Текст книги "Reasonable Doubt. Vol. 1"

Автор книги: Whitney Gracia Williams

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Burden of Proof (n.):

The obligation to prove or disprove a disputed fact.

Andrew

“Did I tell you that I landed the leading role for that ballet I auditioned for?” Alyssa said to me the next morning.

I’d been talking to her since I arrived at work, but I’d made no mention of the fact that she’d hung up in my face last night; I was going to punish her for that later. Severely.

Thirteen days...

“Did I tell you about it?” she asked again.

“ No, and if you’re not going to tell me when and where the show is, then I don’t care.”

“Oh, wow.” She laughed. “You’re mad about last night, aren’t you?”

“ Furious.”

“Because I hung up?”

“Because I know you screamed yes when you came, and you hung up because you didn’t want me to hear it.”

She was silent, and I was about to say something else, but Jessica suddenly stepped into my office, smiling at me.

“Hold on one second.” I put my phone against my chest. “Yes, Jessica?”

“The final interviews are going to start in twenty minutes. They need you in the conference room now.”

“I’ll get there when I get there.” I acted as if the kiss she was now blowing me wasn’t happening, and waited until she closed the door. “I’ll have to call you back later, Alyssa. I have a meeting.”

“Must be bad timing for both of us. I have a meeting, too.”

“Your doomed gunshot client?”

“No, something much worse. An intern interview.”

“Must be in the air then.” I sighed as I slipped into my jacket. “I have to sit through a few of them myself, unfortunately.”

“Any advice you want to share?”

“Try to look like you’re actually paying attention while they answer the questions, and make sure your cell phone is fully charged so you can get on the internet.”

“Not for me.” She laughed. “For the interns. Something I should say if one of them is nervous.”

“Oh.” I shrugged. “Tell them my motto.”

“And what motto would that be?”

“It is what it is.”

“Why do I ever ask you anything?”

“Because I always tell you the truth.” I hung up.

“Mr. Hamilton?” Jessica stepped into my office again. “They want you to look over the files before they begin.”

“I’m right behind you.” I followed her into the conference room, where Will Greenwood and George Bach were waiting, and I sat next to them.

“Good to see you out of your office today, Andrew.” Will laughed.

“Yeah,” George added. “Thank you for bestowing your presence upon us this afternoon. We know how much you lovebeing sociable.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do the three of us need to conduct intern interviews? What’s the purpose of having an HR department if the partnersdo their job for them?”

“This is a family, Andrew.” Mr. Greenwood spoke sternly. “Whether it’s an intern, the secretary, or the young man who stays overnight and cleans this office, I want everyone to feel like they’re a part of a huge family. Don’t you?”

“I’m not answering that,” I said. “How many are we picking this year?”

“Not too many.” Will slid me a folder. “We have our top five picks. We just need to narrow it down to three. Two from law school, one from pre-law. We’ll add two more next semester.”

“Hmmm.” I pulled out the applications and pretended to pay attention as the two of them went over each applicant’s achievements.

“Okay, Jessica!” Will pressed the intercom button. “You can send in the first applicant!”

When the door opened, I expected to see the usual plainly dressed stiff with a wooden smile, but the woman who stepped inside was far from that. Dressed in a light grey dress that clung to her hips and a pair of nude high heels, she was one of the sexiest women I’d ever seen; I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Her eyes were a deep ocean blue that matched the sapphire necklace hanging around her neck. Her hair was pulled into a low ponytail—the loose strands slightly grazed her breasts, and her lips—her bright pink, fuck-able lips, seemed to be mouthing words of some kind.

I have no idea what you’re saying...

As I was noticing the pink bra strap that had slipped from underneath her dress and onto her bare shoulder, her stunning eyes met mine. I raised my eyebrow and she blushed. Then she immediately turned away, looking at my partners.

“Welcome to GBH, Miss Everhart,” George said. “We’re happy that you’re here for an interview, but as you know we can only select oneundergraduate intern for our program at this time.”

“I understand, sir.” Her eyes met mine again, and my cock twitched.

I tried to stop the images that were flooding my brain, images of me bending this woman over the table, fucking her against my office wall, and tying her hands above her head and torturing her with my tongue all night, but they wouldn’t stop. Each image dissolved into another one, and before I knew it, I’d visually undressed her and there was no one in this room but the two of us.

What the hell is wrong with me? Attracted to a prospective intern? An UNDERGRADUATE intern?

“Well, let’s get started then.” George interrupted my thoughts. “Mr. Hamilton, would you care to start with the first question?”

“Not particularly,” I said, trying to ignore the fact that Miss Everhart was smoothing her dress over her thighs.

He nudged me under the table and whispered under his breath, “Family, Andrew... Family.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do you want to be a lawyer, Miss Everhart?”

“I enjoy screwing people over,” she said. “I figure I might as well get paid for it.”

My lips curved into a smile, and George and Will laughed.

“In all seriousness, gentlemen,” she continued, “I come from a large family of lawyers and judges; it’s what I’ve known my whole life. I know the justice system is far from perfect, but nothing makes me happier than seeing it at its best. There’s no greater feeling than working for the good of society.”

“Good answer,” Will said. “Now, we’re going to ask you a series of questions regarding the real-world case study packets that we mailed you. Were you able to complete everything?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great. Question number one: Your client walks into a federal bank with a loaded gun in his pocket. Upon being brushed by a stranger, the gun fires—shooting him in the leg. Regarding the charges that the prosecution filed, how would you have your client plead?”

“ What?” I looked over at him. “Could you repeat that question, Will?”

“The prompt?”

“Whatever you just asked.”

He nodded and happily repeated it, putting extra emphasis on the crime of walking into a bank with a loaded firearm.

