Kitabı oku: «Legal Seduction»

Chapter 1

“Has the jury reached a verdict?”

“Yes, Your Honor, we have.”

Defense attorney Iris Sinclair stood slowly and motioned for her seventeen-year-old client to do the same. She had logged more hours in this murder case than she had in her last few cases put together, and was confident that they would win.

Still seated, her client Terrance Gibson tugged on the collar of his light blue button-down dress shirt and yanked on the striped tie, loosening it from around his neck. He took a deep breath, grabbed hold of the edge of the table and pulled himself up, knocking a file folder to the floor and sending Iris’s pen flying across the tabletop in the process.

Horrified, he glanced at Iris, his troubled eyes wide. He made a move to retrieve the folder, his chair scraping loudly against the hardwood floor before she halted him with a reassuring pat on the back. “Leave it,” she mouthed silently and smiled.

He managed a small smile back and after a deep breath, turned his attention to the jury foreman.

“We the jury, find the defendant, Terrance Gibson, not guilty of the charge of first-degree murder.”

Cheers went up around the courtroom and Terrance dropped down in his seat, his face in his hands and his shoulders shaking as he sobbed. Iris’s heart went out to him while she swiped at her own tears. It had been one of her toughest cases, but she proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that her client was not guilty. She was relieved that it was finally over and an innocent young man wouldn’t spend the rest of his life behind bars. Terrance’s only mistake the fateful night that he was arrested for murder was that he had succumbed to peer pressure and attended a house party instead of going home after a football game.

Terrance threw his arms around Iris’s neck. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help.”

Iris hugged him back. “It was my pleasure.” She pulled back. “Just make sure I don’t see you back here again.”

“You won’t,” he said before he went to go join his family.

Iris gathered her belongings, preparing to leave the courthouse. Despite her best efforts, she always tried not to get emotionally involved in her cases, but it was usually inevitable. One of few defense attorneys in the Atlanta area whose defendants were mostly teenagers and good kids who ended up in bad situations, Iris’s clients often got caught up in the wrong crowd, or made one bad decision, as in Terrance’s case.

“Attorney Sinclair, we’ll never be able to thank you for all you did for Terrance through this horrible ordeal,” Mr. Gibson said to Iris when he pulled her off to the side. “We knew our son was innocent, but for you, someone who didn’t know him the way we know him, to take on his case based on Terrance’s word alone, means more to me and his mother than we could ever express.”

Iris smiled. She had connected with Terrance and his family from day one, promising to do whatever she could to prove his innocence.

“It was my pleasure, Mr. Gibson. Terrance is a good kid. When I saw and heard the pain behind every word that he said while describing that night, I sensed he was telling the truth.” If proof of innocence wasn’t available, Iris relied on her gut to decide whether or not to take on a case.

She stuck around for a few more minutes before leaving the courthouse.

Back at the offices of Thomas, Alston & Sinclair, Iris moved down the wide hallway, her heels sinking into plush carpeting as some of the associates congratulated her on her victory. Though appreciative of all of the laudatory comments, she couldn’t get to her office fast enough. A slight headache had been her companion for the past hour, and exhaustion after working long nights had finally caught up to her.

As she approached her office area, she couldn’t help but reminisce about her professional life over the past few years. It had taken nine years of hard work at the firm, and the last four as a partner, to not only make it to the top floor of the office building, but to also receive one of the prime corner offices. Amazing views of North Buckhead and the Perimeter made the accomplishment even sweeter.

She stopped at the desk of her assistant extraordinaire, Melissa Rand. Melissa smiled and held the telephone receiver between her shoulder and ear while she gathered a padded envelope and a small package from her desk. She handed Iris the items and a small stack of phone messages as she fielded questions from a caller.

“Congratulations. I’ll be in your office shortly,” Melissa mouthed silently to Iris and then jumped right back into her telephone conversation without missing a beat.

Iris nodded and walked the few steps to her office. She placed her briefcase on the floor next to her long mahogany desk and quickly scanned her phone messages. Seeing nothing urgent, she tossed them on the desk before dropping into her seat. This would be the first day in over eight months that she’d leave the office before five in the evening and she could barely contain her excitement. Court dates always wore her out and this case had taken an emotional toll on her. Now that Terrance’s trial was over, she could officially start making plans for her long-overdue vacation.

