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ONE
Patrick
The way my cousinsare looking at me, I feel like I’vebeen punched in the gut. Declan and I left Jeff in charge of the site and high-tailed it back to the bar. As soon as we got here, he called Con. Now the three of us are stuffed into Conner’s booth at the back, nursing a pitcher while Paddy gives us the stink-eye.
He knows something’s going on—the three of us don’t just show up together to day-drink on a random Wednesday—but he won’t ask what it is. He’ll wait for one of us to break and spill about whatever trouble we got ourselves into. It’s worked for the past twenty-five years, and Paddy isn’t one to mess with perfection.
“Well?” Declan hisses across the table at his brother. Conner holds up a finger while another slides down the page he’s speed-reading. He flips the page and does it again, and then one more time before he refolds the packet of paper and slides it towards me.
“It’s a sexual harassment suit,” he says leaning back in the booth. “I’d also like to take this opportunity to point out that I’m not the one she filed it against.”
“Not funny, asshole,” I growl, snatching the packet of papers off the table. I open them and scan the first page.
Lisa is suing me.
James, Cari’s asshole ex is representing her.
That’s as far as I got before I totally lost my shit. “Especially since you’re the reason I hooked up with her in the first place.”
“That’s weird.” Conner cocks his head at me, looking confused. “I don’t remember putting your dick in her mouth.”
“What’s her claim.” Declan cuts in before Conner, and I can really tear into each other.
“That the Cap’n here took her upstairs and forced her to perform sex acts on him in order to keep her job,” Conner says, shaking his head.
“So, rape?” I feel like Conner just punched me in the face. “She’s saying I raped her?”
“Is he going to be arrested?” Declan says it before Conner can answer me.
“No,” Conner shoots me a look, and for a second I think he’s almost sorry about this whole mess. “It’s a civil suit at this point—but if she wins and she could because basically, it’s your word against hers—it’ll render criminal charges a foregone conclusion.”
Criminal charges. “You’re saying I could actually go to prison over this shit?” It’s not prison I’m worried about. Not really. I founded a charity-based baseball league for kids. If I go to prison on trumped-up rape charges, the fact that I’m innocent won’t matter. I’ll go from a young, successful businessman who cares about his community to a sexual predator who started a charity so he could hang out with kids all day. “You were here,” I say, desperate to make this go away. “You know that’s not how it happened.”
“Yeah…” Conner nods his head. “but I’m also your cousin. And your friend. And a bit of a whore. My word won’t help. Might even hurt.”
Shit. I close my eyes. Everything about that night is a blur. “Cari—”
“Is your girlfriend.” Con shrugs. “Same thing.”
She’s not my girlfriend.She’s not my anything anymore. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say it, but I don’t. “Lisa was in full octopus-mode Saturday night,” I say instead. “I don’t know how many times I told her to back off.”
“Anyone see it besides family and a couple hundred drunk college kids?” Conner asks, forcing me to shake my head no. “Then it didn’t happen.”
I scrub a hand over my face and bite the bullet. “What does she want?” Maybe if I just pay her, I can make it all go away.
“James did his homework,” Con says. “He knows exactly what you’re worth.”
“How much?” I say, suddenly impatient.
“Enough to wipe out your liquid assets.”
Fuck. It’s only money, right? Even as I think it, I know it’s not. It’s not just money. It’s my legacy. Our legacy. Not to mention that paying her off is all but an admission of guilt. “I’m sorry—both of you. I should’ve—”
Conner leans forward and gets in his brother’s face. “You're awful quiet for someone who’s usually a judgy asshole.” I look at Declan, but he’s not looking at me. He’s not looking at Conner either. He’s staring at the lawsuit I’m being slapped with. “You got something to share with the rest of us?”
Like he’s made up his mind about something, Declan sighs. “What if it wasn’t just he said/she said? What if we can prove Lisa went upstairs willingly? That she made repeated advances toward him Saturday night and that he turned her down? That she harassed him?” He’s talking to his brother like I’m not even there. Before I even get mad about it, Conner gets in on the act.
“Then I’d say we have a shot at getting this whole shitshow shut down before it even gets started,” Con says, still eyeing his brother. “How do you propose we do that?”