else. This was it.
Since leaving law school in London and moving back to Las Vegas, he’d had a very clear career path—sure, it was one predetermined by his father and Charles Burnham—that had led him to where he was, and he knew that he would be the next partner at Burnham & Associates. Becoming partner was the smart thing to do—the responsible thing. He sighed. Part of him was sick of doing the right thing. He thought again of his time with Ellie. And how it was the most fucking fun he’d had in a long, long time.
“Gabe, how are you?” his mentor asked, walking to the wet bar in his opulent office, and even though it was well before lunch, he poured each of them a finger of scotch from a crystal decanter. He paused, midpour, looking at Gabe’s face, studied him and frowned. “You look tired.”
“I’m fine,” Gabe insisted. Charles was a smart, observant man. It was as if he could see the debauchery of his weekend written on his face. But instead he moved on.
“I just wanted to see how you’re settling in since returning from Hong Kong. You did fabulous work there. It must have been a nice change of scenery for you.”
“It’s not like I had a chance to see much of it,” Gabe admitted. “I spent most of it in the suite working. Now I have to play catch-up on everything I missed here.”
Charles smiled. “That would have been my response, too. How’s the workload?”
“It’s fine. Nothing I’m not used to.”
“It’s admirable what you accomplished while you were away. Fantastic job on the merger,” Charles told him, moving on and concentrating on the scotch. “You’ve made a lot of people very happy, and very rich.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“It’s spectacular how far you’ve come at such a young age. You know after the partners vote, you’ll be the youngest partner in the history of the firm.”
“Thank you, sir.” At Burnham & Associates, the path between being an associate and a partner was long and intensive. And partners were long-serving, not leaving many opportunities to join their ranks. Charles’s smile was large, and dimpled his cheeks. Weirdly, it somehow reminded him of Ellie. God, he had to get his head in the game. This was what he’d worked toward his entire life. Why couldn’t he think about anything but the woman? He cleared his parched throat and sipped on the scotch. “And I’m grateful for the opportunity, so early in my career.” In his own ears, he could hear that his words weren’t sincere. They sounded hollow—foreign—coming out of his mouth. As he thought of Ellie, lying below him on his table, work was the furthest thing from his mind.
“Gabe, in your short time here, you’ve brought in some extremely valuable clients. That’s made you an asset to us, and I know that you are the future of this firm.”
Gabe did have many clients, and many of them were rich and powerful, trusting Gabe with their legal matters. But from the small way Charles’s face changed minutely—his narrowed eyes, the almost imperceptible downturn of his lips, the way his voice became clipped—Gabe knew that Charles was talking about the Brotherhood. Gabe represented each of their business and personal interests, and it was known that they were his friends, but what wasn’t as known by Charles and his family, all staunchly conservative, was that Gabe was also part owner in the group’s businesses. He’d kept that strictly under wraps, hidden from the general public, especially from his boss and family, and his other clients. He was pretty sure that none of them would appreciate the fact that the firm’s newest partner was one of the owners of the city’s most popular erotic venues.
“Of course,” Charles continued, his indulgent smile returning. “The partners all have to vote, but unless you do anything to change my mind, I think you’ll fit right in at the top.”
“Yes, sir,” Gabe said. He sipped his scotch, knowing that the past weekend would, no doubt, change Charles’s mind.