Counselor Undone (24 page)

She smiled indulgently. “You seem to be a million miles
away.”

“Maybe.” He started picking at the label on his Coke bottle.
“Um . . . the case I’ve been working on took an interesting turn.”

“Really?” Her eyes narrowed at his hesitation. “What’s going
on?”

“I think the opposition has access to our case strategy.”

She raised her eyebrows. “How?”

“We’ve documented unauthorized access to our case database.
We’re not sure yet whether someone at the firm is providing them with access or
they simply hacked into our network.”

“Wow. That sounds pretty underhanded. I knew this was a
major case, but is it really worth all this cloak and dagger?”

“Apparently so. This is a pretty big deal in the pharmaceutical
world. These companies make billions of dollars a year off these drugs. Not to
mention the high stakes for the lawyers involved. The article they interviewed
me for last month recently ran in the American Bar Association’s
ABA Journal
. The legal community is
watching the case closely. Whichever firm posts a victory is going to have some
major legal clout going forward.”

His mother sighed and turned back to the stove.

“What is it, mother?”

“Nothing.”

“That mournful sigh was not about nothing.”

She looked over her shoulder at him. “I know you’re pretty
focused on making Remington, Hager and McCormick a nationally recognized firm,
but I wish you’d focus more on your personal life. You’re not getting any
younger.”

“Gee, thanks, mom. I didn’t realize you considered me over
the hill at the ripe old age of thirty-eight.” He grinned at her.

She put her spoon down and turned towards him. “That’s not
what I meant and you know it. When are you planning to provide me with a few
grandchildren?”

“Liliana has provided you with three beautiful grandchildren.
And given the way her husband looks at her whenever the two of them are here,
I’m sure he’s going through the motions of giving you a few more.”

She grabbed her tea towel off the counter and snapped him on
the thigh with it. “Don’t be facetious. I’m talking about
you
giving me
grandchildren. Whatever happened with the woman you met New Year’s Eve?”

“Yeah, well, that may be complicated.”

“How so?”

The Coke bottle label peeled a little more under his scratching
finger. “I think she may work at the firm.”

“Oh.” A sizzle behind her drew Sofia’s attention. She
grabbed her sauce spoon and stirred the noisy pot. Dinner saved, she turned
back to her son. “I can see how that might be an issue for you.” Placing her
sauce spoon back on the drip plate, Sofia crossed her arms. “So you’ve decided
not to pursue the matter?”

“I’ve got to focus on the Metra Pharmaceutical case. It was
dad’s dream to build the firm into a national player. This case is my
opportunity to make sure that happens for him.”

“You can’t make that happen for him, Michael. He’s gone. The
last thing he’d want is for you to spend your life pursuing his dream instead
of living your own.”

“This is my dream.”

“Is it? Or is it your way of trying to keep your father
alive?”

He sat his soda on the counter. “Why build a practice at all
if I’m not going to make it a success?”

“Success is one thing. Workaholic obsession to the exclusion
of all else is another. This isn’t healthy, Michael. And it’s not the life your
father would have wanted for you. I know you miss him,
caro
. I do, too. Everyday. But you can’t bring him back by slaving
away in that office tower. And you can’t be cowardly enough to use it as an
excuse not to make a meaningful connection with another human being.”

“I’ve tried that connection thing already. Dad got the last
good woman.” He walked over and kissed her on the temple.

“I think your sisters would take issue with that comment.”

“Well, I’m not planning to marry one of my sisters so my
comment stands.”

She grabbed him around the waist. “So you
are
planning to get married?”

He stared blankly at her.

She released him and sighed. “Your father was a family man,
Michael. Work had its place, but his family—especially his
children—came first. He was driven with a purpose. To build a legacy for
you. He wasn’t driven by ego, success for the mere sake of success. He wanted
to leave something solid and secure for his only son and make sure it was
expansive enough to also provide his daughters lifelong financial security. He
drove himself to provide for the family he took time to eat dinner with almost
every night and for the children whose ball games and dance recitals he
attended. Whom are you building this for, Michael?”

He still didn’t respond. He stepped away from his mother.

Sofia shook her head. “What’s going to happen when you climb
to the top of this ladder of success you’re erecting and find you have no one
to share it all with?”

“Oh, I think he has someone in mind to share it all with.”
Raina bounded into the kitchen and kissed her mother on the cheek.

“Is that right?” Sofia’s voice rose in surprise. “I thought
you weren’t seeing anyone,” she said, looking at Michael.

“I’m not.”

“But he’d like to be,” Raina said, sticking her fingers into
the bowl of olives.

Sofia swatted her hand. “Do tell.”

Raina grinned. “Well—”

“Raina, cut it out,” Michael said between clenched teeth.

“What?” Raina batted her eyelashes at her brother. “What’s
the big secret about your dinner with Jordis on the Plaza?”

Sofia turned towards Raina. “Jordis? That’s an unusual
name.”

Raina popped olive bits into her mouth. “She’s an unusual
woman. Tall. Funky, in an artsy kind of way. Dresses like a runway model but’s
apparently smart enough to work with him.” She inclined her head in Michael’s
direction.

Eyes wide, Sofia’s glance snapped back to her son. “She
works at the firm?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not revisiting a past mistake.” Michael
crossed his arms. “Raina and I just happened to run into her when we went out
to dinner one night. I’m not even the one who invited her to dinner. Raina
did.”

“So, there’s nothing personal going on between you two?” his
mother asked.

Michael glanced at his sister then hedged, “She’s a
brilliant lawyer. I like her style. She took over for Chase on the Metra Pharmaceuticals
case so she’s my new co-counsel.”

