Page 34 of Partners In Evil

“Yeah, come on Finn. We’re still stinking rich!” Luc perches on my armrest and leans his elbow on my head. “Raven can’t take our family wealth from us. And even if she tanks our law firm, she shouldn’t steal your happiness either.”

I look to Damien for his opinion. He nods. “I agree. All of this is nice to have, but it’s nothing compared to sharing your life with someone you truly love.”

And he would know, wouldn’t he?

“Turn Raven down. Let the chips fall where they may. We’ll pick them up, no matter what.”

Damien makes it sound so easy. Both of them do. But they don’t understand this pressure I’m under. I’m being pulled in two opposite directions, and there’s consequences no matter what I choose.

I still don’t know what to do.

17

EMMA

Iwave at Finn as he walks into his brother’s office. He gives me the slightest of nods before the door closes behind him. It was a very short and platonic motion. I didn’t feel any hint of romantic attachment behind his words or actions.

Which is good. Right? That’s what I wanted. That’s what I specifically requested. We need to maintain a professional relationship, at least for now. I can’t get tangled into this relationship web Finn seems stuck in. I don’t know if my heart can take that kind of weight right now.

But I thought there’d at least be some sort of tenderness between us. I did share myself with him, after all. I figured we’d be friends, but good ones. Friends that shared their troubles and emotions with each other.

I guess I was mistaken. I sit back down at my desk and try to concentrate on work. Maybe that’s what I need. Maybe I should be focusing on keeping the firm afloat instead of my own silly heart. I guess Finn already figured out what took me too long to realize: we need to let eachother go if we’re going to get through this.

It hurts. But if that’s what it takes…

I bury myself in emails and press releases. Anything I can think of that might raise the firm’s reputation I stack into a mental to-do pile and get into it. I so thoroughly let myself get consumed into this goal that I almost miss it when Lucy and Janice ask if I want to get lunch.

“Huh? Oh. Oh, I…” My stomach starts to growl, loudly, proclaiming I skipped breakfast and nearly forgot this meal as well. And I didn’t bring anything, either.

“I think your stomach just answered the question for you,” Janice says. I blush in embarrassment.

“Come on. There’s a cute sandwich shop a couple blocks down that has the best reuben ever.” Lucy grabs my arm and pulls me up from my desk.

I collect my purse and follow them out of the building reluctantly. Losing myself in my work is easy. Now I have to try and distract myself with talk of reality television and celebrity gossip. Which is fine, sure, but it’s not the all consuming distraction I need right now.

“Oh my God, no way,” Janice says after swallowing a bite of her lunch. She’s staring hard at her phone and for some reason my stomach drops. I already know it’s bad news. The way her eyes are lighting up from the drama says it all.

“What? Let me see—no!” Lucy gasps. She grabs Janice’ phone and turns it for me to see, even though I didn’t ask.

I’m greeted with a photograph of Finn, wearing the same suit he was wearing when he walked in this morning. And on his arm, is Raven, pressing herself very hard against his side. The headline on the clickbait gossip blog reads ‘Trust Fund Hotties Finn Blackwell and Raven Nightingale Back Together?’

“You know he whines about her so much, yet he always ends up in these situations,” Lucy sighs. “That guy needs to get it together. If I were him, I’d just marry her and get it over with. You know she’s super loaded? God, what I would do if I had that kind of money…”

I sink into the squeaky, plastic booth seat.

“Besides, everyone knows girls like that always get what they want,” Janice says while grabbing her phone back.

I know what Janice means—sirens always get what they want. It’s just part of who they are, how their magic works. But I also hear it as wealthy, connected, drop dead gorgeous women always get what they want. And what this wealthy and beautiful woman wants is the same thing I want.

I don’t stand a chance.

Still, something about the photo doesn’t sit right with me. I pull out my phone and check the blog post myself. After zooming in on the grainy photo, my suspicions are confirmed: Finn looks miserable. Maybe even angry. He’s not happy that Raven is attached to him.

This was a setup. My heart lightens up slightly. No wonder Finn was acting so weird when he came in this morning! He was flustered from being bombarded by his ex. Anyone would be rattled by starting their morning that way.

“What’re you smiling about?” Lucy asks teasingly.

I pop out of my little bubble of joy and realize the situation doesn’t look good, so I switch to a photo sharing app and show off a picture of some cute celebrity cat trying to fit in a cardboard box.