When we reach the door, Ridge doesn’t hesitate and knocks.
“Come in,” Mr. Cohen says from the other side.
Ridge opens the door, and we step inside. Mr. Cohen gives us a smile.
“Sit, please. Thank you for coming so soon.”
“It sounded urgent,” I tell him as I drop into a chair across from him.
Ridge sits down next to me, my hand still in his.
“I’ll cut to the chase. I had a detective stop by today. He was asking questions about you two specifically.” He gives us a knowing look.
Ridge and I tense at the same time.
Son of a bitch. I knew it had to do with him.
“What did he say?” I ask.
Mr. Cohen steeples his hands in front of his face before he says, “He told me that he was looking into you two for fraud. Said he had reason to believe you two were only together to get your father’s estate. That you two weren’t actually romantically involved, and if it came out that you two were actually faking it to get an estate, then he would arrest you both. To be honest, he sounded very eager. So much so, it was concerning.”
“Fuck,” Ridge mutters, wiping his free hand over his mouth.
Mr. Cohen raises his hand. “Rest assured, I didn’t tell him anything. While you two are not my direct clients, Mustang was, and so what was in his will falls under attorney-client privilege. Still, my front desk employee was a little too chatty. I had to let her go.”
“What does this mean for us?” Ridge asks before I can.
“Look, I don’t know what he knows or what you two did to get on his bad side, but as far as I’m concerned, you’ve done nothing wrong. There is nothing that says you cannot marry for reasons other than love. Even so, he can’t prove you aren’t in love. You two spent time around each other before Mustang’s death. For all he knows, you two fell for each other well before his passing and decided to go for it once he was gone. Looking death in the face can do that for some people.”
“But if he somehow makes a case?” I press.
Mr. Cohen drums his fingers on his desk. “If this goes to court, and he somehow wins, then everything in the estate will go to charity, just like if you had decided not to get together.”
“This is insane. We aren’t faking it, Mr. Cohen. We are in love. Those are my father’s things. Some asshole with a vendetta against us can’t swoop in and take that away. It’s a gross misuse of power,” I snap, my anger getting the better of me.
Ridge squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” I tell him, meaning it.
He had no way of knowing there was a cop out there who had a hard-on for him.
Ridge looks over at Mr. Cohen. “Is there anything we can do? Like she said, we really are in love.”
Mr. Cohen shakes his head. “Nothing legally, but keep being seen together. Do what couples do. You are in love, and that’s great. Make sure no one says otherwise. We all know the last conversation we had in here. If anyone else knows about it, I hope you trust them to keep that to themselves.”
I think back to who I’ve told. The only ones who know are the girls, and they would never turn on the club.
“Can we make a formal complaint about him for harassment?” I ask.
“You’ll need to contact his supervisor or internal investigations and see what the process is for that. I wish I could help more, but I handle estate law. I don’t know much about the criminal justice system.” He gives us an apologetic look.
“You’ve done plenty. Please keep us updated and keep a record of every time he comes to see you. If he brings warrants, keep copies so we can confirm who the judge is. Understood?” Ridge tells him.
“You’ve got my word.”
Ridge stands, pulling me with him.
“Thank you for the heads-up,” he tells him.