Page 122 of At His Beck & Call

Chapter 42

Oliver

On Friday morning, I stand outside a conference room on the third floor of my building, waiting to go inside.

I can see James’s smug face in the room with his lawyers on either side of him. Noah Finnigan, the mastermind behind our findings, is next to me, but he’s been very quiet all morning.

Lissa is several doors away, instructed not to leave that room until the meeting is over. I want her close by, for too many reasons to name, but I don’t want her running into her ex. Ever again if I can help it.

The idea of a man hurting her or finding anything about her so objectionable that he would shove her into a kitchen counter is impossible for me to comprehend. She’s the sweetest woman I have ever met, and as I watch James laughing and joking with his lawyers, I’m so happy Lissa and I met.

No one else is going to take this son of a bitch down like I will.

“Why did you take on this case?” Noah asks me as I turn to him, pulling the folders in my hands against my chest.

“Excuse me?”

“We’re in the middle of Reynolds, and you’re alongside Sutcliffe in the running for EP. Why take on something pro bono right now?”

He inhales deeply, his eyes narrowing.

I raise my eyebrows. It’s impertinent, not to say rude, for him to challenge me on this right now. As a junior associate, he takes his instructions from the senior partners—with no questions asked. Not to mention the fact that we’re about to win this thing. I clear my throat.

“Do you object to helping those less fortunate?” I ask coldly.

Noah doesn’t reply, jaw flexing as he gives a half shrug and turns toward the door, about to go inside.

“Give me a minute,” I say.

I turn around, heading toward the room where Lissa is. I push open the door and slip inside. She stands up, visibly nervous, her usual fidgeting ten times as bad as it usually is.

“Are you alright?”

She nods, but I can tell she isn’t. “Are you sure this is a good idea? If it goes wrong, this could cause a lot of problems for you. And James is a master at manipulating things to get his way.”

“I know what I’m doing, Lissa. I’ve handled cases like this before. Many times, actually.”

“Not with him.”

“True. But it’s going to be okay. I promise.”

She bites her lip, and I glance back at the glass wall, hating that I can’t take her hand or offer her any kind of comfort.

“Do you need anything? It shouldn’t take long.”

She shakes her head, sitting back down.

“Do you have your phone with you?” She nods, and I pull mine out, sending her the soothing playlist I used when she was having her massage. “Put that on and listen to it while the meeting’s taking place, okay?”

She nods again, smiling gratefully at me as I head back outside. Noah is exactly where I left him, standing beside the door, his expression grim.

“I’ll do the talking,” I say, and enter the room with Noah right behind me.

James’s eyes swivel to me, widening a little as I meet his gaze.

Remember me, dipshit?

“Wow. The head honcho himself,” he says smugly, as I take a seat. Noah is silent beside me, but I’m quietly pleased we have fewer representatives than James. He looks as if he thinks he’s about to walk out of here with the deal of a lifetime.