Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (128 page)

“That is actually what phones were
invented for,” I said, somewhat sarcastically.

“Alicia,” my mother chimed in. “There is
no reason to be rude. You owe Jack an apology for your tone.”

“It’s okay, Lady Winston,” Jack said. Ever
the ass-kisser, I thought. “I know she’s had a rough go of it lately. I am the
one who should apologize and get going. I’m intruding.”

“You are doing no such thing!” Mother told
him. “We were happy to see you and catch up. If my daughter won’t apologize for
her rudeness, I will.”

“Mother, I can apologize for myself, thank
you.” Looking at Jack and pasting the second non- genuine smile of the day on
my face, I said, “You’re right, Jack. It has been rough week. I do apologize if
I’ve been rude.”

“No need, Alicia, really,” Jack said,
oblivious to the fact that I had said “If I’ve been rude.” I hadn’t actually
admitted to anything. I felt he was the one being rude just by virtue of being
there.

“All I want is to be sure you’re okay,” he
said again.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I said, and took a
seat next to my father.

My dad took my hand. “Are you really,
dear? We saw on the television that your office was broken into.”

“It’s awfully frustrating yes, but we can
deal with it. Now, enough depressing talk. How about I put what I had out for
dinner tonight in the refrigerator until tomorrow and we go out to a nice
restaurant? I’d love to take you to see Rockefeller Center. You haven’t ever
been there around the holidays, have you?”

“No, we haven’t,” my mother said, “What do
you think, John? Are you up for a stroll out in the cold tonight?” I knew that
my father had had some medical issues lately. It was touching to see that my
mother still worried about him after all these years.

“I would love to see all of the Christmas
decorations and watch the skaters out on the ice,” my father said,
enthusiastically.

“It’s settled then. I know of an excellent
seafood restaurant near there. I’ll call for reservations now, and that will
give us time to dress.”

“I better be on my way, then,” Jack said,
rising once again off of the sofa.

My mother gave me a look that I knew full
well meant I was being rude again and should offer Jack an invitation, but I
pretended not to see it and said instead, “It was nice of you to come by, Jack.
Perhaps we can have you over again before my parents return home.”

“That would be nice,” he said. He kissed
my mother on the cheek and shook my father’s hand. I walked him to the door and
as he was leaving he said, “Don’t forget that you can call me if you need
anything,”

“I won’t, thank you,” I said as I closed
the door.

There was something about him that
bothered me so badly lately, but I just couldn’t figure out what it was. I
shook it off for now, and returned to my parents. I was looking forward to our
outing. It would be nice to forget about everything for a while and just enjoy
our time together.

CHAPTER
SIX

ADAM

I returned to my penthouse that evening.
It was creepy being there, knowing that Marjorie’s dead body had been here only
a few days prior. I didn’t believe I would ever be able to use the bathroom
where they had found her again. Thankfully, the penthouse offered two other
choices.

I mixed myself a drink and after taking
off my suit jacket and tie, I sat down on the couch to watch the news. The
break-in at the firm was the top story of the evening. The news anchors of
course had to link what had happened to the “recent murder” of the “firm’s
leader.”

They re-hashed the sordid details of
Marjorie’s death and even included an interview with that rat-bastard Hal
Rogers. He told the story of how he was helping this poor woman fight in court
for what was legally hers and made me out to sound like some kind of Simon
Legree in the process. He said that when she had finally gotten some “small”
resolution, someone had viciously taken her life. He worked up a tear as he
said how his heart went out to her family and what a tremendous loss to society
her death would be. I wanted to throw my drink at the television.

Rogers hadn’t said a word about how he
happened to be screwing poor, dead Marjorie while trying to help her steal
every dime she could from me, whether I deserved it or not. He also hadn’t
mentioned how large his cut of what Marjorie had gained was. I knew it was
upwards of a million dollars. The bastard was using Marjorie’s death and now
what was happening at my firm as publicity for his ramshackle practice.

I drained my glass and started to turn off
the TV. As I picked up the remote, however, I heard the bleached-blonde
anchorman with the too-white smile say,

“This just in, it seems that a source
close to the investigation of the break-in at the Hanson law firm has said that
information from one of the files had just been released to the authorities.
This source also said that the information this file contained held clues to an
unsolved murder. Keep watching as the story unfolds for up to the minute
details.”

I flipped off the set. The sounds of my
world crashing down around me could almost be heard out loud now. Once Miles
realized the “information” they were talking about was probably his son, he
alone would make sure that I never practiced law again in this city.

I knew that I should call Alicia. I didn’t
want her to see her client’s business splayed across the evening news. She took
her work and her clients’ privacy to heart. This was going to upset her badly.
It would be better if she heard it from me. I reluctantly reached for my phone
just as it started to ring. The caller ID said it was Alex.

“Hey,” I answered, actually looking
forward to hearing a friendly voice.

“Hey, buddy, I’ve been listening to the
news. I’m sorry; it seems like everything that could go wrong for you lately
has. How are you holding up?”

“I don’t know, Alex. This all really
sucks, you know?”

“I know. You have to keep your chin up,
though, and believe that you’ll get through this. I have faith in you.”

I laughed – it was the alternative to
completely losing it. “I think you and maybe Alicia are the only ones in the
greater Manhattan area who still feel that way.”

“Whatever I can do to help,” he told me.

“Have you seen Miles today?”

“I spoke with him a while ago. I’ll bet he
gave you hell about all of this, huh?”

“That’s putting it mildly. I’m afraid of
what he will do when he hears what the press is saying we have now.”

