Chapter 11

Leo

Tabby’s hands were amazing. “That feels so good,” I said, letting a small moan follow.

Her voice vibrated in my ear. “I know how much you like this, how much it eases your tension. And boy, are you tense.” She dug her fingertips into my shoulder, and I rolled my head as I let her ease me with the massage.

“You’re the best. Thank you so much.”

She leaned close to my ear and whispered in a seductive voice, “Anytime.”

Sometimes fucking your secretary actually worked in your favor, and it helped that Tabby was a good girl who liked her fun and didn’t have jealous tendencies.

Jon rapped on the open door as she moved from behind me. “Am I interrupting something?” He liked to tease me and Tabby for our past, and she wasn’t bothered that he knew, or at least she had never acted like it.

“I was just getting a massage from the best hands in the world.”

“Lucky. When do I get one of those massages, Tabs?”

She smiled and walked over to grip his shoulders. “How’s that? Feel good?” She whispered seductively in his ear as I chuckled.

“As a matter of fact, it does. You have magic fingers, doll. Now I know why he’s winning all the cases. If you calm him with this every time he gets stressed, no wonder he’s Mr. Cool in the courtroom.”

“That’s right,” said Tabby. “It’s all me.” She looked over and gave me a wink and then walked out, pulling the door closed as she left.

“Damn, I’m jealous. She’s pretty fucking amazing, that one. I should ask her out.”

I shook my head. “You shouldn’t. I’ve got her trained to me. I don’t want to have to hunt her down in your office when I want a massage or a blow job.”

“Greedy fucker. What the hell do you want anyway?” Jon rolled his shoulders and walked over to join me at the desk. He lowered himself to one of the two chairs in front of me and eased back, resting his leg on his knee and showing off his argyles.

I pulled my chair up closer to my desk. “I’ve got a high-profile case, and I need you on my team as co-counsel.”

“Really?” His eyes widened in surprise. “Fuck, yeah. It’s about time you ask for some help, and clearly, you knew to come to the best.”

“I’m the best, but yeah, this called for next best.” I laughed as he threw out his middle finger. “I’m glad you’re willing to help, and I hope you’re available today.”

“Today? Wow, thanks for the notice.” He turned on his phone, and I had a feeling he was checking his calendar.

“Sorry, I have a press conference, and I really need you here, man. This client is a pain in the ass, and I’m really hoping he isn’t going to be hard to keep on track. I want to make a strong front, too, let the world see he’s being represented well, and hopefully, he won’t say a fucking word with one of us on each side of him.”

He gave me a hesitant look. “Great, you got a loose cannon? I wish I’d known that two minutes ago.”

“You’d have still said yes, and this is the guy I tried to get away from. I told you about him the other day.”

“Fuck. I knew your father would say no. You just had to drag me in, huh? To the losing case? Thanks a lot. And here I thought you threw me a bone.”

“The band suing is Sabbath Sundae.”

“Fuck, that’s why you wanted out. This is your girl.”

“Yeah, but my father doesn’t give a shit. So, having you on the case will make things a little more balanced. At least, I hope.”

“I’ll be a human shield, you mean?” He chuckled.

“It’s high-profile, so on the off-chance it does well, we’ll be doing our careers one hell of a favor.”

“Or a hell of a lot of damage.”

“Come on, trust me.” I checked my watch and cursed.

“What?” He seemed alarmed.

“He’s late for the fucking meeting I scheduled. I told him we need to prep. If he does open his mouth, I want him to know what to say.”

“Fucking great. The guy can’t even be on time for meetings. How late is he?”

“Ten minutes when you walked in, but now it’s fifteen. I hate people who are late. The press is going to be gathering at any minute, and they’ll be chomping at the bit and better prepared. I tried to get him last night, but that fell through.”

About that time, there was a commotion outside my door, and as I rose from my seat, Tabby opened my door and stuck her head in. “Mr. White is here to see you.”

“Send him in,” I said as Jon got to his feet.

Tabby pushed the door open and in strolled Whit White looking like he had the world on a string. Tabby stomped out and shut the door behind her.

