Your Fault (Culpable Book 2)

In the morning, I left home early, carrying Noah’s two enormous suitcases. I didn’t have time to fight with our parents before going to work, and I didn’t want them spoiling the happiness of knowing that we had finally started the move and that Noah and I would be together at last.

I went straight to the break room as soon as I got in. I’d had no time for breakfast and was dying of hunger. As I finished my second cup of coffee and was wiping my mouth with my napkin, Sophia walked in.

I was conscious of the fact I’d left her hanging the night before. But it wasn’t my fault, and anyway, she’d been there with her dad. I nodded to her and tried to walk past her to the office, but she stood in my way with a defiant expression.

“You know what’s fun? When someone invites you over and you’re not remotely in the mood, and then they ditch you along with your dad, your boss, and his wife…”

I had to bite my lip not to laugh. Honestly, it was funny when she put it like that. And I kind of enjoyed seeing her so pissed. I sat down at the table, crossed my arms, and said, “Tell me how you really feel, Aiken.”

“I mean, they just sat there the whole time, talking bullshit about what a good lawyer you’ll be, how bright your future is, how you’ve turned into such a responsible son.”

“What the hell?”

Her brows rose as she walked past me to the coffee machine. I turned, consternated and wanting to hear more.

“Apparently my father thinks it would be just wonderful if the two of us would work together in the future. And when he says work, I think you know what he means.”

It felt like it was getting hotter in that room.

“What kind of bullshit is this? My dad, calling me a mature and responsible son? I don’t know what you took before dinner, but I’m sure you heard him wrong. My father can’t stand me.”

Sophia blew on her coffee with her bright red lips and took a deliberately slow sip. “My father just loves trying to find boyfriends for me, and William Leister’s son, well, I guess he thinks you’d be a real catch. But it wasn’t just him—your stepmother was in on it, too. To hear her tell it, she thinks you’re the bee’s knees, but my feeling is she doesn’t like you hooking up with her daughter one damned bit…let alone living with her.”

I clenched my fists. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. That woman would be the death of me. How the hell could she dare insinuate that Sophia could be attractive to me, especially compared to her daughter? What kind of mother tries to get her daughter’s boyfriend to hook up with someone else?

I squeezed my Styrofoam cup into a ball and tried to control my rage before it took over. Not only were they trying to scheme behind our backs, they’d shown they had no respect for us whatsoever.

With a relaxed expression, Sophia said, “Nick, it’s obvious you love her.” She rested a hand on my forearm. “But let me tell you from experience: trying to keep a relationship going when it’s you against the world…it doesn’t usually work out.”

With that, she walked off.

I rubbed my face, trying to calm down and at the same time to ignore, once again, all the things that threatened Noah’s and my relationship. Since the night before, when I’d grasped how much the death of Noah’s father had affected her, a hard-to-ignore fear had taken over me. One thing was to fight hair, tooth, and nail against people determined to make us give up our relationship; another was to take on Noah and her ghosts. Now that I understood that no one but us would be sure our love survived, I couldn’t help but think that maybe we weren’t giving everything we should. I could take on anything, I could keep struggling to the end, and I would never stop, I loved that girl so desperately that just the thought of her drove me wild, but what if Noah let the others get to her? What if that wall between us, the one I kept hoping would finally crumble, instead grew higher and higher until I could no longer reach her at all?

One thing was clear, just one: no one but Noah could push me away from her. No one.

Late in the afternoon, my boss appeared in the doorway. Sophia was putting her things in her purse, and I was turning off my laptop.

“I’ve got good news for the two of you,” he said with a smile.

“I’m dying to hear,” I said sarcastically. It was well known that Jenkins and I couldn’t stand each other. He’d be in what was by rights my job until I had enough experience to take over, and he knew I had my eye on it.

Sophia gave him a peculiar smile. She loved him, and she was absolutely dedicated to doing her job perfectly and rising through the ranks.

“Two people have dropped out of the Rogers case, and they’ve asked us to send two replacements from here tomorrow. If I remember right, Nicholas, you wanted to work that case, but you dropped it when you decided to leave San Fran. Well, the legwork’s basically done. It’s now a matter of taking it in front of the judge and helping out with the defense. It’ll be quick and easy, and this is the kind of case that can teach you two a lot.”

“Amazing. When do we need to be there?” Sophia looked so excited, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her turning somersaults.

“I got you both tickets to leave tomorrow morning.”

Shit!

“So soon? You couldn’t give us a little more time to prepare? We’ve got lives, you know.”

Jenkins ignored my tone and continued to talk calmly. “Hard as it may be for you to accept this, Nicholas, the world doesn’t revolve around you. The trial starts tomorrow afternoon, and you need to be there ASAP. If you don’t like it, I’m sure your father would be overjoyed to hear your complaints.”

I stood up slowly and rested my fists on the table. “I’d recommend you not bring my father up at moments like this, J, unless you’re in the mood for a curb stomping.”

He grimaced. I knew I was abusing my position there as the boss’s son, but it was that or actually come to blows with him, and I preferred a little workplace friction to the real problems that could cause.

“Someday, reality’s going to hit you like a ton of bricks, Nicholas, and I sure hope I’m there to see it happen.” Before I could answer, he turned to Sophia. “Airport. Five a.m. Don’t fuck up because if you do, you’ll be out on the street!”

He walked off while I sat there thinking about how I’d like to knock his lights out.

Sophia walked so close to me that I had trouble focusing on her words. But the end of the phrase was “… I’ll be the one having to pay for it, understand? So control yourself, because I’m not about to lose my job over something you did!”

I ignored her deliberately and walked out, slamming the door.

How was I going to go home and tell Noah I had to go to San Francisco with the same girl she was jealous of and that our parents wanted to hook me up with?