“Yeah, it’s about Miles V, right?”

“It has to be. We didn’t have anything
else even remotely that damaging to anyone else in those files that were
taken.”

“Is it enough for the authorities to
arrest him, you think?”

“No, but it will definitely prompt them to
reopen the case, I believe.”

“What about the civil case?” Alex asked.
“How damaging will the files being public be to Miles’s business, if that were
to happen?”

“Like the black plague,” I said with a
sigh. “Alex, there were things in there to indicate that Miles and all of the
executives knew their tankers weren’t up to code. If that gets out, we’re all
screwed.”

“I’m sorry, buddy. Again, if there’s
anything I can do…”

“I’ll let you know, thank you.”

“No problem,” Alex told me. “Get some
rest, huh?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, hanging up the phone
and looking around the penthouse that I used to love. It smelled like death to me
now. “I’m sure I’ll do that.”

********

I didn’t call Alicia. After talking to
Alex, I decided it was too late and I would call her in the morning. I hoped
that she had been too busy with her parents to have watched the news. I would
try to catch her early in the morning before she saw the paper. I went to bed
missing her, remembering the last night we spent together. I loved the way she
smelled and the soft feel of her skin and her hair. God, I hoped that all of
this drama wouldn’t drive her away – or worse yet home to the UK. I needed her
now, more than ever.

In the morning before I called Alicia, she
called me. “Hi, baby,” I said. “Did you sleep well?”

“Would have been so much better with you
curled up by my side,” she said.

“Ditto over here, too.”

I was about to ask if she heard the news
when she said, “Adam, I got a phone call this morning, from David.”

“David? What did he want? How did he get
your number?”

“I asked him that, he never gave me an
answer. He says he wants to meet with me. He claims he has some information
that I need.”

“You’re not meeting with him alone. This
guy has a finger in everything that’s been going on lately. I don’t trust him.”

“Me neither,” she said. “But I’m really
interested in what he has to say. He mentioned Jack, Adam. Isn’t that strange?”

“I knew that guy was up to no good. What
did David say exactly?”

“He was really cryptic about it all. He
said he had some things I’d really like to discuss with you, in person. When I
asked what things he said they involved my clients the Brigham’s, my boyfriend
Adam Hanson, and my ex-boyfriend, Jack Grant.”

I tried to let the ex-boyfriend go, I
really did. It wasn’t important now. But before I caught myself I said, “I
thought you and Jack were only ever friends.”

“We were. We dated for a minute in high
school and that was it. Adam, this is no time for jealousy.”

“I know, babe, I’m sorry. Listen, tell him
you’ll meet with him, but only if I can be there as well, okay? Don’t agree to
go alone, promise me.”

“Okay, I promise,” she said.

“Did you happen to see the news?”

She groaned. “Yeah, actually the morning
paper. I found my father reading it when I got up.”

I felt so fucking bad for all of this. I
have no idea why she’s still with me. “What did the paper have to say?”

“The article began by re-capping
Marjorie’s murder. It called you a person of interest and referred to me as
your “Love Interest.” After all of that, they finally got to the break-in. They
knew that my office and yours were the only ones broken into and the reporter
speculated on what, if anything this may have to do with Marjorie’s death. They
talked about possible ramifications on our open cases and then they talked
about Miles.”

I groaned. “Specifically?”

“Yeah, too specifically. They quoted
things out of his file – most sickeningly when he said, ‘My son killed my
wife.’”

“Shit.”

“Yep.”

“What did your parents say about all of
this? Are they ready to kidnap you and take you back to the U.K.?”

“Mother didn’t read it. Hopefully, she
won’t get a chance. My father is more understanding. We had a great evening
together last night and Mother is in a great mood. I plan on trying to keep her
that way.”

“Good luck, baby. I love you. Let me know
what David says.”

“I will. I love you, too. I miss you.”

“I miss you like an amputated limb. When
this is all over, we need to find a new place to live, together.”

“Really?”

“You’re still marrying me, right? We might
have to go to Vegas because I’ll be destitute…”

She laughed. “I’d marry you on the street
in Brooklyn. I love you. I can’t wait to be your wife. I will see you in a few
hours. I got my parents tickets to the Met and after I drop them off, I’ll be
into the office.”

“I can’t wait to see you,” I told her
honestly. It was what would get me thorough another wretched day.

I showered and dressed after I spoke to
Alicia and headed into the office. I had a meeting at nine a.m. with the judge
presiding over Brigham’s civil case and I wanted to be well-prepared. Judge
Newman was a no-nonsense type. When I made it into court, I found him not
amused, at all.

“Pretty shoddy alarm system you must have
over there, Hanson. Thieves in and out with over twenty files before the
authorities arrived? You’ll be lucky if this doesn’t destroy you, boy.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, feeling as if I were
sitting in the principal’s office in middle school. “I’m hoping that’s not
going to be the case, however.”

“Well, for now, I haven’t found any reason
not to proceed on this case as we have been. I’ll have the jury sequestered if
need be to keep them from being tainted by the press. Meanwhile, I don’t want
my courtroom made into a circus by you and Rogers.”

Hal Rogers was the attorney for the
plaintiffs in the oil spill case. Somehow, I just couldn’t get away from that
clown. He hadn’t been able to make it to the meeting this morning, so it was
almost postponed. Instead, he sent an associate and said he “trusted” me and
Judge Newman not to have any ex-parte discussions. The associate was there just
mainly to make sure things were kept legal, and the court stenographer was busy
taking it all down as the judge and I talked.