Page 48 of Sugar (Gilded #1)

The last tendril of hope I’d been clinging to that Josh was a liar disappeared at Easton’s lack of reaction.

Still, I pushed, “Why aren’t you freaking out with me?”

“Because there’s not a lot that surprises me anymore. Especially when it comes to men like Doug.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I know he’s your friend’s dad, but he’s also greedy and image obsessed. It’s a dangerous combination, and a guaranteed headache. Hence why I didn’t take him as a client.” His lips quirked. “Well, that and I wanted to fuck his daughter’s friend without it being a conflict of interest.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that when I asked?” I waved a hand. “About why you turned him down as a client.”

“Why does it matter? I’m sure Greer knows her?—”

“Because of my dad.”

His head tilted. “Maybe it’s the fact we just crawled into bed a couple of hours ago so I’m running on fumes, but I’m not following you.”

“Doug and my dad own their practice together.”

That got the shocked reaction I’d been expecting earlier.

“Did you not know?” I asked. I told him basically every other tiny detail of my life, but I guessed that never came up.

“Doug only mentioned a partner briefly, but he wasn’t looking for a malpractice attorney, so we didn’t dive into those specifics. Is your dad involved?”

I shook my head.

He didn’t question whether I was sure. “What can I do? How can I help?”

I relayed Josh’s extortion attempt before talking.

And talking.

And talking some more.

No matter how many times I tried to find a different exit in my verbal roundabout, I ended up at the same place.

“I need to tell Greer,” I said.

“Sounds like it.” He tilted my head back. “I’m sorry.”

“Can I take your car?”

His gaze went above my head to the big window that showed only a hint of sun peeking over the horizon. “You want to go now?”

“If I leave soon, I can catch her before yoga.”

He didn’t try to talk me out of it or say I should be patient or encourage me to think it over. He embraced my impulsive surety, and I could’ve kissed him for it. “Let’s go.”

“It’s late. Er, early. You don’t have to…” I trailed off at the look he shot me. “Never mind.”

“Smart.”

“This is a surprise,” Greer said when she peeked through the crack in the door.

She continued talking as she closed it to slide the chain lock off.

“Did you decide to join me for yoga so you’re more flexible for all your hot and steamy lawyer sex?

” A dark blush spread across her face when she opened the door enough to see that Easton was behind me.

Her angry glare shot to me. “Why didn’t you give me a heads-up? ”

“It’s more fun this way,” I said, though the moment didn’t feel fun.

Not.

At.

All.

Her curious gaze went from me to Easton then back again. “What’s up?”

“Can I come in?”

She nodded.

Easton handed me the plastic cups he held—a green smoothie for her and a banana peanut butter one that was basically a glorified milkshake for me—before pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be in your apartment.”

I gave him a grateful smile. It was all I could muster when my queasy stomach was on the verge of revolting.

As soon as she closed the door behind me, Greer launched in. “Okay, what’s going on? Are you pregnant? Do you want to be pregnant? Are you getting married, and I beat Wren for maid of honor? I’m just nervously babbling here, so please say something because you’re starting to freak me out.”

“I saw Josh last night.”

She rolled her eyes. “If he was with another woman… Good. Let him be her problem now.”

“It’s not that.” With a deep inhale, I launched in and told her about what I’d seen, his confession, his threat. Everything.

Once I was done, she remained silent for a few long beats before finally saying, “Well, he’s lying. Obviously.”

“Maybe,” I said. “I hope he is.”

She paced her tidy living room. “My dad wouldn’t.

He doesn’t need to. I mean, he’s got money because he works hard and sees a lot of patients.

And he’s popular because he’s so charming.

You know that. It’s how he brings in so many new…

But he doesn’t… It’s not like he… Josh was lying.

Covering his own ass.” But the way her voice faltered and her hazel eyes darted around betrayed her doubt.

I tried to channel some Easton firmness into my tone. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“At the end of summer, I overheard the OGs talking. Mom thought Dad was cheating on her.” She grimaced.

“There were some discrepancies that Kerri caught. Appointments and procedures that my dad wasn’t in the office for.

Mom asked about them, and he gave her some dodgy excuse.

She decided she could live with it if she never knew for sure, so she turned a blind eye. ”

And not ask a million questions?

Couldn’t be me.

Tears welled in her eyes. “I have no clue what to do.”

“I don’t know, either.”

“It’s not like I can ask them. Dad doesn’t tell me anything. And if my mom doesn’t know, or she’s burying her head in the sand, I would be tossing dynamite in the hole and exploding her carefully built life.”

“Or Josh could be lying,” I said. “Maybe you can demand your dad finally fire him, and we’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”

She started to nod before her panicked gaze shot to me. “You have to tell your parents. It’s not fair… They can’t…” A sob broke free, and I pulled her into a hug.

“My dad has been talking about retirement anyway,” I shared. “Just in case Josh isn’t lying, I’ll start encouraging it. I’ll sign them up to get cruise mailers. Subliminal messaging. Retirees love cruises.”

“But it doesn’t matter because he’s lying.”

“Definitely.”

“Except he’s not, is he?”

“I really don’t know.”

But I don’t think so…

Greer talked herself through her own roundabout before leaving for hot yoga followed by a hike. According to her, it was the quickest way to clarity.

According to me, it was the quickest way to hell.

I offered to go with her anyway, but she wanted solitude.

That was fine by me because I wanted my bed and Easton—and not necessarily in that order.

When I opened the door to my apartment, he stood and took a step. That was as far as he got before I launched myself into his arms.

He cupped the back of my head and pressed his lips to the top of it. “That bad?”

“Worse. She’s hoping Josh is lying.”

“But?”

“But I think she knows. She just needs time to know that she knows.”

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“I want us to climb into my bed because I need at least ten hours of sleep before we deal with whatever chaos is to come.”

He smiled at my use of we . “Whatever you need.”