Rian paused. A sudden gratitude to her parents for that they’d made possible for her suddenly overwhelmed her. She blinked back tears.

Harley kept quiet, but continued to observe her.

“Anyway, one of the reasons that I never had a feeling of being deprived was because my grandparents would send nice things to me not only for birthdays or holidays but just out of the clear blue, and bring a ton of stuff also whenever they visited. And when she passed my grandmother left me all of her jewelry, too. In their own, graceful way, they taught me things, gave me love, and were an important part of my life.”

She shook the diamond bracelet she wore for this trip, which looped casually around the Santos Cartier Tank watch she’d worn since inheriting it while a senior in high school. Harley whistled appreciatively, and said underneath her breath, “Classic, I was wondering where you’d gotten it.”

“They sound like amazing parents.”

Rian nodded and laughed lightly at Harley’s antics, who was acting as if blocking her eyes from the blinding light bouncing off of the diamonds in Rian’s bracelet.

“I’m sure they’re awfully proud of you,” Harley added.

Rian smirked and shook her head from side to side. “They try to hide it … but yeah. I think so. They worry about me working so hard, though, as mom says …”

She leaned back against the door and looked at Harley. The redhead was noticeably calmer now. “What about you? I’m sure your parents are proud of you, too. Big-shot LA lawyer, tooling around in this nice car, hobnobbing with a board of directors of bold-faced LA names …” she teased.

Instead of getting the reaction she was going for, though, Rian saw Harley stiffen. Those beautiful hazel eyes clouded over, and then she flipped her sunglasses down again and faced forward. “Ummm… I have a different story from yours. I went through stuff because of what had happened in my family. And all I’m trying to do now is rebuild from that, just work hard, establish myself in this firm, maybe make partner one day…”

Rian frowned slightly, biting down on her own lip. She’d clearly touched a nerve without meaning to.

Before she could say anything, Harley added, face hidden behind those oversized sunglasses, “This is all I have, Rian. This job. The law. I love the law. I love my job…”