Jagged (Colorado Mountain 5)

The instant they did, his feet took him there.

He walked through the door and saw that Nina Maxwell’s law offices weren’t swank but they were comfortable and understatedly plush. They were also professional. They were such that you walked in and instantly felt whoever worked there could sort your shit.

For it being such a shit day, it was still his lucky day because there was a receptionist behind the desk and Nina was standing at her side.

Both of their eyes came to him, Nina’s immediately concerned, the receptionist’s welcoming.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“I know him, Nance,” Nina murmured to her receptionist as she walked around the desk, a welcoming smile on her lips but it was wary. “Reece, this is a surprise.”

Her eyes were scanning his face and he knew what she saw seeing as he wasn’t hiding it.

“You got a second?” he asked when she stopped close.

Her head tipped to the side. “I’ll make one.”

“Neens, I’m sorry, but you have an eight-thirty appointment,” the receptionist reminded her and Nina looked to her at the same time she wrapped her fingers around Reece’s bicep and moved them to a side hall.

“Do me a favor. When they arrive, get them coffee and ask them to wait a spell. I’ll try not to take long,” Nina told the receptionist and led Reece into the hall.

She dropped his arm, guided them to a door, and moved them through to an office with a decent view of the mountains and the biggest desk he’d ever seen in his life.

He heard the door click and Nina ask, “Is Zara okay?”

Reece turned to watch her walk to the desk, not behind it, in front of it where she leaned her h*ps against the edge. She wasn’t assuming a position of authority or dominance. Her position was open, friendly; this was a chat among friends.

Said a lot about her.

What said more was that she wore a tight skirt, stylish blouse, sexy spike-heeled pumps, and nice jewelry that added personality to a sexy but professional package. She wasn’t a knockout but she was very pretty and with that hair, those eyes, those clothes, all of it screaming high-maintenance, she was a challenge many men would accept.

But getting to know her last night, she was a whole lot more. Nina was so goddamned smart it was borderline scary and she was able to speak her mind. A fact she’d demonstrated repeatedly.

In other words, not easy. Not even close. Attractive. Sexy. Stimulating. Cute as all f**k.

But not easy.

Reece knew it’d take a man like her husband to accept that challenge. And watching them together last night, Holden Maxwell lucked out he got hold of that spitfire and his wife lucked out she’d landed a man who got off on her not-unappealing brand of shit.

“She is now,” he answered. “She’s sleepin’. In a couple hours, she will not be.”

“I’m assuming you care to explain that since you’re here,” she noted in her also not-unappealing voice with its English accent.

“And I’m assumin’ with you two thick as thieves last night that you’re tight with my woman,” Reece returned.

She nodded. “We’re close, yes.”

“Then you know about her dad and her sister.”

“Yes,” she replied.

“All about it?”

“Yes, Reece.”

“Do you know about her dad?” Reece pushed.

It sounded like the same question, but if she knew, she’d know it wasn’t.

She studied him carefully. It took her a moment to trust him and he saw her body go tight with awareness before she spoke cautiously.

“If you mean about the physical and mental abuse, then… yes.”

“I mean that,” Reece confirmed.

Nina nodded.

“You know her sister was pregnant?”

Her face softened, sadness came into her eyes, and she replied, “Yes, Reece, I know that, too.”

Zara had shared, which meant she was still torn up about her nephew.

Back then, he’d held her as she cried. They’d stayed up past dawn, drinking beer, shooting vodka, and processing what she was going to do about it and, when she came to the realization she had no money and no power, he’d helped her accept that. Helped her accept her sister might still be breathing with the aid of machines, but she was still gone. Then he’d helped her figure out how she would move on.

And she had moved on.

But looking at Nina, he knew she also hadn’t.

“Xavier Cinders, Zara’s father, did not put that boy up for adoption. He placed him with his sister one county over. And right now, I’m hiring you to start proceedings to get custody of her nephew.”

He kept talking through her gasp as she straightened away from the desk and her eyes got big.

When he was done talking, she asked, “He didn’t put him up for adoption?”

“No, he did not.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed.

“Yeah,” Reece agreed. “Now you know that, you and me gotta get down to it. Life I led, didn’t need money, made it and saved it so I had a lot of it. Coupla months ago, Zara’s old house came up to auction from the bank. I bought it.”

Her mouth dropped open.

Reece ignored that and kept talking.

“Needed cash to make that buy, used nearly all I had. So we’ll need you to help us out and let us pay installments.”

“I… you… of course, but”—her mouth quirked—“you bought her house?”

“Appreciate if you don’t tell her that. It’s taken some time for her to sort out her head, we just got where I want us to be. We still got things to get through, we need time to get used to each other again, and I’d like to ask her to marry me there, so it would suck, you f**ked that surprise.”

She shook her head quickly side to side. “I… no, I would—” She stopped abruptly to swallow a giggle, and then she went on. “I would never do that, Reece.”

“Obliged,” he muttered. “Now, this kid’s name is Zander Cinders. I know he’s in a private school one county over and he’s with a woman named Wilona. Her maiden name will be Cinders but I don’t know if she’s married. I learned this shit from Mick, so you might wanna have a chat with him. But whatever legal shit you gotta do to start this ball rollin’, do it. I’ll be in with Zara after I break this news and some other f**ked-up shit she’s gotta know.”

“What other f**ked-up shit?” Nina asked and Reece drew in a deep breath.