CHAPTER SEVEN
Alisa
The high from putting Jon Mills in his place the day before stayed with me throughout the night and even into the next morning. I had to meet with his daughter, and a large part of me wanted to cancel. Seeing the girl would only have me questioning my self-worth without fail.
I checked myself in the bathroom mirror once more before walking out into the large lobby of the high-rise building I was scheduled to be in. Melissa didn’t appear to be in the coffee shop when I walked in, but then again, I had no clue who I was looking for.
After I ordered a small latte, I found a seat near the back and pulled out my files on the case. If Jon and his daughter wanted to push forward and go head-to-head in court, I had a lot of work to do. Establishing Zek’s character was at the top of the list. That wasn’t going to be an easy task with the press having already splattered his name all over the newspaper and evening news. They were famous for that. Ruining people one story at a time.
I glanced up as a young blonde walked in. She paused by the door and scanned the room, her eyes stopping on me. A warm smile lifted her lips, and she walked toward me, stopping just beside the table and giving me a sweet expression.
“I’m sorry to bother you. I’m looking for Alisa Manning. That’s not you, is it?” Her eyebrows pressed together as she worked to look both impossibly cute and unassuming.
“It is. You’re Jon’s daughter?” I stood and offered my hand. Thank God she’s blonde.
“Yes, ma’am. Let me grab a coffee and we can chat. Did you want anything?” She took a tentative step backward.
“No, but thank you.” I glanced back down at my papers as the thought of her calling me ‘ma’am’ left me a little edgy. I wasn’t a year over thirty and yet the perky little tart left me feeling like I needed a cane to get out of the coffee shop. Something told me that she wouldn’t at all be the girl in front of me that she was with Zek.
A few minutes later, she took the seat in front of me and let out a soft sigh. “Much better. I’m glad you wanted to meet. I don’t agree at all with my father’s proposal for the settlement. He mentioned yesterday that you were one of the top attorneys in the states. That’s pretty impressive.”
Her welcoming brown eyes moved across my face, and I couldn’t find anything in her features that wasn’t appealing. I needed to get my head in the game. The girl in front of me was a viper, and I wasn’t willing to climb in her nest, though she made it look so incredibly appealing.
“Well, that’s quite a compliment coming from your father.” I forced a smile and sat back, crossing my legs and picking up my coffee once more. “I’m with you one hundred percent. The allegations of rape are by far one of the more serious types of cases that my firm deals with. A payment to stop the case from going to court is one of the quickest ways for us to suspect foul play or possibly fraud.”
“Fraud?” Her expression dimmed a little, but she played the innocent albeit ignorant well.
“Of course.” I took a sip of my coffee. “I’ll be representing Mr. Kellington, who, of course, pleads that he is innocent of non-consensual sex.”
“Well, he’s lying. He had his way with me in his office, and again at his cabin in the woods. I have pictures to prove how vile he is.” She shuttered as her eyes filled with tears.
“I’ve heard. I assume those will be seen in court. We’ll get a quick glance of them in pre-trial. I’m sorry that you suffered anything, or that you had marks on your body that were unwelcomed.” I chose my words carefully.
“Well, he’s a monster, as I’ve said a million times.”
“Sounds like it.” I took a quick breath. “Tell me something. How did he get you out to his cabin in the woods? Did he tie you up? Throw you in the trunk?”
“What? No. I went with him because he was my boss.” She lifted her coffee to her lips as her eyes averted toward something on the table.
Liar.
“Did he rape you in his office before or after he raped you out at the cabin?” I moved closer, wanting to make the girl feel like she had a friend. The scary part was... she did. If I found out that Zek was lying at all, I would take him down so fast that it would make his head spin. I hated very few things, but rapists were one of them.
“In the office first. I went in that morning to interview with him—”
“For a job?” I pulled out a pad of paper and glanced up at her. “I’m just taking a few notes.”
“I’m not sure I’m supposed to be telling you all of this.” Her eyes filled with tears.
“Did you report this to the police?”
“Of course.”
“Then it’s an open record for me to access. I can do that instead of us talking if you’d rather.” I moved back and acted as if I were going to set my pen down.
“No. My father said that you were a good person who was lost to the wicked wiles of a good looking villain.” She shrugged as if the comment flew right over her head.
I’d read her files the morning over coffee. She was at the top of her class in both high school and college. She wasn’t ignorant, not by any stretch of the imagination. She was a damn good actress though.
“Perhaps. I’m here today to hear your side of the story. I’ll make some hard decisions after this meeting, though as of right now, I will rely on the fact that Mr. Kellington is being framed and is innocent. He’s my client, and that’s how we lawyers work.”
“That’s your prerogative, but he did it. I have pictures to prove it.” She sat her coffee down and picked up a small napkin, using it to dab at her eyes.
“I understand. Tell me what happened when he raped you in the office. I don’t really need the details of the sexual intercourse, just why you were there. I’d also love to understand how it went from the purpose for which you were there to him taking advantage of you.” I glanced down at the table, trying to give her a break from my stare. “And how old are you?”
“I’m twenty. I’d been hired as an intern at Mr. Kellington’s firm, Kellington Financial Services. All of the interns get a twenty-minute interview with him because it’s our moment to shine or some bullshit like that.” Her shell was cracking, but only a little. Cute little innocent girls didn’t curse, not as forcefully as the chick across the table from me.
