Page 51 of Drunk In Love

“Maxwell Scott, I love you too. You better get used to hearing it because I will never stop saying it.” Better yet, I will never stop loving this man.

“You’d better not,” he says before tilting his head down to kiss me.

Our lips stay locked in a tight embrace until we hear the low sound of someone clearing their throat.

“Sorry to interrupt. I’m Officer Bailey, and I’m going to need you to give an account and statements as to what happened here tonight.”

Maxwell slides his arms around me and reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone. “Actually, we can play exactly what happened for you.”

The aftermath of the Financial Journal assignment caused great fervor in the local news and even national, since the publication was known in rarefied circles. The CEO and widow Van Zandt was a crook behind the scenes. Her son that she hid from the public was much like his mother by way of blackmailing. The only difference was he was taking the money from her and giving it to the underprivileged and charities. The New York media dubbed him Gen-Z Robin Hood for all he’d done. Now there would be criminal charges for extortion.

Cecily and Zachary were on trial for the murder of Franco DiLaurentis. They also faced racketeering charges since they reported the missing funds from the subscription leak to their insurance and now also faced fraud charges. Both of them were up for long sentences, and I for one couldn’t wait to see them both behind bars.

Franco’s involvement, we later learned, came when Harry sought him out after being fired from the Financial Journal. Harry had promised to pay Franco for assisting him. He was murdered before receiving the funds.

A sad case all around.

Jacob Reyes was thankfully cleared of any wrongdoing, along with Katie Lucas, who’d worked with Zach but knew nothing of his crimes. I was glad that he was exactly who he presented to us, and now I’d made a new friend in Jacob. I felt bad that he trusted Franco, but many people from Financial Journal had us all fooled.

The last update from Jacob that we received a few days ago told us that the board of trustees and shareholders were scrambling to keep the publication afloat. The negative press had people unsubscribing, citing that they didn’t want anything to do with Financial Journal.

I hoped those remaining with the company didn’t have to worry about being out of a job. It wasn’t fair to any of them that the people they’d worked for were criminals.

As for us over at TSS, things were changing here as well. Brandon finally found an office space for lease in central London, not far from where his wife Ava’s television show would be filming. Brandon was one of the best bosses I’d ever had and one of the friends I’d made since I’d started working in the city. Ava’s addition to our office family would be missed as well, but I was happy for both of their career opportunities and knew that they’d be back to New York later on in the year, and they were just a text or call away.

Today Bree, Harlowe, and I were returning from lunch together since, earlier this week, she’d accepted a position with TSS. As soon as Brandon made the announcement, Bree exclaimed, “Finally Kam and I are no longer outnumbered!”

During our girls-only celebration, Harlowe opened up about her past of growing up in Atlanta and meeting her husband there, who, funnily enough, was from New York. Now they’d decided to make New York their permanent home. I felt that the three of us would all get along swimmingly, but there was something guarded about our new coworker.

Hopefully, she would feel trusting enough to open up to Bree and me in due time.

I had my own secret that I hadn’t shared and decided lunch away from the office, and especially the guys, was as good a place as any.

“I know today is about Harlowe, but I think this is as good a place as any to let you both know that Max and I are…dating.”

Bree squeals so loud that a few patrons in the restaurant turn to look over at our table. Poor Harlowe, not used to Bree’s outbursts, plugs her ears with her fingers.

“I knew something was up!” Bree says in her inside voice.

“How did you know?” I ask. I thought Max and I appeared like close friends. Had others noticed like Bree?

Bree shrugs. “I have a knack for these things. I can sense it.”

Harlowe and I laugh. I never knew what crazy thing my friend would say next. “Well, then we should toast,” says Harlowe. “To new opportunities, new friends, and most importantly new loves.”

“I’ll drink to that,” I say as the three of us clink our glasses together.

Epilogue

MAXWELL

“Where are you taking me?” asks Kamaya. “I feel like I’m being kidnapped.”

Chuckling, I say, “Relax. You’re definitely not being kidnapped. In fact, you’re going to love where I’m taking you.”

“Well, if you just tell me where you’re taking me, then I can tell you whether or not I will love it.”

“Nice try, but no.”