Her cell phone rang from inside her briefcase and she pulled it out of the side pocket.

“Hello.”

“Hey, sis.”

A smile lifted the corners of Iris’s lips at the sound of her younger sister’s voice. Janna Morgan was a supermodel who had become internationally known after her appearance in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

“Hey, yourself. Where are you?” Janna planned to spend her three-week vacation in Atlanta, and Iris couldn’t wait to see her.

“I’m still in New York, but I should be in Atlanta by seven this evening. Do you want me to have the driver bring me to your office or to your penthouse?”

Janna had been expected the day before, but a last-minute scheduling conflict with a modeling shoot forced a change of plans. Iris hadn’t seen her foster sister in three months and was anxious to hang out with her and their other sibling, Macy, this evening.

Iris glanced at her watch. Three-fifteen. “I’m hoping to leave here in the next hour and plan to head straight home. Why don’t you meet me there and then we’ll drive out to Alpharetta and meet up with Macy?”

Janna sighed. “Are you sure you’re going to be there, Ms. Workaholic? The last time I ended up at your place, you didn’t show up until two o’clock in the morning, and I was left in that big ol’ apartment by myself with nothing but microwave popcorn and a diet soda. Maybe I should just head out to Macy’s crib and you get there when you can.”

“No,” Iris blurted out. She wanted Janna to stay with her and knew that if she went to Macy’s, their sister would talk Janna into staying with her for the duration of Janna’s visit. “I promise, I will be there...but make sure you have your key, just in case.”

Iris couldn’t imagine her life without her sisters. She had been shuffled from one foster home to another after her single mother was killed by a misguided teen and none of their family members had been willing to take her in. Finally, Iris ended up with Mama Adel, her foster mother, who had provided Iris with a loving home and more attention than she had ever received in her life before. Iris was fourteen at the time and had joined two other girls at the house. Janna was then five and Macy was fifteen.

“Why do I need my key if you’re going to be there?” Janna asked.

Iris laughed. “I promise I’ll be there, but since you’re staying a few days, it’s best you have your key so that you can come and go with no problems.” They talked for a few more minutes before disconnecting.

Noelle Beckett, one of the partners at Thomas, Alston & Sinclair and one of Iris’s dearest friends, breezed through Iris’s open office door. Stylish, intelligent and full of life, Noelle was a fireball, always ready to take on any challenge. She had an insurmountable amount of energy and the tenacity of a pit bull. She would zone in on what she wanted and wouldn’t give up until it was hers.

“I’m glad you’re smiling and sitting down.”

The smile dropped from Iris’s face. “Why?” She shook her head and threw up her hands in mock surrender. “No, don’t tell me. I’m sure I don’t want to know. Just keep it to yourself until I leave.” Iris stood and began stuffing files into her briefcase. Tired, hungry and long overdue for time off from work, she had no intentions of taking on any more cases until after her three-week vacation. She slung her bag over her shoulder and then grabbed her purse to leave. Noelle blocked her path.

“Too late.” Noelle flipped long blond hair over her shoulders, handed Iris a file and sat in a guest chair facing the desk. “I know you’re planning to knock off early today, but we have a situation.” Noelle tugged her short skirt toward her knees, defeating her purpose when she crossed one tanned leg over the other.

Iris groaned and dropped her bags near her desk before reclaiming her seat. “We always have a situation,” she mumbled and opened the thin file. She lifted a magazine from it and held it up. “What’s this for?”

A wicked smile curved Noelle’s ruby-red lips. “Do you know who that is on the cover?”

Iris frowned and laid the magazine on top of the open file folder, and stared into the face of one of the most famous—and beautiful—men in the country. “Nash Dupree. So?”

“Sooo, that delicious eye candy wants to hire you to take care of a legal matter.”

“Nash Dupree? The Nash Dupree?” Iris’s clients included numerous high-profile people in the Atlanta area, but none who could match the wealth or the good looks of Nash Dupree.

