Chapter 125: Fired Assistant

"No, Adrian," Dorian said. "I’m firing you for real this time. I think you’ve done enough for me, truly."

He had worked for Dorian long enough to know when the man was genuinely dismissing someone and when he was building toward something that was going to become Adrian’s problem.

This was absolutely the second one.

"What’s the plan?" Adrian asked.

"You know me too well," Dorian admitted. "I don’t know how I plan to live without you. I need you to be Mrs. Bennett’s lawyer."

"Sir... You already know my answer."

Dorian crossed the office toward the locked compartment where he had been keeping Marianne Bennett’s case materials. "I never understood why you refused to practice,"

Whatever Adrian’s reasons were, they had remained Adrian’s reasons for years, and Dorian had always respected that boundary.

"I need you to do this for me." Dorian unlocked the compartment and pulled out the file.

It had grown considerably since Adrian first realized his boss was secretly working on something connected to Naomi.

He carried everything back to the desk and placed it in front of Adrian. "I’ve already done all the work," Dorian continued. "You will not be starting blind. I’ve built the strategy, gone through the original case, found the weaknesses, traced witnesses and started gathering what we need."

Adrian looked down at the file but didn’t touch it. "I... I can’t." He shook his head. "I’m sorry. I can’t, Mr. Heathcliffe."

"Please. I’ll pay you, of course, for the case. And I’ll continue paying you what you currently earn. I cannot be the one defending her."

Adrian looked back at the file. "You could find someone else. There are dozens of excellent attorneys."

"None I trust enough. I don’t want anyone knowing I have anything to do with this case. If people connect me to Marianne Bennett, they will start asking why. And if this blows up publicly. Naomi finds out about her mother before I can tell her. And everything spirals from there."

"Mr. Heathcliffe..." Adrian sighed.

"Adrian..."

"Fine," Adrian finally said. "It’s just reopening her case, right? Just that. And getting her out."

"Everything you need to know is in here." He pushed Marianne’s file toward him. "I’ll guide you every step of the way."

Adrian eyed the thick stack of documents. "How long before I submit to the court?"

"Wait until my stench all over you has dissipated. A month perhaps."

Adrian nodded in response. "But once this is over, I want my job back."

"Of course. Of course." Dorian nodded quickly. "Thank you. Now," he said, gesturing toward the door, "go out there and look really devastated."

"You know people will congratulate me, right? For finally being free from you."

"Yeah, you’ve been living in bondage for years already. I practically have you strapped to your desk. You can’t leave."

Adrian grinned, gathered the file and headed for the door. He reached his desk, found a box and began sorting through his belongings. His smile slowly disappeared for real.

Dorian wasn’t the only one with an obsession. Dorian’s was simple enough. He wanted to unravel mysteries.

It was why difficult cases excited him. Why inconsistencies bothered him until he chased them down.

Adrian’s obsession was different.

Much darker.

He couldn’t stand evil people getting away with their sins.

That had always been his problem. Sitting across from someone he knew had done something monstrous and watching the system fail to punish them.

Watching victims cry while guilty men walked away. That rage had been the reason he stopped practicing.

It was also why, after walking away from his own legal career, he had taken a job alongside the most promising attorney in the DA’s office.

Dorian had thought Adrian simply preferred being behind the scenes.

Adrian had never corrected him.

Some truths were better buried. Because two years into defending helpless people, Adrian had realized there was something wrong with him.

Justice mattered too much. Sometimes more than the law. And once he became convinced someone was truly guilty, watching them escape consequences awakened a monster inside him he couldn’t control.

So Adrian had quit.

He had changed his life.

Put distance between himself and courtrooms. Working beside Dorian had given him somewhere else to put his mind.

It had been thirteen years since he had stained his hands with blood. Thankfully, Marianne’s case was simple.

Get the woman out. That was it.

Adrian did not have to worry about guilty men walking free, victims being failed or that darker part of himself waking up and deciding the law had not done enough.

This time, the goal was straightforward.

Adrian picked up his box and headed for the elevators, stopping along the way to say goodbye to several colleagues.

"Wait. He actually fired you?"

Adrian sighed dramatically.

"You’re joking."

"I wish."

"No, seriously, Adrian."

Nobody believed him.

Adrian had always been the joker around the office. More importantly, everyone knew the relationship between him and Dorian.

Dorian occasionally threatened to fire him.

Adrian occasionally threatened to resign.

Neither of those things had ever meant anything.

Dorian and Adrian were practically work husbands.

There was simply no universe where Dorian Heathcliffe voluntarily got rid of Adrian Archer. Even as Adrian stepped into the elevator with his box and the doors closed, half the floor still assumed there was some elaborate joke coming.

Then the email went out. A firm-wide notice appeared on the employee portal announcing that the assistant position for one of the partners was officially open to qualified paralegals within Heathcliffe & Associates.

The office collectively lost its mind. There was no way.

Dorian had actually fired Adrian.

People started messaging each other almost immediately. Had Adrian screwed up a case? Nobody had an answer.

******

"Your sister will be here soon, Dorian." Naomi’s protest came out somewhere between a warning and a breathless cry as Dorian laid her flat across the kitchen island.

He was already reaching into his pocket for a condom.

Yes.

They had finally gotten wiser. After several spectacular failures, they had decided condoms needed to become a permanent part of Dorian’s wardrobe.

Including every room in the house if their current behavior continued. Because the Saturday-only rule was dead.

Now that neither of them was pretending sex needed to remain restricted to one day a week, it was officially open season.

They fucked everywhere. Sometimes fully naked. Sometimes half-dressed. Sometimes planned. More often not.

The slightest look could start it. A kiss could end with one of them pressed against the nearest available surface.

Today, despite the fact that his sister was expected any minute, the nearest available surface was the kitchen island.

Naomi pushed herself slightly higher on her elbows.

"I’ll be quick." Dorian responded as he began to unbuckle his shorts.