Bare Devotion. Geri Krotow

He shot down her attempt to interrupt him with a flick of his hand. “You made your choice. And you’ve decided to continue on at this firm. I’m guessing that’s so that you can make your share of the money to fix the house, right?” He waited for her slight nod. “We both need to raise the funds to get the house rehabbed well enough to sell. Fine, I get it. But don’t think for one minute that there is anything other than our working relationship at stake. We’ve always enjoyed that, correct? And I’m willing to work with you, until the day you decide to leave the firm. Because, let’s face it, I’m not going anywhere. This is my family firm. You, you’ll go out on your own or take a better offer elsewhere. That’s okay. Until then I expect the best you have to offer, and for you to kindly refrain from referring to what we shared on a personal level. It’s over.”

      Sonja stared at the man who’d hung the moon for her and only saw the stamp of Boudreaux on his expression. The same look his father had when she’d told him to take the money and referral he’d offered her to quit when she and Henry announced their engagement and shove them up his tight white racist ass. He’d never fire her, not as a black woman in his otherwise very white, very male firm. And regardless of his racist views, Sonja brought in a lot of business for their firm that they’d otherwise never catch. She’d expected Henry’s father to give her a hard time, but not so much Henry.

      She’d been a fool.

      “Our professional relationship never had anything to do with our personal life. Why should it now?”

      Henry didn’t respond but instead glared at her. He may as well have thrown a machete at her for how his silent gesture pained her.

      The door clicked open, and Alesia entered with trays of lunch food, followed by two clients and Rick, the firm’s other NOLA attorney.

      As she and Henry stood to greet them she eyed her almost-husband. Her ex-fiancé. The man who’d broken her heart.

      Henry was tall and professional-looking, whether dressed in a classic suit as he was now or in cargo shorts and a T-shirt. He’d been born to inherit his father’s firm, a lawyer’s mind part of his gene pool. And until their wedding weekend, she hadn’t seen that he’d also inherited the insatiable need to make everything appear perfect. Hence the pristine wedding they’d almost gone through with. Henry wasn’t a people-pleaser though, especially not to his parents. He’d bucked their sensibilities and desires by choosing to marry her, a black woman from a bayou family. Henry had never seen her as anything other than the woman he’d decided to marry. She believed that.

      What Henry had refused to see, however, was that his father was never going to leave the firm to Henry as long as Sonja was his wife. The firm was going to be dissolved and all of his father’s money locked up in trust funds for future grandchildren, be it theirs or his siblings’. Sonja didn’t care about the financials for her, but she cared for Henry. He deserved more, and his constant state of denial with his parents drove her nuts. Henry’s younger brother, Gus, had formed his own life with his shipbuilding business in New Orleans, and Henry’s sister, Jena, was very much her own person.

      Henry’s younger sister was a social worker who thrived on her job in New Orleans, but she was also in the U.S. Navy reserves and often traveled overseas. Jena had missed the un-wedding because she was somewhere in South America doing who knew what kind of operations for the government. She hadn’t gone to law school; neither had Henry’s younger brother, Brandon, always “Gus” to Henry.

      It wasn’t about the money, which was significant, but about family legacy. Henry was the man to change it, to turn the law firm into a contemporary, relevant part of the community, serving diverse clients and causes. He saw that corporate law didn’t have to mean serving the same good ol’ boys his father had.

      But Henry would never have the chance to improve upon his family legacy if she were around...unless he’d taken her up on her suggestion that they start his own family firm. She remembered offering her opinion after work last Christmastime. He’d looked at her like she had horns growing out of her head, so she’d dropped it. Thought Henry would come around to seeing he needed to start his own legacy. She’d been wrong. Henry was too loyal to the Boudreaux legacy. His father might be a jerk, but one of his great-grandfathers had worked to rebuild a free South after the Civil War. Henry wanted that to be his legacy.

      The younger siblings had gotten the hell away from the family dynasty. But not Henry. Henry needed to be part of his father’s legacy in a way the other two didn’t. Because Sonja saw this, saw the need in the man she loved so desperately, she’d had no choice but to back out of their marriage. She’d do anything for Henry’s happiness, and Henry would never be happy without knowing he’d made a difference in what his father had begun.

      He’d never forgive her for leaving him the way she did, and that was all right. Sonja didn’t want Henry’s forgiveness. She’d wanted his love, understanding, and trust, but her expectations had been too much.

      Henry didn’t have it to give. And just as well—she hadn’t been completely honest with him. All of the discussions she’d had with his parents, no matter how acrimonious, should have been relayed to him.

      And as she watched him, the one man she’d ever pinned all her hopes on, she had to face the cold hard truth. She was as unworthy of trust as Henry.

      Chapter 4

      Sonja was relieved beyond measure when the business meeting with the McNeelys wrapped up early. She needed a break and ducked out of the office to meet her best friend Poppy Kaminsky for a quick cuppa.

      The promise of Poppy’s soothing presence made her pick up her pace, eager for the solace only a best friend can give. Poppy wasn’t in the café yet, so Sonja gave her order at the counter. When Sonja turned to find a table, Poppy walked in the door and offered her signature full-wattage smile.

      Sonja waved. “Hi, boo.”

      “Hey, girlfriend.” Poppy enveloped her in a hug, and Sonja soaked up every last drop of affection from the woman who’d been with her through thick and thin. Poppy took a step back and gave Sonja a once-over.

      “Geez, Sonja, you look good, really good. Even though I know you’re feeling like hell.” Poppy’s wonder was evident in her open expression, the way she looked Sonja up and down like she was some kind of suffering fool.

      Which she was.

      “I’m okay. I’ll save us a table while you get your order.”

      They sat at the tiny table, and Sonja waited for Poppy to ask the obvious.

      “So you haven’t told him about the baby yet?” Poppy didn’t disappoint as she eyed Sonja over the frothiest cappuccino Sonja had ever seen.

      “I couldn’t this morning. I tried to, at the house. I stopped in to take a look at it, and Henry showed up. And then so did Deidre.” She filled Poppy in on the Deidre scene, and the more awful exchange she and Henry had in the master bathroom. Poppy took it all in, compassion evident in her large eyes. Sonja couldn’t stand the feeling of being pitied and squirmed in her seat. “You know, Poppy, if that foam was any higher you’d fall in it.” Sonja preferred to keep their conversation on the light side, but nothing was ever that simple with her college roommate and soul sister. Poppy saw through Sonja’s bullshit and was never afraid to call her on it.

      “Stop deflecting.” Poppy’s eyes were sharp. “The baby. You should have told him by now. How do you know that crazy bitch isn’t going to try to move in on him? Or do something else to scare you?”

      “You mean like leave a squirrel boiling on my stove?”

      Poppy’s eyes widened in recognition. “Yes. It’s not funny, Sonja. You said yourself you think something’s not right with her. Take it from me, there’s a lot more going on there. I should know—I went pretty crazy myself when I found out my ex was cheating on me. She could be a real psycho, though. Look what she did showing up in front of you like that at the wedding.”

      “You did your share of over-the-top tantrums in front of your ex’s family,