Forever Blake (Once Upon a Player Book 3) by Elena Matthews (free books to read .TXT) 📗

best law firms in the country, but as soon as they heard from Chase that I was no longer with Sullivan-Gould, they swooped in immediately.

Apparently, they tried to call me, but when I was living my hermit lifestyle, I switched off my cell and unplugged my home phone too. Thank God for my sister. She really saved me from the reality of having to live like a hobo for the rest of my life. I’ve also been told that with my impressive billables, I’ll be on track to becoming a senior partner within a couple of years. I know; it’s crazy. It almost feels unreal, like I’m dreaming, and I’m in that dreamlike state during my drive home in my Porsche.

I just wish I could share my news with Ever.

I get my real dose of reality when I finally get home. As I step off the elevator in my building, I see the last person I ever expected to see, waiting for me at my front door.

Edwin Sullivan.

I warily approach, my broken nose physically throbbing at the anticipation of being punched by him again.

“What do you want?” I ask as bluntly as possible.

“I’m here to talk.”

“Well, I think you did enough talking for the both of us when you punched me in the face. So, I’ll pass, thank you. Plus, I did everything you’d asked. I’m no longer with Reagan, so I can no longer taint her with my god-awful whorishness.” I know I sound bitter, and that’s because I am.

I might have a new job, but my heart is still as broken as my fucking nose. I still miss my soul mate, but unless I want to see myself in jail, I can’t be within a foot of her. Though I doubt she’d want to see me. I hurt her pretty badly the last time I saw her.

“That’s why I’m here.”

“What?” I ask, taken aback by his words.

“I fucked up, Blake.” He lets out a tiresome sigh, and my ears prick up with intrigue.

“I’m listening.”

“Can we go inside?”

I shake my head. “No, out here is just fine with me.”

He nods his head. “Okay. Reagan…she’s in a bad way. She isn’t talking to me, and she hasn’t turned up for work at the office or at Happy Hours. I spoke to Louise, and Reagan’s currently holed up at her mom’s house. She won’t get out of bed. I’m afraid she’s depressed, and she told her mom she doesn’t want to go to Harvard anymore, that she doesn’t want to practice law. She said it’s filled with cynical, spineless motherfuckers and she wants no part of it.”

“She kind of has a point,” I say, talking about both of us since I’m guessing she was aiming that insult at us.

“When I learned about you two, I thought the worst. I thought it was a fling and that she was just with you to…I don’t know…piss me off.”

Wow, who knew there were daddy issues there?

“I can safely say, it wasn’t anything to do with you.”

“I know that now. I hate that she’s suffering because of me, but I thought I was protecting her. Instead, I broke her heart by blackmailing you.”

“Yeah, you did…but so did I.”

“I can’t be the reason she doesn’t go to Harvard Law. It’s been her dream since she was a little girl.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re here, Edwin.”

“I’m here to fix things.”

“Well, there’s definitely one thing you can’t fix, and that’s my nose,” I gibe, unable to help myself.

“I know, and I’m sorry about that, but I’m here to fix everything else.”

“Fix things how?”

“First, I have a question to ask you—with a possible follow-up question.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Do you love my daughter?”

I don’t have to think about my answer; it just automatically comes off my tongue. “I do, with all my heart.”

“Second question: would you ever hurt her?”

I shake my head. “Never—at least, never again.”

“Then, you have my blessing.”

“Wait, what?” I have to blink several times to check that I’m hearing this right.

“I’m giving you my blessing. My daughter obviously loves you, and you clearly love her, especially since she’s the only woman to truly make you pussy-whipped, as you kids like to say it.”

Though I’m still pissed with Edwin for the way he treated me, I can’t keep the bubble of laughter from escaping my lips. “Um, you do realize how weird that sounds, you saying that about your own daughter?”

He thinks hard at that, and then his eyes widen a second later when he finally gets it. “Oh Christ, I didn’t think it was a literal meaning. I thought it was a figure of speech.”

I shake my head. “I’m afraid not.”

“Okay, well, forget I said that.”

I let out a small breath of laughter before it subsides, and my anger for him returns.

“I appreciate your blessing—I do—but you really hurt me.” I decide to lay it out for him, tell it to him straight. “The things you said? I never anticipated you of all people to treat me like that. I’ve always been loyal to you. I mean, I always knew you probably wouldn’t take Reagan and me being together very well, but how you behaved, I don’t think I can just forget about that.”

“I know, Blake. The things I said are unforgivable, and I am sorry. I’ve thought a lot about that day, and if I could take it back, I would. You should know, that’s not really how I see you.”

“You might not anymore, but those words came from somewhere—somewhere real. But the person you described, the fuckboy with a reputation? I’m no longer that man. I haven’t been since I met Reagan. You probably don’t know this, but we met before she became my intern. I didn’t even know she was your daughter until she walked into your office the morning she started.”

He nods. “Reagan’s mom told me.”

“So, I wasn’t some seedy manager, coming on to her, taking advantage of her. I’m fairly certain I fell in love with her the minute I saw her.”

“Well, I