Noelle grinned. “Yes, the tall, dark and sexy business mogul and president of Dupree Enterprises, who has graced the covers of almost every national magazine there is, contacted us a short while ago.” Noelle twirled the pen between her fingers and swung her leg back and forth. “He wants you.”

Iris lifted a perfectly arched eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Noelle laughed. “He wants you to handle his niece’s case. Although―” her friend placed both feet on the floor and leaned forward in her seat, putting her elbows on the desk “―once he lays eyes on you, he will probably want more than legal counsel.”

“Oh, please.” Iris waved her friend off and scanned the information sheet that one of the assistants had most likely put together. Mr. Dupree’s fifteen-year-old niece, of whom he was the legal guardian, was arrested for drug possession.

“Don’t ‘oh, please’ me. I hate when you do that!” Noelle banged her fist against the desk. “You are one of the smartest, most accomplished and selfless women I know, and don’t get me started on how gorgeous you are! If you would give the men out here half a chance, they would be knocking each other over to get to you.”

If it wasn’t Noelle, it was one of her sisters saying the same thing. Iris in no way saw herself as gorgeous, but to let one of them tell it, she was every man’s fantasy. Sure, she wanted to find her Mr. Right, fall in love and live happily ever after, but she lived in the real world. There was no way a man as hot as Nash Dupree would give her a second look. She was too tall and not skinny enough, and her skin was too dark. From what she’d seen, he only dated rod-thin, light-skinned women who made her look like the ugly stepsister, which was how she felt most days. Growing up with two “cute” foster sisters had done nothing to help Iris’s low self-esteem.

She glanced back at the magazine cover. Nope, no one who looked half as good as Nash Dupree had ever asked her out. She set the magazine aside and folded her hands on top of the file folder.

“Let’s get back to Mr. Dupree,” Iris said. “I mentioned to you and Kyle a couple of weeks ago that I wasn’t taking on any more cases until after I return from vacation. And just glancing at this information about the Dupree kid, either of you or one of the associates could handle this with your eyes closed.”

“When I talked with Mr. Dupree, I offered my services, but he insists you’re the one he wants. Have you ever met him?”

Iris shook her head as she glanced back at the information in the file. “Never. Did someone refer him or did he say exactly why he wanted me?”

“I don’t know if anyone referred him. I just assumed he wanted the best.” Noelle smirked, but shrugged when Iris narrowed her gaze. “Face it, Iris, you are the best. You not only have heart, but you’re the only defense attorney who can connect with these teens.”

Iris cocked her head. “What is this, Stroke Iris’s Ego Day?”

Noelle stood and tugged on her tiny skirt. “It should be. You have been winning cases left and right. With the victory today, the phones will be ringing off the hook with parents who have teens in trouble, or nonprofit youth organizations vying for your volunteer services. Mercy Youth Community Center won’t be the only agency begging for your time and expertise.” She stopped at the door and turned to Iris. “Oh, and Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome will be here shortly. You might want to check your hair and freshen up your makeup.”

Yeah, whatever.

Iris glanced at her watch. It was going on four o’clock. Even if she were able to take on the case, by the time she heard Mr. Dupree out, it would be too late to go before a judge, which meant his niece might have to spend the night in juvenile detention. It also meant Iris might be late meeting with her sisters for dinner, and she would never hear the end of how she always put work before them.

“Iris,” her assistant said from the doorway before walking farther into the office. “Mr. Dupree is waiting for you in conference room B. Also, I talked with Mahone Construction this afternoon and put the information you requested inside your to-be-read file on your computer.”

“Melissa, you’re the best,” Iris said to the short, thin woman whom she couldn’t imagine her life without. Melissa had been with her for the past three years and she was Iris’s right arm, keeping her professional life organized and her personal life drama-free. She was the person who helped maintain what little sanity Iris had left. “If I’m not out of this meeting by five o’clock—”

“I’ll come a-knocking.” Melissa smiled and strolled out of the office.

Iris gathered the file, a notepad and her favorite pen. She would hear Mr. Dupree out, but let him know that she would have to assign someone else to his case. She moved to the door, but stopped. It wasn’t every day she had the opportunity to meet someone like the sexy Nash Dupree. She doubled back to her desk and whipped out the mirrored compact from her purse, checked her makeup and freshened her lipstick. She might as well look her best when she broke the news to him.

