Page 41 of Who’s Your Daddy (Dadcoms #1)
Lola
“ I hung up on him.”
Brian blinks. Twice. “I’m sorry, you what?”
I don’t know why he’s surprised. This asshole isn’t the first client I’ve hung up on during my time at the firm.
“Lo?”
Shoulders pulled back, I force my jaw to relax. I wasted an hour on the phone attempting to sort out which of our client’s answers to the lifestyle interrogatories were the truth and which were full-out lies. I’m over it.
“I warned him. Told him that if he lied again, I’d hang up.”
With both hands thrown up, Brian rocks back in his chair. “All our clients lie to us, Lo. It’s practically a rule. Lie to your fucking attorney. And then expect them to magically fix all your fuck ups.”
I frown at him. I suppose it’s true in some sense.
In our line of work, we see people at their absolute worst. In most other types of law, in a courtroom with an attorney, people are on their best behavior.
But when it comes to divorce? The worst parts of them shine.
Especially in custody battles like Brian takes on.
Every misstep they’ve taken, every mistake, every poor choice, ends up on the pages of the filings.
I don’t envy the invasion of privacy they’re put through when I sift through years of personal messages and ask questions that in any other situation would be none of my business, so I tend to brush off flippant comments they make about their exes and what they’d do to them if they could get away with it.
But I can’t do my job without information. Honest information .
“The guy lied about going to college. Why ?”
A harsh chuckle slips past his lips. “Charlie does play fast and loose with the truth. “
I give him a deadpan look. “Charlie is a compulsive liar.”
“But he’s so nice about it. It’s hard to hate him,” he says. “The guy just smiles and shrugs and says, ‘ well, that ’ s not exactly the truth .’” Brian’s impression is terrifyingly good.
“You may like him, but I don’t,” I mutter.
The guy is a piece of work. And his custody issues are of his own making.
He and his wife convinced a doctor to diagnose him with schizophrenia so the state would pay for childcare for their youngest son.
It worked out well, but only until the wife filed for divorce and used Charlie’s mental instability as grounds for seeking full custody.
“I made it clear that he can call back when he’s ready to give me some honest answers to the hundred and eighty discovery questions we need to turn over to opposing counsel by next week.”
“I should probably ask for an extension.” He leans forward and wiggles his mouse, waking his computer.
“I was thinking a substitution of attorney.”
Smirking, he shakes his head. “I’d say Cal’s drama was rubbing off on you but you two have always been neck and neck when it comes to the battle for the title of most dramatic.”
I stick my tongue out at him.
“ Lola. ” The two syllables, sung so sweetly, that used to grate on my last nerve, now have the tension easing from my shoulders. “I have a surprise.”
“Oh, fuck me.” Brian slaps a hand to his face.
I peer over my shoulder, and my heart lurches. I whip around and take a step back. “Holy shit Cal is that a tiger? ”
The feline looks nothing like a tiger, really. It’s fluffy and dark gray, and its almost white mane makes it look like a lion. But the bright yellow eyes scream tiger.
“What is that?” Brian pushes to his feet, sending his chair rolling back.
“It’s Fuzzy Wuzzy.” He runs a hand down the beast’s back. “Our new Maine coon.”
“It-it’s huge,” I stutter. Lump in my throat, I can’t look away from the cat’s piercing yellow eyes. They hover near Cal’s waist even though all four of its enormous paws are planted firmly on the ugly gold carpet.
The feline tips its head, focusing those yellow eyes on my boss, its tongue flicking out, whiskers twitching.
“Is it safe?” Voice cracking, Brian takes another step back.
“He’s amazing. And I talked the guy down to five grand. That’s a steal for one of these gentle giants of the cat world,” Cal gushes. “Don’t you love him, Lola?”
I open my mouth but words don’t come out.
“You always wanted a cat.”
“Kitten,” I correct numbly. Dammit. My budget might have room for replacement plants and cheap fish, but there’s no way I can afford to replace this thing.
Brian makes a strangled sound. “Damn it, you did not spend five k on that awful beast.”
Cal covers the massive creature’s ears, thankfully not letting go of its— his —leash. “Shh. You’ll hurt his feelings. You know as well as I do that you can’t put a price on happiness.”
