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In a daze, I watch him turn and leave the stairwell, combing over every moment of that interaction, trying to piece together at what part of itIbecame the bad guy. I draw in a shaky breath as I kneel to gather my notes, steeling my resolve.

It’s just another tactic,I tell myself even as painful uncertainty roils in my gut.I’m not the one who fucked up here.

But even when I’ve walked down three flights of stairs, even when I’m out of the building, evenhourslater while I sit lonely and miserable in my apartment…that uncertainty clings to me, filling me with doubt.

And I can’t help but wonder if Ididfuck up somewhere.

Twenty-Seven

Dani

“I trusted you,Danica!” Bianca glares at me from her seat next to mine on the other side of Manuel’s desk. “You betrayed me. You promised what I told you would not come up in court.”

“I didn’t betray you!” I shout back. “I don’t know how Ezra got that information, but it didnotcome from me.”

I have to stave off the compulsion to wince, knowing that this is not entirely true, most likely. I haven’t spoken to Ezra since our blowup in the stairwell yesterday, and I won’t pretend that the silence hasn’t been hard. His despondent expression hasn’t left my mind, and the doubt that plagues me over my quick assumptions kept me up for most of the night. But it’s not something I can afford to dwell on right now.

Manuel watches the interaction between Bianca and me with steepled fingers resting against his chin, his expression unreadable. I know that Bianca’s anger is enough to warrant her requesting a change of counsel, and not only would that wound mepersonally, given how I’ve come to care for her, but it would ruin my chances of being promoted. There’s only so much Manny can do.

“Bianca,” I try again, calming myself. I turn in my chair, taking her hand. Thankfully, she doesn’t snatch it away. “I need you to look at me.” Her eyes find mine, still wary. “I swear to you, I did not say a word about what you told me. Not one word. I can’t say for sure what led to Lorenzo’s team using that tactic”—not a lie, technically—“but I promise you, I did not betray your trust.”

Not purposely, at least.

Bianca’s red lips are still pressed into a tight line, her calculating gaze studying my expression as if searching for a lie. I force myself not to blink, not to break eye contact, needing her to see the sincerity there. Because no matter what Ezra may or may not have done, I didnotbetray Bianca willingly. I need her to know that.

“Bianca, I know you’re my client, but I need you to know that I respect you deeply,” I urge. “I wouldneverdo anything to hurt you. Not willfully.”

Bianca’s jaw works as she considers, several long moments passing before she finally breathes out a sigh. “I believe you,” she tells me dolefully. “You are not the type to make this kind of mistake.”

Except I might be,I think guiltily.Just because I didn’t do it on purpose doesn’t mean it isn’t my fault.

“Thank you, Bianca.” I exhale in relief all the same. “Really. I will fix this.”

Manuel chooses this moment to speak up. “Is it possible that Lorenzo might havetoldhis team about this?”

“Why would he do that?” My brow furrows. “The chances of it backfiring are too high. He’d have to be crazy to go that route.”

“Unless he was that confident that we couldn’t dispute it,” Manuel points out. “It’s not something we ever expected from them, and clearly, it took us off guard. Maybe that was the plan all along.”

The idea of it gives me pause; it’s more or less a scenario that I’d mockingly thrown at Ezra yesterday, but at the time, it had been too ridiculous to consider. Impossible, even. Now my mind’s first instinct is to reject it, because if it’s true, then I…

I shake my head. “There’s no way Lorenzo would risk that. First he’s inviting his mistress to sit in during sessions, and now he’s openly admitting this isn’t the first time he’s been accused of infidelity? What does he have to gain from that?”

“It could be about power,” Bianca muses. “It seems like something Lorenzo would do.”

“I…” Panic simmers in my chest; that cannot be the answer. Itcan’t. My brain physically cannot consider the idea that I hurt Ezra for no reason. I’m already so on edge that this new revelation would break me to pieces. “It doesn’t matter where it came from.”

Liar,my brain whispers.It absolutely matters.

“All we need to be concerned with is how to get on top of it. We have one week left before Judge Harding expects closing arguments. I’mgoingto make sure ours leaves no room for doubt that Lorenzo is a cheating piece of shit.”

“We still haven’t found anything that we can use as irrefutable proof of his infidelity,” Manuel reminds me.

“I know,” I sigh. “I know that. But…I know it’s there. I can feel how close we are. And I’m going to find it. No distractions.” I shoot Bianca a determined look. “I promise.”

It takes her a second to tilt her head in a nod, but she looks less angry than she did before; she looks almost like she might give me another chance. “I hope so, Danica.”

Bitterly, I can’t help but think about the fact that there won’t be anything to distract me this week, that there is nothing waiting for me at home but the freedom to throw myself into work.