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“Thank you. I know it’s early, but I have to be in the office within the next hour, and since this is the only time I can squeeze you in while Chloe’s at school, I want to keep this brief.”
Straight to the point. Shocking for a lawyer, in my experience.
“Sure. Why don’t you run me through the situation?”
“Didn’t Jameson already explain it?” Her exasperation is evident in her tone. Her back is stiff, and her floral silk skirt sits high on her waist, flowing over her hips and hitting mid-calf, a delicate slit running halfway up her thigh revealing black patterned tights. Her cardigan shifts slightly on her shoulder, revealing the skinny strap of her chemise top beneath.
“A little, but it seems like there’s probably more to the situation.” I grab my notepad, pulling my eyes from her collarbone that’s begging me to run my tongue over it. “I want to know why these people are coming after you, what led up to this, and what other threats you might have overlooked or thought were coincidences.”
“You’re using a notepad? Like a detective in a thriller?” She lifts an eyebrow at me, crossing one high-heeled ankle over the other. I will myself not to let my gaze drop back down to her sheer tights again. She’s dressed like one of those classy movie stars from the ’40s—one who would play an uptight librarian with a touch of understated sex appeal that’s begging to be unraveled.
“Something wrong with that, Miss Pierce?” I give her my best smile—the one I usually pull out for the woman at the bar I’m trying to charm into coming home with me. “I’m old school.”
“I took on a massive contingency case.” She completely disregards my attempt to break the ice and continues on, not even offering me a cup of coffee or to come further into her home. She really is going to be difficult. “It’s a class-action lawsuit against Delmore Manufacturing, the largest manufacturer of fertilizer in the—”
“Yes, I’m familiar with Delmore,” I interrupt.
“Great. Well, as you can imagine, they don’t take kindly to the largest and most powerful law firm in New York City coming at them with a class-action lawsuit with more than 50 former employees, plus more to come. Not to mention, the insurance company they offer their employees coverage through is denying all the claims, so now they, too, are named in the lawsuit. Both companies are represented by another large, powerful firm in New York: Prince, Dune & Bellows. They’re the kind of law firm that represents the bad guys in whistleblower cases. Think of those lawsuits you hear about where people die, or homes or resources are decimated only to have it completely disappear from the news in just a few weeks like it never happened.”
“Got it.” I nod, making several notes, not telling her I’m already far too familiar with theirwork. “And who do you think sent the goons after you?”
“Goons?”
“Bad guys. Whoever’s trying to send you a message—warn you.”
“I dunno,” she shrugs, “thought that’s why Jameson sent you.” I stare at her blankly for a second, noting how she only refers to him by his first name. “If I had to guess, probably their law firm. Their resources are the kind of low-level, back-alley-dwelling informants who aren’t exactly too concerned with upholding the law.”
“You paint a very descriptive picture, Miss Pierce.” I laugh.
“Juliette. It’s Juliette, remember?” she snaps. “And of course I do; I’m a lawyer.” She says it so matter-of-factly that I half-expect her to laugh, but she doesn’t. “Is that what you need? Can I get on with my day?”
“Listen, Juliette.” I flip my notebook closed and slip it into my back pocket. “I don’t know what Jimmy did or didn’t tell you, but this isn’t just astop by and see how you’re doingkind of situation. I know the security team is coming by later today, but I can promise you, until I know for sure that these threats are just idle or some half-ass attempt from a Scooby-Doo villain to get you to drop the case, I’m not going anywhere.” I give her a wink and see a hint of pink rush to her cheeks.
“No, this is exactly what I didn’t want. I won’t have some big macho man traipsing through my home, around my daughter, disrupting our lives. The security measures will be fine, but you can do your research and due diligence outside of my life.”
“You know,” I try to hide my frustration with her snippy attitude, but it’s growing harder by the second, “for being a damsel in distress, you’re pretty demanding and not taking this very seriously.”
“Excuse me?” Her eyes grow wide as she juts her head forward.
Oh, now I’ve done it. Clearly, I’ve struck a nerve and she’s about to wind up and let me have it.
“Let me make something abundantly clear to you, Alex.” She uncrosses her ankles, squaring her shoulders. “I haven’t gotten to where I am by letting arrogant men boss me around or tell me what to do, and I certainly don’t plan on starting now. I realize there are dangers here, and I came to Jameson for help, but this isn’t abloody horse’s head in my bedtype of situation. I’ve worked in this industry long enough to know that these firms will stoop to low-level intimidation tactics, but all I’m looking for is for you or Jameson to find them and make sure they don’t threaten me again. Okay?” She tilts her head to the side like she’s explaining something to a child.
I should remind myself what Jimmy told me: to be gentle and give her grace, all things considered, but I’ve let her snotty little attitude get to me. I need to set the tone for this situation now, otherwise I’m going to end up in a position where she won’t take what I’m saying seriously and get herself into an even bigger predicament.
“In that case, Juliette, let me be abundantly clear: I haven’t gotten to where I am by letting spineless, pencil-dick goons threaten me or anyone I’m hired to protect.” I take a step closer to her. “I also know enough and have seen enough to know that a company as powerful as Delmore and a firm as shady as Prince, Dune & Bellows doesn’t stop at threatening notes and slashed tires. These are the kind of people who will make you and your daughter disappear, and nobody will know where to find your bodies.” I take another step closer and she inches back till she hits the wall behind her. “I also won’t sit idly by and let an arrogant woman who thinks she knows more than I do when it comes to security attempt to tell me how to do my job. So until I find out who is sending these threats and what their motives are, I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart, whether you like it or not. Consider me your fucking shadow, because everywhere you go, I go. I won’t be in your way—and most likely, you won’t even know I’m there—but if you so much as attempt to lose me or run, I will move into your house and make sure you never leave my fucking sight. Am I clear?”
She tilts her head up to look me in the eyes, her chin jutting outward, her eyes narrowed. “Don’t youdarepatronize me with that sweetheart bullsh—”
“Am I clear?”I say louder and more firmly, cutting her off.
Juliette Pierce might think she’s better than a man like me, and in many ways she is—probably all ways, actually—but I’ll be damned if she thinks I’m going to risk her or her daughter’s life because she doesn’t realize the seriousness of a situation like this. I’ve seen what companies like this do to people who attempt to bring them down, and it’s the kind of stuff that will leave you with nightmares.
“Yes,” she finally spits the word at me, her jaw clenching. I know it physically pains her to relinquish control to a man—especially a man like me—but it’s for her own good, and the faster she learns that, the better.
“Good.” I wink at her again, stepping back and turning toward the front door. “I’ll be back for a walk-through once the security team has installed everything. Have a good day, Juliette.”
Fuck. I did a pretty piss-poor job of keeping her on a need-to-know basis about things.