Brian rubs his eyes roughly with the heels of his hands, looking disheveled when he pulls them away. “Happiness?”
I rub at my sternum. “I’m not sure this feeling in my chest is one of happiness.”
Cal breaks into one of his devastating smiles. “Shhh, Lola, you’ll ruin it.” He releases the cat’s ears and tugs on the leash. “Come on Fuzzy Wuzzy, I’ll show you your new place. ”
For a solid minute, Brian and I stare silently at the empty doorway. When the floor creaks above us, I snap into action and stomp into Sully's office.
“Did you know?” I snap.
Sully looks up from his phone, frowning. “Know?”
I fight the urge to slap a hand over my face. Did this man seriously not notice when his brother paraded a zoo animal through the office? Sloane has always complained about how oblivious he is, but there’s no way he missed the massive cat.
“Yes.” I cross my arms and huff out a breath. “Did Cal tell you what he was doing?”
“Bloody hell.” Sully slumps in his chair. “What grand plan has the wanker come up with now?”
I scowl, suddenly hit with the urge to defend my guy against the insult. It dies quickly, though, when I remember the price of his new pet.
“Your brother bought a five-thousand-dollar cat,” Brian explains from the doorway.
“A cat that’s the size of a small horse,” I add.
Sully’s brows knit together in confusion. “Okay.” He draws out the word.
“Not okay,” I snap. “I can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on replacing a cat.
” I pace in front of his desk. “I have no idea how to bury a body. Yeah, I can flush the small ones, and I’ve tossed a few small flora corpses into the dumpster.
But a human-size cat?” I stop and whirl on Sully.
“How do I make that disappear without a trace?”
“There is a lot to unpack in that statement, Lo.” He rolls his lips and looks over my head at Brian.
“She’s talking about dead fish and house plants. Not people,” Brian clarifies. “She’s been covering up all the animal and…what’d you call it?” He arches a brow at me. “Flora? Deaths Cal is responsible for.”
My heart sinks. “He can’t know. ”
Sighing, Sully runs his hand over his face. “I’m gonna regret asking this, but, why ?”
“I have no idea.” Brian props a shoulder against the doorframe.
“Idiots.” Eyes closed, I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Cal thinks that taking care of plants and animals will help him learn how to be what Murphy needs. He’s using them to convince himself that he can be a good dad.
So they can’t die. Because he is a good— no he’s a great —dad .
” I ball my hands into fists. “The three of us will make sure he knows that. So this cat will not die.”
I jab a finger at Brian. “You will walk it every day.” I spin back to Sully. “You will feed it. And you’ll both take care of the litter box.”
“Fuck.” Brian shakes his head. “The litter box has got to be the size of a sandbox.”
“Probably. The thing is massive.”
Sully scoffs. “It can’t be that big.” He stands and rounds his desk. “Where is it?”
Brian tips his chin to the ceiling and Sully pushes past us, headed for the stairs at the back of the office. Silently we tramp up the steps, one after another.
At the top, Sully pushes the door open and immediately stumbles back. “Fuck me.”
I skirt around him just in time to see Fuzzy Wuzzy pounce on Cal, who’s sprawled out on the floor. The cat’s massive paws span the width of his chest, his claws long enough to shred the Oxford beneath them with one swipe.
“Where is Cal?” Brian steps into the room behind me.
“Under the monster.” Sully’s face is still a mask of shock, but his voice is subdued, as if he’s worried he’ll anger the beast if he’s too loud.
“Good one, Fuzzy. You got me.” Cal lifts his head and grins at us. “See how good Fuzzy Wuzzy is at this game. I knew he’d be the best cat ever.”
The huge cat stalks away, then quickly pounces again .
Cal grunts on impact. Maybe the cat really is playing, but that doesn’t stop my heart from lurching at the sight.
Sully turns to Brian. “What the fuck did he do?”
I pull my eyes off my boyfriend and his new pet and back toward the stairs. “I can’t take any more of this fun game. Remember your jobs.” With that, I spin on my heel and dart back to the office. I’ve dealt with enough chaos already this week.