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I cock an eyebrow. “What?”

“That’s what happens when you marry a prince,” she clarifies. “You become a duchess.”

“Duchess Dani,” Nate croons.

“I hate both of you,” I grumble.

“You hated Ezra too,” Nate teases. “Does that mean we’ll all be a…would it be a quadruple?”

“Okay.” I nod heavily. “Out. Both of you. I have work to do.”

“You have court this afternoon,” Vera points out.

“I’m well aware.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to do what I always do.”

Nate makes a face. “But…you’re up against your boyfriend now.”

“He’s not my—” I close my eyes, taking a breath. “Listen, when I know something, you guys will be the first to know.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Nate tuts, turning on his heel and muttering the whole way out of my office. “No respect for the group chat, I swear.”

“Go on now,” I urge.

“Just be careful,” Vera says before she steps out. “I don’t want to see this blow up in your face.”

“I’m always careful,” I assure her.

Her lips curl in a grin. “I know.”

Her words stay with me even as she shuts the door behind her;the truth is, my head isfullof worry. There are a thousand things that could go wrong, a million ways that pursuing anything deeper with Ezra could blow up in my face. But after last night…I’m just not sure I have it in me to pretend anymore that I don’t want him anyway.

•••

I would liketo say that I did exactly as I told Vera I would, that I was perfectly normal and on my game during court today. But I hadn’t expected to be so much more…awareof Ezra than I already was. Before, his authoritative confidence in the courtroom was a point of annoyance for me, and maybe it still is, to a degree, but also…now it also sort of turns me on. Something Idefinitelydidn’t expect. More than once today, there were moments when I didn’t respond as succinctly as I should have, that I caught myself watching him work with an intensity that had me forgetting myself.

Definitely not good for business.

Now, I’m browsing my notes on my couch hours after court ended—my faded University of Texas T-shirt and a very large glass of wine providing comfort after a long day. We’re still waiting on a subpoena for Lorenzo’s mistress to be approved, Ezra’s team blocking it at every turn, but I’m confident that it will happen. I feel it in my gut that none of Ezra’s silly defenses will work this time.

That gives me pause, remembering that they are more than likely notEzra’ssilly defenses. That there is a good chance that every lowball tactic he’s used has come straight from his father—or, well, Alexander. It’s all so much to wrap my head around. I catch myself thinking about his mother, something I have beendoing a lot since that night at his place when he confessed everything, and there is a panging sense of regret that rings through me when I think of the quiet, lonely-looking woman I spoke with in Alexander’s library. When I think about how much she’s been through, how muchEzrahas been through. I know that the chances of helping her when Ezra has most likely exhausted all possible avenues already are slim, but it doesn’t stop me from wishing I could anyway.

My phone buzzes on the coffee table by my couch, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I lean to snatch it up, my pulse quickening when I read the recently changed name.

Ezra:Are you busy right now?

I glance at my notes and my glass of wine, knowing it’s probably better that I say yes. That I should probably put a little space between Ezra and me while we’re still figuring this out. Except…I don’twantto.

Me:Not overwhelmingly. Just going over some notes.

His reply comes through immediately.

Ezra:Can I come over?

I bite my lip. It’s strange, the way my entire body perks up at the idea of seeing him, and if I analyze it for too long, I know that I will have to face the fact that it’salwaysreacted this way to Ezra. That it’s just the rest of me that’s finally catching up.