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“That was unpleasant,” I whisper, sing the eed in my throat

Silence

“No quick wit or inappropriate comment from you?” I direct the question to Scottie

He shakes his head “The intuition part of ure all that out? I was in the same room and didn’t pick up on it”

“You’re h she was overlooked a lot, she was never bitter Disappointed, yes, but not bitter She may have been promoted to associate, but it didn’t come without a price As a woman, I saw the betrayal in her She did what they asked, and even through that, they don’t trust her expertise Me being here proves it She has no credibility”

“And the text?” Miller inquires

“That was a pure hunch and a risk Knowing I was right about her sleeping with the judge to win over favoritised in here with a nition and respect I threw her off her gae She pretended to ignore you both, but there was a lanced at Miller She kneho he was to me and she knehy I left”

Scottie lets out a lohistle,the back of his neck “We’ve been in these offices less than half an hour, and I’m ready to wash the stench off”

“It’s weird being back here The desk looks like it did when I left, except it’s been cleaned This is even my old laptop” My eyes fall to the couishable scratch across the top

“Princess,” Miller crouches next to me “You okay?”

“Yes, but years of closing offme”

“That’s because you finally flushed that out of your system”

I look him over, the polished loafers, impeccable navy suit undeniably custom made for his body, the starched crea off his physique His blue eyes, the cleanly shaved face, his messy-yet-sexy hair

The good, the bad, the ugly… This man is mine

I scrapethe soft skin of his jaw “I want the scruff back”

“It’ll grow”

“I love you Thank you for being here”

His eyes light up, dancing with humor “How bad did that hurt?”

“The words are an incinerating inferno in my throat”