Page 13 of Sweet (Chicago Underground 7)
“Do you remember the first case I took for Philip?”
Years ago, when my brother was making the transition from small-time “problem solver” to an actual businessman. Some lowlifes we knew from the old neighborhood had sued him. Honest to God served him papers. Philip had wanted to do more than make it go away. He’d wanted to teach them a lesson.
That was where Drew came in, a young hotshot working at a prestigious firm in a fancy skyscraper. He must have had an enviable paycheck and salary, and for the first time, I wondered why he’d left. Philip was persuasive, but Drew wasn’t easily blinded by flashy lights.
“Your brother showed up with an attitude and a fat wallet. None of the partners wanted to touch his case, but they weren’t about to turn down his money. So he got assigned to me.”
“I bet you were thrilled,” I said, thinking of how damn angry Philip had been back then. Still was, but he hid it behind expensive clothes and expensive cars and a disdain I might actually believe if I didn’t know him so well.
“I complained to my bosses, but I was still the new kid, no matter that I’d begun to make a name for myself. So we were stuck with each other. I was a cocky little shit, thinking I was the biggest thing to hit the Chicago law scene in the last decade. And your brother was…your brother.”
“But you must have gotten over it, since he hired you.”
“It took a while. He kept wanting me to lie and break the rules for him, and I told him there was no way in hell I was going to jail for a shithead punk. So he punched me in the face.”
“No,” came out in a gasp, even though, of course he had. Of course.
“Which would have been my out. I could have gone upstairs and showed them my black eye, and the guy would most likely have been bumped as a client. At the very least, I wouldn’t have had to work with him anymore.”
“Instead?”
“I punched him back.”
A groan escaped me, even though I knew the story had a happy ending. I’d certainly never seen the two ever bicker, much less fight.
“Not my finest moment, getting caught in a full-out brawl in my office by a senior partner. I got fired, and Philip’s case got reassigned to another junior attorney at the firm. And he lost. The guy fucked it up, even though we should have won, and everyone knew it.”
What a disaster. Yeah, Philip had left all this out when he’d told me he’d hired a lawyer. “What did you do?”
“I was more pissed about losing the case than anything. And your brother hates to lose even more than I do.”
“A match made in heaven.”
“So that was his pitch. He approached me a few weeks later. Neither of us mentioned the fight. He said, ‘Let’s beat the bastards next time.’ I told him to triple his offer, and here we are.”
“And you’ve never gotten into a fight again,” I said wonderingly.
“Not yet, although if there was ever a reason, I’m sure calling his sister in the dead of night to convince her to take off her panties counts.”
Before I could respond to that, he continued.
“The first day I came to work, he asked me what I thought my job was. I said to keep his business safe from the people who wanted to bring it down. He said no. My job was the same as his, to keep his family safe. You and Colin. I may have been stupid and hot-tempered then, but I took that seriously.”
My chest seemed too small, my heart overfull. He had kept us safe all this time. He wasn’t the one installing the alarm system, but the work he did for Philip was designed to keep the businesses running smoothly and the family secure.
We took for granted that if something needed to be done, Drew would help. Hell, he was part of the family. He was the only one unrelated to us who had Philip’s implicit trust—and mine.
And if that trust were shattered? a voice whispered in my head. It would be my fault.
“I don’t want to mess things up between you and him.”
“I’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
I wasn’t sure about that, but my thoughts lingered on the promising legal career he’d given up. “Does it bother you, doing illegal things?”
“I don’t really.”
Snorting, I said, “Save it for someone who believes that.”
