LOVING THE HEAD MAN (5 page)

       Robert didn’t see the need to repeat what he had already made clear.  He, instead, pulled out his ever-chirping smartphone and began reviewing a text message. 

       Bree found herself staring at Robert.  Although he looked less intense now than he did on those cable news shows he often frequented, he looked far more attractive in person.  He had such a handsome, earnest-looking face, with a head full of light-brown hair, unblemished tanned skin, even darker eyebrows above those soft violet eyes that seemed trusting and suspicious all at the same time. 

       His body was impressive too, as he had a muscular and elegant physique, but Bree was drawn to his face.  To his strong, wide jaw, to his intense, intelligent gaze, to the fact that the papers said he was thirty-eight, but at some angles he didn’t look a day over thirty.  Before she knew it, she blurted out, “You’re Robert Colgate.”

       She was horrified as soon as she realized what she had done.  She almost sounded like some countrified groupie.  To her relief, however, it didn’t seem to bother him at all.  He even smiled a wonderful smile, but he didn’t look up.  He seemed distracted by his text message.

       “And you’re Brianna Hudson,” he said back to her.

       “I’m still surprised that you know my name.”

       “You know mine.”

       “Yeah, but you’re . . . Robert Colgate.  I’m supposed to know your name.”

       He placed his smartphone on the table and looked at her.  “You’re a finalist for a position at my firm.  I’m supposed to know yours.”

       Bree had read about how committed he was to his law firm and refused to be the absent owner.  She looked at his cigarette.  None of the articles she’d ever read about him, and she’d read many, mentioned that he smoked, however. 

       When he saw that she was staring at the cigarette between his fingers, he snorted lightly, and began dousing it out, uncrossing his leg and turning his body toward the table as he did.  Bree couldn’t help but notice the muscles that strained the expensive fabric of his dress shirt.  “One of my guilty pleasures,” he said. 

       “I figure you’d to be too smart to do that to your body.” 

       “You’re
right,
of course, it’s a terrible habit to have.  But sometimes I have to indulge my lesser nature.”

       “Why?” she asked. 

       This question seemed to disturb
Robert,
it seemed to Bree, which surprised her.  “Why?” he asked.  “Because I’m a human being who sometimes need a stress reliever.”  He glanced down at her cleavage.  He’d had dreams of this sweet brown beauty relieving his stress, wiggling beneath him as he pounded her.  The mere thought of it now caused his manhood to thump against his boxers.

       “I’m sure there’s a lot on your plate,” Bree said.

       “The understatement of the year,” he said with another smile, as if she had just spoken some serious truth, and only after he admitted it did Bree see the exhaustion on his face.   “There’s always a lot on my plate,” he added.

       Bree frowned.  “But you’re the boss with three hundred lawyers working for you.  Why don’t you farm out some of your cases?”

      
“Because our elite clients pay top dollar for the boss, not for the farmhand.”

       Bree smiled, understanding that.  “Then maybe you should start turning down more work.”

       “I already turn down a lot of work.”  He looked at Bree and was pleased by her concern.  “But thanks for the suggestions.” 

       That face of hers haunted him.  It wasn’t just that it was a pretty face, pretty faces, to Robert, were a dime a dozen in the circles he traveled.  But Bree had a unique look, something that made him feel warm and pleased, not the usual suspiciousness he often felt whenever a new person entered his orbit.  And being around her made him feel like he could actually be the good, caring man he used to be, instead of the sick, ruthless bastard he sometimes felt he’d become.  Especially whenever he was at trial, defending all
manner
of perverted scum and, thanks to his renowned courtroom skills, always getting them off.

       “You didn’t turn down that rapper,” Bree said, feeling oddly comfortable talking shop with the boss.  “Doesn’t his trial start next week?  What’s his name? 
Jay-Pack or something?”

       Robert looked as if he didn’t want to be reminded of it.  “Jay-Pat,” he said. 
“Legally known as Jayson Patrick.
  And yes, his trial starts next Monday if all goes according to plan.”

       “Are you worried?”

       “I’m always worried when I’m asked to defend someone against a murder charge.”

      
“And in Los Angeles of all places.
 
In Hollywood.”

       “Yep,” Robert said, running his hand across his face, his exhaustion even more pronounced.  “I’ll be flying out there this weekend.”

       The idea of not being able to feast her eyes on this man anytime soon, depending on how long that trial lasts, depressed her.  “If you believe the papers,” she said, “he’s guilty as sin.”

       Robert looked at her intensely.  “You believe the papers?”

       “I wouldn’t say I believe them.  I read them.”   Then she shook her head.  “I could never be a criminal defense attorney.”

