All In: Playing the Fool (Gambling With Love) (24 page)

Lacy

On Thursday at lunch I walked into the sub shop to pick up my and Joe's order. I had to do a double take at the table of women near the front window. They were the three DA’s from lunch the other day, one of which was the redhead Joe wanted. I'd have to stop by and do some gossiping to help Joe out.

"Hey ladies, how's it going?" I asked with a smile after I paid for our food.          

Two of the women, Veronica and Theresa I think, smiled and greeted me warmly, while all I got was an icy look from Katie.

"Hey, it was Lacy right?" Veronica asked, and I nodded.

"If I remember correctly, you're Veronica, Theresa, and oh shoot…was it Katie?" I asked, pretending to have to think hard to recall her name.

They responded in the affirmative.

"Do you want to sit and have lunch with us?" Theresa asked. I liked her already.

"Sure, if you don't mind. Joe got held up in a DWI trial so I was just going to eat without him."

"So you and Joe Cool are together, huh?" Veronica asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I mean as soon as I started working for him we hit it off pretty quickly."

"If you don't mind me saying, he is a fine man, and one of the hottest attorneys. He just oozes swagger. He has another nickname with the women in our office. We all think he looks like Orlando Bloom."

Now that they mentioned it, I could see that, especially since his hair was a little on the shaggy side, needing a haircut. 

"Actually," I said, leaning forward as if to tell them a secret. "His body is a helluva lot more ripped than Orlando's."

"Really?" Veronica asked.

"Oh yeah. He goes to the gym after work almost every night. Well, he's missed quite a few nights recently," I told them honestly. The man even had a personal trainer. A trainer who was pissed because Joe kept standing him up to fuck me and forgetting to call and cancel. He'd even threatened to quit if Joe no showed again. My face warmed, which was helpful for showing I wasn't bull shitting about me and Joe.

"He's so…aggressive in the courtroom, it's pretty hot to watch. And we all hate going up against him," Theresa commented. "He's damn distracting."

"Oh, he's aggressive out of the courtroom too. I mean the man seriously blows my mind, and in his office he gets all bossy with his sexy orders that I can't wait to obey."

"So are things getting serious with him? We've never seen him date anyone before," Theresa asked.

"I think casual is the best way to describe us, which is fine with me since I just got out of a long relationship. It's fun and all with Joe, but I'm pretty sure there's someone else he's interested in."

"Really?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, I don't know who but I think she might be an attorney in town too."

"Well, I don't know a single woman that would turn him down," Theresa laughed.

"I would," Katie spoke up for the first time. "He's an asshole." I was certain she had a case of the lady doth protest too much

"Katie!" Veronica and Theresa exclaimed.

"He is, and his clients are a bunch of creeps and pervs." I winced at that, since I was also one of his current clients after the trouble Will and I got into.

"Katie just doesn't like going up against him because she's afraid she'll lose."

"You'd be surprised at the realistic perspective he has, but usually hides from his clients. Besides, he's not happy as a defense attorney. He's looking for a new job."

"He is? What does he want to do?" Veronica asked.

"He's actually talked about becoming a prosecutor and eventually running for a judgeship."

"Wow. I don’t know if the women in our office could handle working side by side with him."

"I wouldn't work with him," Katie said with a tight lipped expression. "They'd have to fire me first."

"Shoot, you wouldn't have to worry about that. The girls in the office would line up to second chair his trials. Sorry Lacy," Theresa said.

"Oh, you're fine. Like I said, we're not serious. I wouldn't care if he wanted to date other women. I'm actually applying to television stations out of town and out of state, so I probably won't be here much longer." There, I'd gossiped him up and provided the message that we're not serious.

The thought of leaving Greensboro did make me sad. Will wouldn't leave his friends and family, and it's not like we're serious either. I knew for a fact long distance relationships didn't work. It hit me that I'd really miss Will if I couldn't see him anymore. Of course I'd miss Joe too, but in a different way.        

That's when I looked up and saw Joe walk past the front window and head inside the sub shop.

"Speak of the devil," Katie muttered.

"Hey, Joe," we all greeted him.

“Ladies,” he nodded to them. "Hey, baby. I got out earlier than I thought. You've already got our lunch?" Joe asked me, then leaned down for a quick kiss on the lips.

"Sure have."

"Good, that'll free up our lunch break for…even better things," he said with a sexy smile stretching across his face. "Let's go." He brushed his lips against my ear and ran his hands down my arms as all three woman watched with mouths agape.

