Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
Chapter thirty-six
Reese
I’m sitting at my desk with Maria standing next to it when Cat comes charging in without warning, her coat half off one shoulder, and her briefcase and purse on the other. “I need to talk to you now. Alone.”
Cat’s intensity is impossible to miss and for once Maria has nothing smart to say. “I’m leaving,” she says, hurrying around Cat and shutting the door.
Cat sets her things on the guest chair. “Casey Allen.”
That’s the last thing I expect her to say at this very moment. “What about him?”
“You filed a lawsuit on his behalf.”
“My firm did, yes.”
“My family. You filed against them.”
I stand up. “What? No. That firm is Blue Banks Investment.”
“My family is apparently involved. Reid called me.”
“That can’t be right.” I punch in Kent’s extension on my phone and put him on speaker.
“What’s up, man?” he answers.
“Name the parties on that lawsuit against Blue Banks. It’s important. I need it now.”
“Sure. I know them by heart” He lists four names that are non-issues, and then he adds, “Reid Maxwell, Mike Maxwell, Rudolf Elway.”
I restrain a curse word that will set Kent off and say simply, “That’s what I needed,” before I disconnect.
“Rudolf is my uncle,” Cat says, “but not by blood. I don’t know how he became Uncle but he’s a long-time family connection and friend of my father’s.” She presses fingers to her temples. “Now I know why my father was stressed enough to have a stroke.”
“Fuck,” I murmur, running fingers through my hair, my hands settling under my jacket on my hips. “You know I didn’t know.”
“Of course I know you didn’t know. My mind never went there.” We both lean on the desk, facing each other. “But that changes nothing,” she adds. “This is a problem: Morally, ethically, and legally.”
“I’ll fix this. I’ll represent your family and get them out of this.”
“No.” She pushes off the desk. “You will not change your moral code for my family and if you do that, Casey could sue you for split interests.”
“I’ll remove myself from Casey’s case.”
“Again, no. This is not who you are and I like who you are. I don’t like what happens to us if I change your moral code for me. That’s not an option.”
“If I remove myself—”
“Then the firm has to remove itself. If you do that, Casey, who is your friend, casual or not, could end up in jail. You can’t walk away from him and I won’t let you for my family. And my family will use me against you. If you think they won’t, you’re wrong. We can’t—”
“Do not go where you’re about to go,” I warn.
“I have to go there. We have to go there. We can’t be together while this is going on. You know it. I know it. You will not lose your license over me. I have to move out.”
“No. I will fix this. We’re both in the heat of the moment right now.”
“We’re both attorneys too who know the law and the ethical confines of the job. I’m a consultant on this case with you. That’s ten kinds of wrong. I have to be removed immediately.”
“That’s an easy fix.”
“Look. Reese.”
“Cat damn it, stop going there, to us—”
“You need to do the right thing. That’s the man you are and the man I—that’s the man you are.”
“I’ll be honest with Casey.”
“He could still come after you. If he goes to another firm and they fail he can say your malpractice led him there. And my family—”
“Will not want this in the press,” I supply.
“No but they will go to Casey and he might. You do have to talk to him and give him the option to move or stick it out with you. Don’t let my family get to him first.”
“Understood. I’ll talk to him. I’ll get him to sign a release saying he won’t sue me. We’ll be apart a few days at most.”
“He might not sign it.”
“I’m convincing.”
“What about the press? My family won’t go there but what about Dan or any other enemy you have to have made over your legal career? He hates you. A law suit is a public filing. He knows we’re together. He could leak this. We are dangerous right now to your long-term career. And you are not losing your career over me.” She grabs her bags. “We can’t talk. We can’t communicate. Not until this is over.”
She’s right. I know she’s right and at this moment, I can’t think us out of this.
“I have to back out of the book deal,” she adds.
“No,” I say, rejecting that idea immediately. “You do not. I’ll call the publisher and handle this with them. You have a contract. This conflict will not last and it will not be repeated. You will not lose this over me. This is a two-sided coin. We protect each other. Say it, Cat”