Raina scoffed. “Yeah, right. Maybe
mamma
’ll buy
that’s all that’s going on, but I was there. I saw the electricity between you
two.” Raina licked her index finger then pressed it together with her thumb
while making a sizzling sound. “Hot. Hot. Hot.”

“You know, Raina,” Michael said, “you’re about to get hurt.”

Nonplussed, Raina meandered towards the kitchen doorway. She
began to chant, “Michael and Jordis sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I—eeek!”
Raina’s shriek filled the kitchen as Michael dropped his soda bottle on the
counter and charged her. She fled up the stairs.

Michael gave chase, catching her right foot as she reached
the top landing. “Oh, no you don’t.” He snatched her up and made as if to
dangle her over the railing.

“
Mo-om
!” Raina yelled.

Sofia came around the bend and gasped when she looked up the
steps. “Good Lord!” Her hand fluttered to her heart. “Michael! Put your sister
down this instant!”

Michael jerked his arms as if he intended to drop Raina anyway
then laughed when she shrieked again. As he put her down, he leaned into her
ear. “I owe you. You better hope Christian doesn’t stop by for you sometime
when I’m around.”

Raina glared at him. “Spoilsport.”

He ruffled her hair. “Don’t dish it out little sister if you
can’t take it.”

Sofia headed for the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready you two. Wash
up and get back down here.”

Michael and Raina headed for the bathroom. Raina finished
and headed back downstairs before him.

When he neared the kitchen doorway, he heard his sister
whisper, “This is her.” His gut clenched. Out of sight, he peeked around the
open entry off the hall. His sister press a few buttons on her iPhone and
handed it to their mom.

His mother glanced at the screen then quickly up at Raina.
“Oh.”

Raina smiled. “Yeah.
Oh.
”
Chuckling, Raina went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Snapple
raspberry ice tea.

“She’s gorgeous.” Sofia tapped on the phone and read through
something. “Impressive resume. What’s she like?”

Oh, hell.
They were reviewing Jordis’s bio from the firm web site.

Raina leaned against the fridge and unscrewed the cap of her
tea. “She’s feisty, and independent, and she’s not intimidated by
him
.”
Raina flicked her head in the direction of the staircase.

This last part caught Sofia’s attention. “Well, that would
be a first.”

He wiped his hands down his face and leaned a shoulder
against the hallway wall. His mother had never approved of his choices in
short-term women.

“Exactly.” Raina nodded.

Sofia handed Raina back her phone. “How can you be sure he’s
interested?” She grabbed the plated entrées and headed for the dining room.

“Oh, he’s interested all right,” Raina said, grabbing the
dish of vegetables off the counter with one hand and following her mom. “But I
think this time, big brother may have finally met his match.”

He frowned.
What?

Sofia placed the dishes on the table and smiled. “So that’s
what’s really on his mind. Hmm . . . his mystery woman shows up at the firm
about the same time he goes to dinner with a gorgeous new attorney. Something
tells me those grandchildren he keeps giving me a hard time about aren’t as far
off as he’d like me to believe.”

Raina burst out laughing.

The urge to sneak out the back door without a word overcame
him. He quickly nixed the idea; his mother would have him hunted down and
beaten. Heading for the dining room, he mentally catalogued the best criminal
attorneys he knew. He’d need one later tonight because he was about to murder
his baby sister.

* * *

Michael survived dinner without committing homicide, but
didn’t dawdle at his mom’s long after. He swung by the office to take care of a
few matters. When he pulled into the garage, he noted Jordis’s car was gone.
The service he’d called must have picked it up earlier. Glad that was taken
care of, he headed for the elevators.

He stepped off on the twenty-fifth floor and went straight
to his secretary’s desk. As he suspected, a stack of correspondence waited for
his signature. Lana had been in sometime over the weekend. The woman didn’t
know how to take a break. Not that he was complaining. He wouldn’t be half as
successful if not for Lana’s tireless efficiency and dedication.

After he thumbed through the correspondence, he signed in
all the appropriate places. As he placed the stack neatly back on Lana’s desk,
a sound drew his attention. Turning in the direction from which the sound had
come, he listened intently. Muffled voices traveled from down the hall. He went
to investigate.

The sound quieted after a minute. He paused to get his
bearings. A low moaned finally sliced through the silence. He continued his
trek, curious to know who else was at the office this late on a Sunday night.
As he got closer to the sound, he recognized the decidedly sexual nature of the
muffled murmurings. They led him to Eric Covington’s office.

The door stood ajar. He glanced through the slit of an
opening and was greeted by the sight of Alyson’s naked bottom tilted up at an
angle of copulatory invitation. She wore a dress, but her dress had been hiked
above her waist. Loose around her left ankle hung lacy panties in a shade that
matched her black stilettos. Michael noticed her fingers dallying between her
thighs. She knelt between Eric’s spread legs. Eric’s pants and briefs were
bunched at his ankles, his shirt open.

Eric moaned as Alyson’s head bobbed up and down over his
lap. He fisted a hand in her hair and shoved his hips hard. Alyson hummed deep
in her throat, apparently enjoying his rough play.

Michael stepped away from the door. Strange bedfellows, he
thought and left them to their business. They were consenting adults so what
they did together was none of his business. He made a mental note, however, to
get rid of that couch if Eric ever decided to leave the firm.

Michael went back to his office and got down to work. About
twenty minutes later, Alyson walked by his office. She flinched when she saw
him looking at her from his desk. She placed her hand against her chest and
played off the edge of fear he’d sensed in her.

“Oh, Michael, you surprised me. I didn’t know you were
here.”

“I came in to catch up on some paperwork I missed due to the
snowstorm.”