Iris walked into the conference room, intending to greet Nash Dupree and promptly refer him to another attorney, but a deep, baritone voice halted her the moment she stepped across the threshold. She quickly glanced around the room, thinking that Barry White himself had to be there, but he wasn’t. Instead, standing on the other side of the room, talking on a cell phone, was a man whose voice made her toes curl. The deep, melodious tone was strong and intoxicating. She had always been a sucker for a man with a mysterious, sexy voice.

So this is Nash Dupree. Though his body was slightly angled toward the window, she couldn’t help but notice how his broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist and how his long legs seemed to go on forever. Tall for a woman, Iris didn’t often come in contact with men she had to look up to, literally. With one hand holding his cell phone and the other stuffed casually into his pants pocket, he appeared confident and relaxed, despite his family’s recent legal issues.

“Alright, I guess it has to be this evening. Just let me know where,” Nash said to the caller. He turned away from the window, but was looking down and hadn’t noticed her.

Iris took in his honey-brown complexion, black wavy hair cropped close to his head, and his perfect body. The magazine photos and the few times that she’d seen him on TV hadn’t done him justice. He looked every bit the powerful man that the media portrayed him to be. As for the playboy reputation he had garnered in the tabloids, she could see why women threw themselves at him. He oozed virility and wealth.

Ogling him from across the room felt unprofessional, but she couldn’t help herself. Spending most of her days in her office or in a courtroom hadn’t allowed her much opportunity to socialize, especially with someone who looked like Nash Dupree.

“Oh, wait, can you also let...” Nash started, but stopped when he looked up and spotted Iris. For a moment, all he did was hold the phone and stare at her. His gaze slowly traveled over her from the top of her head down to her three-inch navy blue pumps and then back up to her eyes. A small smile lifted the left corner of his tempting mouth and Iris’s pulse quickened at the effect that his smile had on her. “Uh, Nigel, let me call you back.”

Nash disconnected the call and placed his cell phone in an inside pocket of his suit jacket without breaking eye contact. The optimism Iris had in her ability to assign Nash Dupree to another attorney was slowly slipping away. Her breath caught as he moved smoothly across the plush room with the swagger of a self-assured, influential man who was used to getting what he wanted.

Good Lord, this brother is fine.

“Hello, sorry about that,” he said in that rich voice and extended his hand. “I’m Nash Dupree.”

Iris self-consciously ran her sweaty palm down her skirt and cleared her throat before shaking his hand. “Iris Sinclair. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Okay, just stay cool, Iris told herself. She smiled and eased her hand out of his grip before stepping over to the conference table and setting her notepad down. Despite her professional success, she had never been very comfortable around good-looking men, especially men who openly checked her out, the way Nash was doing now. Men like him rarely looked at her the way he was doing.

“Please have a seat.” She gestured for him to sit in the high-back leather chair to her left. “I understand your niece has gotten herself into a little trouble.”

“Yes, you could say that.” Nash unbuttoned his suit jacket and waited until she was seated at the head of the table before taking his seat. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a photo, sliding it across the table to Iris. “That’s my niece, Tania Dupree. She’s an amazing young woman who is highly intelligent with musical skills that could rival Alicia Keys, and she has the stubbornness of a mule. She’s the love of my life, and the bane of my existence.”

Iris smiled. In the picture, Tania wore her hair in micro-braids that easily flowed past her shoulders. Hazel eyes, similar to Nash’s, shined with a youthful glint, and Iris would bet her paycheck that the sweet smile gracing Tania’s lips got her whatever she wanted from her uncle.

Iris handed the photo back to Nash. “She’s beautiful.” Like her uncle, she wanted to say, but kept the thought to herself.

“Thank you,” Nash said quietly, staring at the photo.

“I can tell she means a lot to you.” Iris crossed her leg and turned her body toward him. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?” The least she could do was hear him out before assigning someone else to the case.

“Mr. Dupree?”