“You’re late again.”

“Yeah, this traffic is a bitch. Sue me?” He shrugged and then took the chair next to Jon who still stood in front of his.

Jon extended his hand. “It’s good to meet you. I’m Jon Hanson.”

I spoke up. “Jon is going to be working on our team. I want to show a strong front for your case.”

“Nice to meet you,” Whit said with a shit-eating grin. “I didn’t think I’d get my very own dream team.”

Jon took his seat, and I did the same, clearing my throat. “Yeah, well, in cases like this, it looks good. Now, we should get down to business. The conference will go on as scheduled. We can’t be late to that, especially if we want to make you look good.” I hoped it sent him a message, but he was a clueless bastard, so I doubted it.

“These bitches better think twice before they fuck with me anyway. I have enough dirt on them that I think I can make them back down or at least shut their mouths.”

Jon covered his mouth and turned his attention to the window over my shoulder. He could probably tell I didn’t take too kindly to the comment because I felt my face heat up.

“Let’s take it easy on the name-calling. No sense in starting off on the wrong foot before a press conference. You need to keep your attitude to a minimum and let me answer the questions. I’m going in with a prepared statement. Just the basics, denying the allegations and letting the other side know we’re ready for this fight, we’ve got evidence to support our side, and we’re a strong defense.”

“It sounds good to me. I’ll kick back and follow your lead.”

“I wish it was as easy as all that. If you’re asked a question directly, you need to make sure you don’t react emotionally or physically, rather.”

“Pretend you’re in a card game,” Jon added. “You don’t want them to know anything but that you’re confident.”

I felt the need to add, “And don’t be cocky. You’re going to want to be well-liked in the public eye. You already have a tough job of not looking like the man who took advantage of a beloved rock band.”

“Their shows were declining.” He shrugged. “Not many people wanted to book them.” I had a feeling that was only true because he was such a colossal pain in the ass to deal with rather than Kya or the band being a problem.

“Let’s just keep it professional above everything else.” If I could get the fucker to agree to that much and abide, I’d be okay. That was, if his idea of professional was on the same level as mine. “Better make that above professional.”

He took out his phone, and his thumbs moved over the keypad. “Just a quick tweet before we go out then?”

“No, don’t tweet anything. Stay off social media.” Jon looked over at the screen.

“Oops, too late. I just thought a friendly warning would be okay. I mean, it’s not like the conference has taken place yet.”

Jon took his phone and read the tweet. “It’s show time, bitches?”

“Hey, give that back.” Whit reached out, but Jon didn’t let him have his phone.

“No,” said Jon. “I’m deleting the tweet. This isn’t your chance to get in one last dig. Professionalism starts now.” Jon looked up at me, and I was glad he was sitting right there. Hopefully, he didn’t have many followers, and no one saw it. Those who did, probably already knew he was a douchebag.

“Look, I’m all for your advice, and that’s fine and dandy if you want to control my social media, but let me say, I think we’re going about this all wrong. We need to use scare tactics, get these bitches shaking in their boots.”

Jon stepped in again as I tried to calm my nerves. “Yeah, that’s not how it works. They filed a suit, so they obviously aren’t afraid of you. And let’s limit the whole name-calling thing.”

“Let’s,” I said.

Before I could make another comment, my door opened, and Tabby stuck her head in as if she didn’t want to show Whit White too much of the short skirt she’d worn.

“The conference is in five.” She disappeared as fast as she’d popped in.

I got to my feet and straightened by pants, cuffs, and tie. Jon raked his hand through his hair and did his tie as well as Whit sat in his seat like he had nowhere to be.

He finally got to his feet. “Let’s get this shit over with.”

I lead the way, and Jon followed behind Whit to show that we had his back. I went down the hall to the room where they had the conference set up and was surprised at how many outlets had shown up. The microphones crowded the podium, and we crowded around them with Whit in the middle.

We were making a strong front, all right, and the worst part about that moment was knowing Kya was about to see me there, defending this asshole against her.