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“Great,” I said. “I’ll give him a call. Thank you for your help.”
“Of—of course,” my momentary comrade said, nodding unsurely. It took him a moment to decide to leave, and the whole time, he seemed to be teetering on the line between continuing to help me versus getting the hell out before he could get dragged any further into my orbit. After a moment, he made the smart choice and nodded at me with a jerky movement. “Have a good day, sir,” he said and then speed walked away. I almost chuckled.
Now, I had a phone call to make and I had a feeling Attorney Carter wouldn’t enjoy it.
The first time I called, it rang through. Oh-ho, not smart, Mr. Carter. I called again and went to voicemail. I checked that I was using his direct line and called again. It didn’t even ring all the way through. He actually hung up on me.
I laughed. Oh, he was so fucked.
One more. I’d give him one more chance, and then I’d bust that door down.
It was a good thing most of the employees had already left because if any of them had been in the parking lot to see my face, they’d have had nightmares for weeks.
Then, unfortunately, he picked up. My lip curled in disappointment. “Mr. Marino, good evening,” a male voice said quickly. “Thank you for your patience?—”
“Oh, so you knew it was me and still hung up twice after outright ignoring my first three calls?” I asked, amused. I could just imagine how this man’s back stiffened.
“Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, sir, it is past our operating hours, and we are not obligated to answer the phone lines after five.”
“I am aware that it’s after hours,” I responded. “That’s precisely why I’m so confused as to why my attorney is still inside.”
“Pardon, Mr. Marino?”
“Well, Attorney Kylin was so kind as to agree to meet with me on my schedule. Is she still in there? I’m afraid I can’t push this meeting to tomorrow.”
“Well, uh—” the man sputtered, “she is here, yes. She didn’t tell me she had a meeting, but?—”
“She didn’t tell you, or you didn’t listen?” I asked, overly friendly. Carter made some kind of choked-off sound into the phone. “Because I know you’re displeased that she took my case, and I can’t help but wonder if you’re holding her back for exactly that reason. I hope I’m wrong, of course. I don’t want to believe you’d actively sabotage my father’s case by obstructing our access to our attorney.”
The panic was fast and silent, and I wished I could see the look on his face as he processed the depth of his fuck-up.
“Of course not, Mr. Marino,” he said, voice shaking. “I would never interfere in your case. That would be?—”
“So my attorney can meet me now?” I asked. “I’m afraid I’ve had a long day, and I’d rather not make it any longer.”
Was that a subtle threat? Of course. Was there anything tangible enough for him to go to the police with? Nope. Did an attorney know that? I’m sure he did.
“W-well, yes, of course—that is, she just has to scan this last folder, and then she’s free to go if you can wait another two minutes, sir?—”
“Scan? You have a bar-certified attorney scanning documents when your firm has several interns who could do it instead?” I asked sharply. “No, I’m not waiting. Send her down.”
And then I hung up before I could do something impulsive like tell this bastard all of the many, many things I wanted to say.
In part, because most of it wasn’t even directed at him—career-wise, Lauren reminded me all too much of my mother, and there had been many words I’d never been able to have with her employers over the years. Mom had never taken it laying down, but she’d also been determined to get and keep her job on her own merits, which meant no threats of bodily harm by the men in our family.
The other, more surprising part was that I wasn’t just mad for my mom, I was mad for Lauren. I wanted to chew into this probably half-bald, rotund nugget of a man and get him to lay off because I didn’t want her to have to deal with that. I wanted to make her life easier.
Damn. It had been a while since I’d gotten that feeling. The phrase ‘conflict of interest’ kept floating in my ears.
I decided to put that to the side until the case was over, figuring I could bring it up after, just seconds before Miss Kylin herself was bustling through the doors. Shit, she looked good. She’d curled her hair today.
“Well, well, here comes the lady of the hour,” I teased. Lauren shot me a look that was halfway between not another word and did you see that shit, and I barked out a laugh. “I bet early dinner will help your mood, princess.”
She pouted at me. Pouted. With her pretty, pink-glossed lips all puckered off to the side—adorable.
Well, I never said I couldn’t appreciate art, right?
“I do not feel like royalty right now,” she groused, sliding into my passenger seat as I held the door open for her. “I can’t believe he did that. He spent the whole time lecturing me about nothing! I don’t know how long I would have been there if I hadn’t pointed out just whose number he kept declining.” I laughed.
