Page 43 of I Love You, I Hate You
Owen pounced. “I motion for this case to be moved out of mediation. Smorgasbord has made their offer and it isn’t sufficient.”
Victoria’s lungs tightened further. “This case belongs in mediation, as per the contracts of all listed employees. Smorgasbord can—”
“I’m inclined to agree with the plaintiff,” Judge Green said swiftly. Victoria blinked, not believing what she was hearing. “There’s more here than just contract disputes, and this no longer belongs in mediation. See my clerk about getting on the schedule,” the judge finished.
She turned to her clerk and Victoria stood robotically, her brain feeling about twelve steps behind.
She’d lost.
Victoria never lost. A refused settlement was a huge fuckup in the eyes of Smorgasbord, and so far, she’d always succeeded. This was the first big loss of her career, and it was toOwen. Sometimes she would lose minor battles, but never the war. This was far from being over, but it was bad.
The clerk read out the next case number and Victoria fumbled with her bag, half numb and half furious. Owen was clearly trying to catch her eye but she was not about to let him talk his way out of this. She knew enough on both sides of the equation to know Smorgasbord did have a habit of asking employees to do work off-the-clock, and while they were very careful to never specifically violate the letter of the law, or at least corporate directed them to be careful, they were skirting a dangerous, fine line. One poorly worded request or one sloppily filled out infraction form, and they were toast, especially once it was out of the safe harbor of mediation. Maybe not in the courtroom specifically, but certainly in the court of public opinion.
Oh, this was bad. This was very, very bad. She was going to be in for the reaming of her life when she got back to the office, and there would be dozens of people assigned to this case from here on out. She’d probably lose her position as lead counsel, and honestly, she’d deserve it. She couldn’t believe she’d been so careless, so sloppy. She couldn’t believe she’d let Owen get under her skin, make her complacent and distracted.
She couldn’t believe she thought she actuallylikedthe snake.
The next attorney stepped forward and Owen was forced to vacate his table. She gave him a head start, stopping at the back row of benches to fix the buckle on her shoe, and then strode straight from the courtroom to the ladies’ room at the end of the hall. She caught a glimpse of red-gold hair in the quiet scrum in the hallway, but by the time she emerged five minutes later—still pale and shaking with anger and surprise—he was gone.
Owen paced in front of Victoria’s sensible Toyota Corolla. The scent of oil and gas and asphalt filled his nostrils, and to his left a county attorney he vaguely recognized climbed into a Subaru with a friendly wave on his way out of the parking garage.
He wasn’t stupid. He’d known, from the moment he got the affidavit, that this would not go over well with Victoria. It was proof, in the best, most concrete form yet, that Smorgasbord was exploiting their employees.
He didn’t regret doing it, of course. Whatever he had with Victoria, this case was bigger. His clients deserved fair pay for their work, and they deserved a right to a day in court. As much as he was falling for Victoria, it wasn’t even a choice—between his personal life and his moral duty to his clients, his clients came first. Still, he hoped she’d let him apologize, or at least hear him out. She would have done the same in his position. In fact, she had done something similar in his first face-off against her, when she pounced on a minor, inconsequential paperwork error and made him look like a damn fool. Granted, they weren’t sleeping together back then, but giving her a heads up about the new information would have been grounds for disbarment. His stomach twisted uneasily whenever he thought about the fact that her hint to him at the lake was what had sent him searching for another team lead to testify, but she had to understand. This wasn’t personal.
Familiar footsteps echoed near the elevator and he stopped his pacing. He tucked his hands in his pockets and tried for an easy, friendly smile, but the second their eyes met all hope inside him withered up and died. “Don’t fucking talk to me,” she growled.
“It wasn’t personal,” he said anyway, because Owen was an idiot who never learned when to keep his damn mouth shut.
“It wasn’t? Because that felt like getting fucked, something I am unfortunately well-acquainted with when it comes to you.” She threw her bag in the backseat with terrifying force.
He stepped back to give her some space. “Hey, come on,” he said, a little affronted. “You know I couldn’t tell you.”
“Of course not,” she snarled, arms crossed. “But there’s no fucking reason you had to pull this in court, like you were on goddamnLaw and Order.”
“First of all,Law and Orderdoesn’t do civil cases, only criminal. Second of all, they only made the decision to reject this morning. I had less than an hour’s warning.”
“Bullshit. That was rehearsed.”
“No, it wasn’t,” he said, unexpected anger flaring in his stomach. This was worse than he thought—she wasn’t just mad, she thought he had set her up. He thought that after everything, he’d earned at least alittleof her trust. But apparently, that was not something Queen Victoria extended to mere mortals like him.
She snorted. “Yes, it fucking was, because Owen Fucking Pohl doesn’t think he’s made his point unless he’s also turned everything around him into a fucking circus. You like the spotlight, admit it.”
“You think I did that for attention? And not in the best interests of my clients?”
“I think you engineered it so it would look like you had no choice when you were really just being a fucking showboat,” she said with a bitter laugh.
“Of course you wouldn’t be able to imagine someone acting in the best interest of someone who can’t pay you,” he spat, and saw the moment his barb landed. She paled, eyes still blazing, and he felt a half-second of regret before barreling on. “All you care about is money. You don’t give a fuck that there are poor people out there trying to make a living, because all you care about is that your company can rig it so your shareholders make a profit.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know plenty,” he said, advancing on her. “I know you’re a cold-hearted jackass. I know you’re so obsessed with money that you’d sell out your own mother for a buck. You use people and then you move on, and you can’t even muster up the compassion to feelbadabout it.” His blows were low and in some cases blatantly untrue, but anger was making him see red. Anger and betrayal, because he stupidly thought she would have given him the benefit of the doubt on this. They were in the same line of work—if anyone would understand, it was her. But no, she was determined to see the worst in him so screw it, he would see the worst in her. “Face it, Vee. You don’t give a fuck about anyone.”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder haughtily, and twenty-four hours ago, hell, even two hours ago, he would have melted at the sight. But now it made him even angrier, because he’d had her and now they were throwing it all away.
“No, you just can’t imagine a world where people don’t fall all over you like a white fucking knight. You’re so addicted to being the hero that you think someone having a modicum of self-restraint makes her a cold-hearted bitch instead of a competent adult who can see through your crap. You think I’d sell out my mother? You’d push yours off a pier so you could jump in and take credit for saving her. You’re pathetic, Owen. Pathetic. I can’t believe—” She broke off and turned away, brushing at her cheek. The mere thought of Victoria crying over him, even angrily, should have broken his heart. Now it just turned it to ice. “I can’t believe I thought you were who you pretend to be. You’re just a worthless pretty boy playing with Daddy’s money, and that’s all you’ll ever be.” She stalked past him and threw open her car door, leaving him to stand speechless behind her as she drove away.
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