       “Yeah, you mentioned that in your video.  Good for you.”

       Bree smiled.  “Good for me?  But you’re the best criminal attorney around.   Why in the world would you think it’s not a good idea to become one?”

       Robert didn’t respond at first.  He just sat there, his hands now clasp on the table in front of him.  It seemed to Bree that he was remembering something very unpleasant.  “I just finished a trial this morning,” he said.  “Verdict came in at exactly nine-fifty-two.  A quiet, sensible young man, the son of a billionaire banker from right here in Chicago, was my client.  He was alleged to have savagely beaten and raped a young woman. 
Ruined her life, by all accounts.
  And I was his defense attorney.”

       Bree nodded.  She had heard of the case.  “So the verdict was guilty?”

       “The verdict was
not guilty
.” 

       Bree stared at him, puzzled. 

       “I never said I wasn’t a very good defense attorney,” he added.

       Bree laughed.  “You should be celebrating.  You did your best for your client and got him off.  You should be pleased.”

       “Pleased?” Robert spat out.  “I should be pleased that a rapist has walked scot free, thanks to my amazing courtroom skills?”

       Bree was astonished.  “But if you knew he was guilty, why did you prove his innocence?”

       “I didn’t prove anything.  It’s not my job to prove his innocence.  It’s the DA’s job to prove his guilt.  And they failed miserably.”  Then he added bitterly: “Sorry asses.”

       “Maybe they weren’t sorry, Mr. Colgate.  Maybe you were just too brilliant.”

       Robert sipped from his now cold coffee.  It was obvious to Bree that he wasn’t buying what she was selling.  He sat his coffee cup back down.  “When I saw you on that video you submitted, I was impressed.”

       This pleased Bree. 
“Really?”

       Robert frowned.  “Not by your legal philosophy, I saw a lot of practical problems with your philosophy.”  Then he looked into her eyes, her kind, pretty, bright-brown eyes, he thought.  “But I was impressed with you.  I thought, well
good
, here is a young lady with a strong moral compass. 
Someone whose inner core meant more to her than gaining a position.
 
A young lady who takes to heart the Biblical admonition, the one about what should it prosper a man if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.
  I wanted you here for that very reason.”  He looked at her.  “Keep your values as strong, as unbendable as you displayed them on that video, Brianna.  If you do, you’ll sleep well at night.”

       Bree stared at him, taken aback by his intensity.  “Do you sleep well at night, Mr. Colgate?”

       Robert smiled a smile loaded with so much charm, but even more regret.  “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in years, not since the night before I tried my first case as a criminal defense attorney.” 

       Bree didn’t know what to say to that.  On TV, in magazines, he seemed so self-assured, so on top of his game that no-way could he find anything about his work reprehensible.  She tried to smile.  “You’re a remarkable man.  You’re the best at something you hate.”

       “I don’t hate it.  I love it.”  He hesitated.  “That’s the problem.  I love the fact that I’ve never lost a case.  I love it too much.” 

       Bree thought about this.  “If you love it, then what’s there to hate about it?”

       Robert smiled again, but this time it was more like a smirk.  “I hate the fact that I love it.”

       It didn’t make sense to Bree, and it made perfect sense to Bree.  For a few moments neither one of them spoke.  Then Bree sighed.  “The worst part for me is how unfair it all is.”

       “It’s not unfair.  It’s the law.”

       “You mean
it’s
better that a hundred guilty men go free rather than one innocent man be imprisoned?  I understand what that means.  And I know the burden of proof is always on the prosecution.  But it still seems unfair to me.  I mean, what if the perp has a great defense attorney like you who can manipulate every aspect of the evidence?  He’ll get away with murder.  While some poor boy in Mississippi, with a sorry lawyer, will end up behind bars for life.  It’s just not fair.”

       Robert remembered that she was from Mississippi, that she was a southern girl.  “Then you should go back to Mississippi,” he said, “and defend all of those poor Mississippi boys and level the playing field.”

       Bree looked alarmed.  She didn’t mean to sound as if she was criticizing what he did.  “I didn’t mean to–”

       “How do you rate your chances here at Colgate?” he interrupted her just as his smart phone chirped again.  He picked it up and began reading another text message.

       Her heart dropped.  Was he underwhelmed by her too, just as Alan DeFrame had been?  “I would rate my chances as excellent, sir.”  She decided to give it one more
try
.  “Although Mr. DeFrame said I don’t stand a chance.”

       Robert continued to read his text message, although a frown enveloped his face.  “Do you believe you stand a chance?” he asked her.