“We can talk about that later. It’s after ten o’clock. By the time we shower, get dressed, and check out, it will be time to go to the airport.”

After we went by FedEx to mail my things, we headed for the airport, checked in, and boarded the plane. Both Reggie and Elle texted. Lea called. I checked my text messages one last time before turning off my phone. I reviewed the last message Mac sent.

“Domestic turbulence.” He had put it so eloquently. If only my heart could be subjected to two hours of being bounced around, changing altitudes, and bumpy landings. I had stepped through the eye of the needle but was still bracing for the legal and emotional storms ahead.

When we landed, we went straight to Griffin’s. Henry was waiting for us. Griffin deposited my bags in the spare bedroom. Henry hugged me tightly. “I fixed you something to eat. You need to keep your strength up. You have a meeting in the morning at nine with Jake. Be ready, it might not be pretty.”

I had a hard time letting him go. I whispered in my brother’s ear, “I feel like a colossal fuck-up.” He squeezed me tighter.

“Don’t worry. We’ve all been there,” he said.

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Six

As Henry warned, it wasn’t pretty. Jake Fein’s office was situated in the heart of Buckhead, very close to NOIR. I nudged Henry. “How convenient for you to be within walking distance of your attorney’s office.” It was too sarcastic considering my own legal troubles. The boys accompanied me for moral support, but I would meet with Jake alone. Jake’s office resembled Larissa’s in that it was a glass office building, but Larissa and Jake were different creatures. Larissa wore her hair in a neat bob. She had patrician looks and did Armani suits justice. Jake was younger, about the boys’ age. Instead of a suit, Jake breezed in wearing a pair of gray slacks and a tailored shirt. Confidence followed him as assuredly as the smells of a turkey from the oven on Thanksgiving morning. He strolled to the head of the conference table as if it were a foregone conclusion. What he lacked in patrician looks, he made up for in charm and dimples. You could just tell this guy was a street fighter, and he liked it that way. As confident as I felt with Larissa, I felt that level of confidence in Jake. So, this is what it meant to be “lawyered up.”

I started talking. “I want Elliott to give me my money back,” I began.

“Understood. But before we get started, let me lay down the ground rules, Bailey,” he began, as cool as the chilled cucumber soup Griffin served on July afternoons.