Turning to Stone (Heart of Stone: Book 2)

Chapter 17: Blindsided

Releasing a dramatic sigh, Helen threw her hands in the air. "Where do we start?"

Whether intended as a rhetorical question or not, I wasn't sure, but I took the opportunity to speak anyway.

"Logan McIntosh is an old friend," I said. "I had no idea he was involved in this. I swear to God that's the truth."

Next to me, Ed lifted his face from his hand and scoffed. I inclined my head towards him, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. After the horrifying realisation that Mac was representing the other side, I'd been more concerned with Helen's reaction than Ed's. Looking at him now with tension stiffening his shoulders and anger shining in his eyes, I realised I'd got two battles to fight.

"Sorry, do you have something to add?" I asked.

"I don't think 'an old friend' is entirely accurate." He folded his arms and leaned back in his seat, eyes trained on Helen.

"I didn't realise you were so clued-up on my friendships from university," I replied.

Although I kept my tone light, Ed wouldn't have missed the underlying warning I sent him. So, when he powered on, I knew it was a conscious decision.

"Not all of them. Just the ones you're sleeping with."

I spat out a shocked breath of laugher. "Seriously? You're going to bring your petty jealousy into this?"

At that, Ed twisted in his seat to face me, irritation slicing through the sharp angles of his face. "It's not petty and it's not jealousy. If you're sleeping with the other side's lawyer, then that compromises the—"

"What the fuck is your problem? Do you not trust me all of a sudden? Because it's one or the other: you're either irrationally jealous or irrationally suspicious."

Narrowing his eyes, Ed leaned closer to me. "There is nothing irrational about being suspicious of you. You've tried to screw us over once before. Why not do it again?"

The accusation knocked me back, a brutal kick to the stomach. My mouth dried up, a lump in my throat forming.

"Okay, that's enough."

Helen's voice, unusually soft, reminded me that we had an audience, and that only amplified my anguish. Incriminating me like that in front of our superiors would only sow more doubt around my intentions.

He'd always had a bit of a problem with Mac, and while it might not boil down exactly to jealousy, I could understand it. Thinking of him with other women wouldn't be easy for me, either. But did it really hurt him so much that he'd throw everything we'd been through back in my face like that? Surely he didn't genuinely believe I'd screwed him over? We were better than that. We'd worked hard to be better than that.

"Ed, why don't you step outside to cool off?" Helen said.

"I'd rather not."

"It wasn't a suggestion." Her voice dropped an octave, and she jerked her head towards the door. "Mark, if you don't mind."

Mark rose from his seat and reached for Ed's arm. With a huff, Ed shrugged him off, long strides carrying him out the room. Mark managed to catch the door before it swung shut in his face and slipped out after him.

"Helen," I said, leaning across the table to catch her eye, "I swear—"

She held up a hand and I fell silent. "He's upset and caught off-guard, so he's going to lash out and fear the worst."

I shifted my gaze back towards the closed door. Over the past few months Ed and I had clashed countless times. But that was different. We'd had an understanding: it was harmless sparring. Point-scoring. If this was about scoring points, he'd snatched victory from me before I'd even got onto the field.