Nash’s head snapped up and he looked at her as if he had forgotten she was in the room. He stood and rubbed his hand over his head and down the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry. I, um, it’s been a helluva day.” He chuckled and Iris nodded her understanding, realizing for the first time since leaving court that the headache she’d been battling for the past couple of days had finally departed. “Anyway, I received a call a couple of hours ago that Tania had been arrested for drug possession. She and some of her classmates had a half day of school and were heading home when they were pulled over by a cop.”

“Why were they pulled over?”

“From what I understand, the kid driving the vehicle didn’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign.” Nash shoved his hand into his pants pocket, taking Iris’s attention from his sexy hazel eyes down to the front of his pants. She quickly diverted her attention. What the heck is wrong with me?

“The cop probably would’ve just issued a warning,” Nash continued, “but when one of the kids started smarting off, the officer made all them get out of the car.”

Nash roamed around the plush space. “I told Tania to stop hanging out with those kids. Associating with them had already gotten her into trouble at school. A few months ago, she was apprehended by the cops when one of the little thugs she was hanging out with stole a couple of candy bars from a convenience store.”

Nash stopped and slowly turned to Iris, releasing a loud sigh. “When Tania exited the car, she swung her backpack onto her shoulder and a bag of marijuana fell to the ground. Supposedly it came from her bag. Needless to say, all the kids claim they knew nothing about it and they all were taken into custody.”

“What did Tania say when you asked about the drugs?”

Nash walked back over to the table, but didn’t reclaim his seat. “She said it wasn’t hers and had no idea how it made its way into her bag.”

Iris asked a few more questions, taking notes as he talked more about how he had transferred her to the best private school in Johns Creek, a suburb outside Atlanta. Tania had had her share of harmless trouble since arriving at the school, like putting a dead bird in one of her teachers’ desks and getting caught egging another student’s car.

“I can’t believe she’s been arrested for drug possession with the intent to sell. She’s too smart for that and has never shown any sign of drug use. I know that weed wasn’t hers.”

“So you believe her?”

“Without a doubt, but don’t get me wrong, I understand that the cops had to take her in. Having drugs in her possession doesn’t look good. The worst part is, the officers would have let her leave with me, but she was adamant about staying until she talked with a lawyer.” He let out a harsh laugh that lacked humor. “That girl became indignant with an officer because she didn’t like the way he automatically accused her. As if he didn’t have reason to doubt her damn story!”

He pounded the table with his fist and turned away. “I’m sorry,” he said when he turned back around. “This whole situation is like a bad dream.”

“I’m sure it is.” Iris could tell how much this was bothering him. “I assume they’re keeping her in detention until she goes before the judge.” That was more of a statement than a question. Georgia’s juvenile detention system didn’t care who your parents were. They didn’t tolerate unruly behavior. If a child was uncooperative, that often meant an automatic night in detention.

Nash nodded and folded his arms across his chest. “You have to understand, Attorney Sinclair—Tania is very headstrong, but she’s a good kid.”

“I don’t doubt that, Mr. Dupree.” Iris glanced at her notes and sighed. It would only take a few minutes to meet with Tania and then go before the judge and get an arraignment date set, but Iris had vowed not to take on another case until after her vacation. If she took this case, then there would be another, and yet another one after that. She would end up spending another year without taking any much-needed time off. She placed her pen on top of the notepad and leaned back in her seat, folding her hands on top of the table.

“Mr. Dupree, based on what you’ve told me, any one of our associates will be able to assist you and your niece. Not only will it save you money, it will—”

“I don’t give a damn about the money, Counselor!” Nash leaned on the table. His face was a glowering mask of anger, hovering only inches from hers. “I want my niece to have the best representation there is. Refusing to take the case is not an option.”

Iris bristled at his tone, the arrogance behind his words making her see red. She stood slowly, trying to contain the anger that suddenly bubbled within her. She pinned him with a level look, willing herself to remain calm. “With all due respect, Mr. Dupree, I’m not sure what you’re accustomed to, but I decide what cases I take on and I will not stand for you or anyone else telling me what I can or cannot do.”

Nash stood so close to her that she could smell his mint-scented breath against her face. His expression was unreadable, and his enticing lips were close enough to kiss. He glanced down at her mouth before he lifted his eyes to meet hers.

“But I want you.”