Chasing Her Curves

“Yes.” He nodded slowly. “But we all have faith in you, Mr. Vance. We know you’re working hard to turn things around.”

“Thanks.” I smiled and pointed towards my office. “I guess I should get to it.”

I wore a liar’s smile. I carried a fool’s hope. I was a total fucking fraud. I had no idea how to turn things around at Vale Investments. Every day that I tried was another exercise in futility. With Harmony’s departure approaching, it was finally time to make things right. I would meet the other two guys she cared about. I wasn’t meeting them because I had any significant thoughts about winning her away from them or even trying. I just wanted to make sure they cared about her because they would have to take care of Harmony when I was gone.

She deserves it. She’s a saint.

I wished I could hit the reset button and go back to college. I wished I had never come back to New York and saw all the people that relied on me. If the company went bankrupt due to my negligence and I never saw what was at stake, I might have slept with something that resembled peace in my dreams. Instead, I was staring at a nightmare in every direction. I worked through the day, made the same bad choices I usually did because research didn’t equal intuition, and prepared to go home for the night. It might be the very last time Harmony’s beautiful smile was waiting on me. I intended to savor the last few moments that belonged to us. The other side of it was scarier than what I had to face when it was over.

“Nate!” Harmony pulled away from my hand and hugged a large tattooed stranger in front of me.

“No hug for me?” A tall stranger with dark, intense eyes glared at the exchange.

“Of course I’ve got one for you.” She broke her embrace and he took her in his arms. “Devlin—Nate. I’d like you to meet Connor.”

The ride to the restaurant had felt like a trip to the gallows. The brief trip to paradise had been a dream come true with the woman that got away, but it was coming to an end. She wasn’t mine to hold forever. She was my brief distraction and those that had stepped in and taken her heart before I got the chance were not going to let her go. I understood it. It was why I had to meet them. I would have switched places with either of them, even if the dark fantasies she had were a bit more than I thought I would enjoy. I found myself feeling like the odd man out as she reconnected with her past lovers, even when she introduced me. I could see apprehension in their eyes. In a way, that was a good thing. They at least cared about her enough to proceed with caution when they met me.

“This is going to be awkward, isn’t it?” Harmony looked at the three of us.

“Let’s try to make it less awkward.” Nate smiled. “I think some drinks would help.”

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; “Absolutely.” Devlin nodded quickly.

“That’s one thing I can agree on—hopefully the first of many.” I motioned to our waitress.

Harmony booked a private room for us at the back of the restaurant. It worked out well, considering the situation. The waitress brought our drinks fairly quickly. Nate went for a beer, Devlin asked for Scotch whiskey, and I had vodka. Harmony had been drinking vodka with me for the last week, but she went with a martini. Once our drinks were served, I decided to share my story with the group. Harmony had already shared their story with me, so I figured it was a good place to start. They listened intently, but Nate seemed to be confused by the whole thing. Devlin paid careful attention, leaning in and tilting his head. When I got to the part about my father’s trust and the way it was set up, he had a perplexed look on his face.

“That’s an interesting predicament.” He shook his head and sighed. “I’ve heard of a trust set up like that before.”

“You have?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“Yes.” He nodded. “I did a consultation for a man from Italy that was trying to find a loophole in a bloodline-trust.”

“A bloodline-trust?” I tilted my head to the side.

“They date back to Victorian times. They were originally set up as a way to protect families that had considerable wealth. They protected direct heirs from claims by those that married into the family, especially when women didn’t have as many rights as they do now. A bloodline-trust would ensure that the assets were protected in the event of a divorce, or a scoundrel that simply married someone for their money. Most notably, they were designed to make sure the male heirs in the bloodline always got the money. Society has evolved a lot since then, so most of them are rather obsolete these days. They’re not difficult to challenge in a court if nobody else is staking a claim.” He lifted his drink and sipped it.

“You seem to know a lot about this…” I stared at Devlin suspiciously. “What is that you do exactly?”

“I’m a contract lawyer.” He chuckled. “I used to be one of the best, but these days I generally just do consultations.”

“Wait.” Harmony put her hand on the table. “That’s it!”

“What?” Nate looked at her with a blank stare.

“This is why Angelina brought us together.” Her voice lifted and she had a hint of excitement. “This is it! Connor’s life is tied to this trust. Devlin, you can fix this, right?”

“Well, don’t get excited quite yet.” Devlin shook his head rapidly. “A bloodline-trust is almost impossible to break. The guy I helped before spent a lot of money for my services, but in the end, we didn’t find a conventional solution that would allow him to break it.”

“Yeah.” I exhaled sharply and reached for my drink. “I’ve had the best contract lawyers in New York look at the trust. There’s no way out of it as long as I draw breath.”

“Hold on now.” Devlin smiled. “I said almost impossible. If you’ve got some time tomorrow, I’d love to get a crack at it. My ego took a hit when I had to give up on the last one. I’d love a shot at redemption.”

“See!” Harmony’s voice got excited again. “It isn’t completely impossible.”

“Well, Devlin.” I sipped my vodka. “The one thing I have is time—actually, it’s all I have at this point, even if the clock is ticking away.”