Once again, Katie's cheeks reddened and she quickly looked away when I glanced at her. 

"I was just telling them you might soon be leaving defense work behind," I said to Joe.

"That’s right," Joe straightened behind me and beamed. "Abe Ryans put in a good word for me with DA Cardwell for the opening on the felony, violent crimes team."

"You've got to be kidding," Katie muttered.

"Not kidding. And who knows, Katie. In a few years I might even be your boss," he told her with a smug smile. She was downright indignant, but Joe grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the shop before she could respond.

"So how did your trial go?" I asked as we walked back to the office.

"Dismissed before it started, no probable cause."

"Oh good. Jason's blood alcohol was at the legal limit, right?"

"Yep, and the judge found that the cop didn't have cause to stop him," Joe said while typing out something on his phone.                                                         

"Awesome."

We decided to eat our subs in Joe's office, but only after Joe laid me out on his desk, feasted on me, and then fucked me first.

While he was in the restroom his cell phone that was sitting on his desk started pinging with messages. Messages from Will according to the notice box that appeared on the home screen. One of which said, "
That was damn hot"
and another that said,
"You better be careful or your coworkers and her dad will hear her.
"

What the hell? Was he talking about me? I unlocked Joe's phone, uncaring that I was being nosy. I needed to know what those messages were about.

I went to the chat log between Will and Joe and started scrolling through their old conversations. My food went sour in my stomach the more I read until I thought I was going to be sick. It sounded a lot like Joe had been fucking me in front of his webcams and notifying Will in advance so he could watch us.
How could they
?

The tears started falling down my face as I looked around the office and finally noticed the small circular lens of the camera, looking inconspicuous on a black stand beside one of Joe's computer speakers.

The office door opened with Joe's return. I slung his phone at him, hitting him in the chest before it bounced to the floor.

"What the hell, Lacy?" he asked, bending down to pick up his phone.

"What the
fuck
, Joe?" I responded. "How
dare you
let him watch us without telling me?"

He paled and looked down on his phone, noticing where I'd left the messages open.

"Lacy, it's not what you think."

"So it's not you broadcasting to him live while you fuck me, without me knowing about it?"

He held his hands up in front of him as if in surrender. "Okay, it is that, but not why you think. How do you expect Will to feel about you fucking me and Chad? How would you feel if he was doing the same with other women? Wouldn’t you want to see, to know for sure that it didn't mean anything?"

"That is one sorry ass explanation. I trusted you! Even when I didn't think I could trust anyone else, I trusted
you
!" I yelled, before storming past him and getting the hell out of his office.

Thankfully Jess was back this week, but at the moment I didn't give a shit either way. I just had to get out of this place. I stopped by her office on the way to mine, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face. The two men I cared about, the two men I trusted more than anyone else had both betrayed me.

"Jess...I've got… I've got to go," I told her, when I barged through her open door.

"What's wrong?" she asked when she looked up from her computer.

I shook my head, unable to explain through sobs, and not wanting to because it was so embarrassing.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked, and I shook my head again.

"I'm…I'm sorry but I'm done," I told her.

Back in my office I grabbed my phone and purse, then left the building, swearing I'd never step foot inside it again.

On the way to Joe's to gather all my things I'd left there while I'd been staying with him I called my mom.

"Hey, sweetie," she answered groggily, like she'd been sleeping, even though it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon.

"Mom? Can I…can I come stay with you for a while?" I asked. 

"Of course you can. What's wrong?"

"I can't talk about it right now. I'll see you this afternoon, okay?"

"Okay, but are you sure you'll be all right to drive? You sound upset."

"Yeah, I'll be fine.

"See you soon then. Love you, Lace."

"Love you too, Mom."

Will

"Hey, Joe," I said when I answered my cell phone. "I'm getting ready to go into a client's office. Can I call you back?" 

"No. This can't wait," he said seriously.

"What's up?"

"Lacy just left. She saw the text messages on my phone and flipped out."

"Our messages? Oh shit!" I exclaimed when I realized what that meant.

"Yeah, she knows and she's pissed. I tried to explain but she just ran out of here. She told Jess she wasn't coming back."

"Fuck."

"My security system shows that she went to my house, got her things, then left. I don't know where she's going. Maybe Kylie's or her dad's?"

"When I finish up here I'll check both, if you have Kylie's address. I remember her dad's," I told him, trying to think through the panic beginning to suffocate me.

"I'll try and find Kylie's and text it to you."

"Okay, thanks."