“Go on.” I scribbled a few notes, but made sure to keep my eyes on her.
“My interview started off well, but he basically propositioned me. He said that if I gave him head that he would give me a job at the end of the internship.”
I sat up and lifted my eyebrow. “He did?”
“Yes, but when I got on the floor, he took charge of everything and did things to me that...” She sniffled and lifted her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry.” I reached across the table and touched her hand, not sure what to believe about Zek taking charge of their sex. He seemed like the type of guy who would get aggressive and demanding in the heat of the moment. I’d seen him in the middle of too many Friday night football games as a kid where he lost his shit on some guy and had to be pulled off by several large players from our team.
“It’s okay. Anyway. He took advantage of me, and I kept that first time to myself. I figured it was all fine, and the sex was actually great, though it disgusts me that it was.” She shivered.
“And how did you end up at the lake house with him? I wouldn’t have gone anywhere with him. Someone would have to drag me half dead to that place high in the mountains and away from everyone.” I tilted my head and studied her. “How in the world did he get a smart girl like yourself up there?”
“He said we were having a staff party at his place. I was working on a project that he wanted to review and work through on the drive up, so we rode together. I had no clue that I was the only one invited to his sick party.” She picked up her drink again. “The cabin was worse than the office. I was his rag doll whore for the night. It was heinous, and I went to my father the next day. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Let’s go back to this project you were working on with him.” I tapped my pen on the table. “Did you get an assignment from him and did he have you visit him often under the guise of the project?”
“Yes. It was a return on investment assignment. I was in his office all the time, and he never made another move on me, but this was after the first time in his office. I must have seen him five times after that.”
“All in his office?”
“Yes.”
“All in relation to the return project?”
“Yes. Return on investment. ROI is what we call it.”
I sat back and let out a long sigh. “Thanks for talking to me today. Tell your father I’ll be in touch.”
“What? Wait. That’s it?” She sat up, her posture perfect, her eyes wide as if she’d done something wrong.
“Yes. I didn’t want to take up too much of your time, but I knew that getting straight to the source would help me really understand what happened over the few days your situation took place.”
“Okay. Do you believe me?” She dropped her hands into her lap and gave me an innocent look.
“I’m not sure what I believe, but as a lawyer, we’re usually trained to keep our opinions to ourselves.” I smiled and stood, extending my hand to her. “I’m sorry for anything you’ve suffered. Thanks again for your time.”
“Right,” she mumbled and pulled out her phone, ignoring me as I turned and left.
I’d barely made it outside before I pulled out my phone as well. I searched through my contacts, finally finding Zek’s number buried in an e-mail from Lizzy. I added him to my contacts and pressed the send button before dropping down on a bench just beside a quaint downtown park.
“Zek Kellington.”
“It’s Alisa. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. Do you have a minute or should I call back?” Excitement bubbled through me. I had to believe that Zek was innocent, and with the information Melissa provided, I might have a lot of proving to do, but I had a few more pieces of ammo in my arsenal now.
“You’re trying to save me from rotting in jail. I’ll always have time for you.” His laugh was short, curt, sexy.
“Did you ever give individual projects to any of the interns at your firm?” I glanced around, making sure to keep an eye out for Melissa.
“No. Why would I do that? I’m the CEO of the company. Just spending twenty minutes with them in a welcome interview left me wanting to jump from the window. I’m getting older, and I’m really not in touch with that generation anymore.”
“You are aging quickly.” I smiled, unable to thwart my good mood.
He laughed, and I enjoyed the sound of it far too much. “Watch it.”
“Are there cameras in your office?”
“No.”
“Dammit.” I pressed my hand to my chest and rubbed softly as I tried to think. “In the hall outside your office?”
“Yes. They’re in all of the hallways in the building. Why?” The sound of someone else talking caught my attention, but I ignored it. It wasn’t any of my business who he was with and why.
The fact that I cared was upsetting. “Because I want to see those feeds from the time you interviewed Melissa to the day she filed the rape charges.”
“Alright. It’s only a few days. We interviewed, had sex in the office, and then I picked her up the following weekend for some time away together. She might have stopped by once during that time, but she would have dealt with Celia. I’m too busy most days to deal with anyone who’s not on my calendar. Or I used to be.” The sadness in his voice caused my chest to tighten.
I wanted to save him. I needed to have him come out on top. How else would we have any chance of testing out whether our feelings from all those years ago were valid?
“I want to see your calendar too.” I got up. “Not right this second, but the sooner, the better.”
“Right. Come out for dinner tonight and let’s finish constructing the game plan. I wanted to show you a letter I got from the SEC too. They’re ready for another round of interviews with me. Did you want to be involved in those or should I call Lizzy?”
“That’s all me.” I walked toward my car, not sure if dinner was a good idea, but shoving off the trepidation over it. “What time and where for dinner?”
“My place. Six tonight?”
“Sounds good. Text me your address and I’ll bring the paperwork that you need to finish signing. You’re liable for all these fees. I hope you’re worth as much as people say you are. I don’t come cheap.”
He chuckled. “You better come get it before they take it all.”
“I’m going to keep them from taking it all, Zek. I promise.” The jovial tone I had moments earlier was gone. I was serious in my promise. We might not circumvent jail time, but he would come out with something when it was all said and done. I knew more than enough to ensure that happened.