One Chance

CHAPTER ONE

In a normal world, when your boyfriend dumps you, you curse a little, cry a lot and eat a ton of ice cream. Then you go about your life and never have to see him again. Starting the day after William ended our relationship, we spent our days avoiding looking at each other over conference room tables and communicating through third parties whenever possible. After four weeks of no eye contact and avoiding being alone together, I was on the verge of screaming or quitting. Or maybe both.

I was in a particularly bitter mood during a meeting that happened to be taking place on Valentine’s Day. Our CFO, Steve, was going over some financial concerns, but I barely heard him. I kept my eyes focused on the paperwork in front of me. William was leaning back in the chair across the table, flipping through a financial report.

“Are these numbers accurate?” he asked Steve, stabbing a long finger at the paper.

My face grew hot as I thought for too long about that finger and all the places it had been, both on and in my body. When I finally allowed myself to glance up, I caught William watching me. He looked away immediately, but the damage was already done.

“Those numbers would be much higher if you would stop turning away potential clients, Connor.” Steve was still angry that William had refused to represent a philandering abuser who happened to be a Senator.

“Well, Steve, you’ll be happy with the prospect that is coming in tomorrow.” William rolled up his paperwork and tapped the table with it. “We’ve got a Major League baseball player coming in that is being accused of doping. Apparently he’s part of a larger group. Could be a windfall for us.”

“Good. I hope they’re all guilty.” Steve wasn’t trying to be an asshole. We all knew that guilty people were willing to pay more.

“Olivia, do you have the Henderson file ready?” William’s voice was distinctly more guarded when he addressed me.

“It’s ready. I’ll drop it by your office later.” I really didn’t want to stop by William’s office but I didn’t have much choice.

“Sooner would be preferred over later,” he snapped.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, William.”

I heard everyone in the room suck in a breath. No one talked to William Connor like that. Frankly, no one at Gravity even called him William. I knew that he was glaring at me but I refused to look at him.

“We’re done here.” William rose smoothly to his feet.

I stayed in my seat long after he had gone. On his way out of the room, Dan turned to me. “Connor’s just in a bad mood because of the lawsuit. Try not to let it get to you.”

“Lawsuit?” My head snapped up.

Dan looked surprised. “I assumed you knew. I thought you and Tara were friends.”

“We were, until she got fired. She sort of blamed me for that.” It had been a couple of months since William had let her go. She had found out about our relationship and accused me of being responsible her departure.

“Well, now she’s suing for wrongful termination. She claims that Connor was sleeping with somebody at Gravity and that she found out about it so he fired her.” Dan shrugged. “Sounds like a crazy soap opera if you ask me.”

Something clicked in the back of my brain. “When did the lawsuit get filed?”

“About a month ago, I think.” Dan noticed that I had gone pale. “Don’t worry, Harris. I’m sure it won’t amount to anything. Our jobs are secure.”

My job was the last thing on my mind. Everything made sense now. I hurried back to my office and grabbed the stack of papers for the Henderson case. William had requested it now, so I was going to deliver.

He was sitting at his desk when I stormed into the room and slammed his office door shut. I dropped the papers onto his desk with a loud thud.

“Here’s the damn file,” I said, one hand on my hip.

William started riffling through the papers I had just deposited. “You can’t talk to me like this, Olivia. You might be mad at me personally, but you have to be professional in the office.”

“For fuck sake, William.” I was trying so hard to get a reaction from him- any reaction. But William had mastered the art of remaining cool.

“I mean it. If you’re going to throw a hissy fit, just go home.” William started making notes on one of the court documents.

I grabbed his pen out of his hand and said, “Why didn’t you tell me that Tara is suing you?”

He reached for another pen and resumed his note taking. “I was advised by my lawyer not to discuss it with anyone who works at Gravity.”

I had known William long enough and observed him closely enough to know when he was on the edge of losing control. He was seconds away. “Look at me, William. Please.”