I had to find Lacy and beg for her to understand and forgive me. I'd tried telling myself that what I was doing was no different than being in the same room with them, like the several times we'd all been together, but I knew that was a lie. Those times we had her consent. Hell, she probably would've let me watch on the cameras if I'd just asked, but I hadn't.

Two hours later I'd been to both places and there was no sign of Lacy. I tried to think about where else she could've gone. Then it hit me. When Jules had been heartbroken she'd gone to our parents' house, and specifically to our mom for comfort.

I called Joe back.

"Any luck?" he asked, when he answered right away.

"No, but do you by chance have her mom's address? Doesn't she live in Charlotte?"

"Yeah, I think she does. I don't know her address. Hell, I don't even know her name. I'm not asking her dad because then he'll give me the third degree. Oh, but there is someone in Charlotte that might be pretty easy to find that would know," Joe said.

"Who?"

"Zack Bradford."

"Shit. You're right though. I'm sure I can find his address online. I'm going to head down there right now."

"Alright. Let me know how it goes," he said. "I'm sorry, Will."

"It's not your fault."

"Yeah it is. I'm the one who offered to let you watch."

"Hopefully she'll be okay after she cools down some," I said optimistically.

"Hopefully. Talk to you later," Joe said, then hung up.

...

It was starting to get dark when I finally pulled up at the huge and expensive housing development. I cursed my luck when I saw that it was surrounded by a six foot high, gated, guarded entrance. This was never going to work. Regardless, I was going to at least try after coming all this way.

Rolling down my window to talk to the guard waiting at the window I said, “Hi, I'm here to see ah, Zack."

"Zack?" the sixty-something man asked, giving nothing away.

"Yeah, Zack Bradford."

"Name?" he asked.

"I just told you, Zack Bradford."

"No, what's
your
name?" he asked snidely.

"Oh, my name is Will. Will Reavis."

The guard looked down at something in his booth then back up at me. "You're not on his list."

Shit
.

"Right. Could you call him? Let him know I'm here about Lacy Pierce?"

He exhaled like I'd just asked him to climb Mount Everest barefooted, but he picked up the phone. "Mr. Bradford, sorry to bother you but there's a young man here...he said it's about Miss Pierce," he spoke into the receiver. "What'd you say your name was again, and how do you know Miss Pierce?" The guard asked as though he was very familiar with "Miss Pierce."

"Will Reavis, and I'm her boyfriend," I replied. At that the old man's eyes widened, and for a second he hesitated.

"Ah, well, Mr. Bradford, his name is Will Reavis, and he says that he's uh, Miss Pierce's, ah, boyfriend."

He nodded then said, "Yes, sir" before hanging up. Without speaking to me again he surprisingly opened the gate to let me through.

I drove around the curving roads of the rich neighborhood looking for the right address. When I saw Lacy's Mercedes sitting in front of Zack's mansion I was both relieved and pissed.
Ah, fuck
. At least I'd found her.

I got out of my truck and went up the sidewalk to ring the doorbell. Only a few seconds passed before it was jerked open, bright light spilling out, revealing a very big, and very naked quarterback. Well, okay, he had on boxer briefs, but he was pretty damn naked.

"I only let you in the gate so that you'd see that Lacy's here, in my bed, and passed out from how many times we've fucked," the huge bastard said with a smirk.

He wanted to piss me off. Throw me off. And hearing all that did hurt. But I decided not to give him what he wanted and instead went another route.

"Oh, you mean you're the only one with her?" I asked, peeking around him. "Because lately she needs at least two dicks, if not three at the same time."

That surprised him, causing his brown eyes to go wide, and he didn't even try to cover his reaction. 

"You're full of shit," he said. "She'd never do that."

I choked out a laugh just to get under his skin, even though my heart was breaking. "Then you don't know her very well. This past weekend her boss Joe, Chad and I were all with her at the same time. Ask her."

"And you don't mind sharing her?"

"Nope."

"I'm not fucking sharing her," he responded, crossing his arms over his large chest. "At least not with
you
."          

"Well then, good luck. She sure as hell isn't going to put up with you fucking a bunch of other women while she's not allowed to be with anyone else."

"Whatever," he said like a bratty teenager.

"Will you just tell her I stopped by and that I'm sorry? She's pissed at me for watching her fuck Joe on his house and office cams without her knowing."

I could tell by the look on his face that statement shocked him too, but he didn't have a verbal response. Instead he just slammed the ritzy mansion door in my face.