My mind immediately flashed back to the conversation I’d had with Alyssa last night.

I smiled, thinking that maybe Alyssa’s “friend” was a headline story in the local news, that maybe I could figure out who she was without her telling me. I pulled out my phone and held it underneath the conference table, googling “Man shoots himself in federal bank. North Carolina.”

Nothing relevant appeared.

Hmmm...

“How would you make him plead, Miss Everhart?” Will asked again.

“No contest,” she said quickly.

“ No contest?” He sounded slightly impressed. “Why so?”

“He doesn’t have a license to carry, so I’m sure the prosecution will try to make it seem like he carried that gun into the bank for a reason. Regardless of if he only hurt himself, he’s looking at a prison sentence, so we could bypass the trial and try to limit it to the lowest terms possible.”

I blinked, refusing to believe that her answer was anything more than a coincidence. As a matter of fact, as soon as she started to further explain her logic, I knew that it was; only a student would start talking about “emotional appeal” right after a no contest plea.

As Will and George continued to pepper her with questions, I googled variations of that federal gun case. “Man fires gun in bank.” “No contest plea in federal bank case.” “Man injures himself in bank shooting.”

Still, nothing.

“Miss Everhart, are there any lawyers that you wish to model your own career after?” Greg asked.

“Yes, actually,” she said. “I’ve always admired the career of Liam Henderson.”

“ Liam Henderson?” I raised my eyebrow. “Who is that?” Usually, interviewees named a federal judge, a well-known prosecutor, or a familiar district attorney. But an unknown? Never.

“Well, he made history as the youngest lawyer to ever uncover a government conspiracy, and he—”

I tuned out her answer. I’d just thought of another phrase to google.

“Interesting choice, Miss Everhart,” Will said. “Do you have any current mentors in the law profession besides your family members?”

“I do.”

“Are you in close contact with this mentor? If so, how often?”

“We talk almost every day, so I’d like to think that we’re close.”

Why isn’t this case popping up? If it’s a “federal” bank shooting, it should be plastered all over the papers...

“Would your mentor be able to speak to us, or send a letter regarding your character?” Will was definitely impressed with this woman, and she had this job. The second set of questions he had yet to ask weren’t really necessary.

“I’m sure I could ask him to do that if need be,” she said just as I was starting a new web search.

“Great. So, tell us, what’s the last bit of advice that your mentor gave you?”

I looked at my watch. As soon as today’s interviews were over, I was going to call Alyssa about this case. Maybe she’d fudged some of the details to continue shrouding her identity.

“When I told him I was nervous about my interview today,” Miss Everhart said softly, “he told me, it is what it is.”

My head immediately shot up.

“Did he now?” George clutched his chest, laughing. “That sounds like something our Andrew would say!” He patted me on the shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Andrew?”

“ Yes.” I narrowed my eyes at ‘Miss Everhart.’ “That sounds exactlylike something I would say...”

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll be sure to tell my mentor that someone actually enjoys his odd sense of humor.”

“ Please do.” I watched as she answered the next questions with ease, as she barely blinked her big blue eyes when the questions became tougher. And the more I heard her talk, the more I heard the familiarities of her speech pattern, I had to force myself not to fucking lose it.

One coincidence was fine, but two? Damn near unfathomable.

As they asked her about her favorite inspirational quotes, I scrolled down to Alyssa’s number and dialed. I knew for a fact that she neversilenced her phone for some strange reason, and I had to know if what I was thinking was true, or if my mind was playing a cruel joke on me.

I could see the rings on my phone’s screen, see the seconds as they passed, and when it rang three times, I let out a huge sigh of relief. But then the sound of bell chimes filled the room.

“I am so sorry.” Miss Everhart’s cheeks turned pink and she picked up her purse. “I have a weird thing about never putting this on silent...I really meant to leave it in my car.” She pulled out her phone, slightly smiling once she looked at the screen, and then she hit ignore.

WHAT. THE. FUCK!

“Happens all the time.” Will laughed. “We were going on and on anyway. It’s a good thing it went off so we can close out with the final questions. Anything from you, Andrew?”

I glared at ‘Alyssa’. I was confused, pissed, and unfortunately aroused all at once.

“Andrew?”

“ No,” I said, noticing that she was blushing again. “I have absolutely nothing to say.”

Will and Greg both stood up and smiled, reaching out to shake her hand, but I remained seated.

I couldn’t believe this shit.

She wasn’t a green-eyed redhead like she’d said over the phone, farfrom being a licensed lawyer, and she was a fucking liar...

“Mr. Hamilton?” She was standing in front of me with her hand outstretched. “Thank you for interviewing me today. It was an absolute pleasure meeting you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” I shook her hand, trying my best to ignore the smooth softness of her touch. “Good luck.”

She nodded, said goodbye to the three of us once more, and then she left the room.

As Will and George discussed how impressed they were with her interview, I forced myself to look through her file.

Double major student at Duke: Pre-law and Ballet. Perfect 4.0 GPA. Recently cast as the lead of Swan Lake, recently listed in the top ten percent of her class. There were tenletters of recommendation in her folder—all from impeccable lawyers; there was even one from the newly appointed assistant district attorney.

As amazing as her personal accomplishments were, it was her birthdate that stood out to me the most. She was twenty two.

Twenty fucking two.

And, even though she was the most accomplished out of all the undergraduates, she wasn’t even a senior.

She was a junior...

***

I ignored Alyssa’s text tonight, the one that read, “If you haven’t found another unfortunate date for tonight, call me when you see this.”

I was too angry to say anything to her. After all the hours we’d spent on the phone, all the times that I’d told her that I hated liars, she’d lied to me. Repeatedly.

I’d wanted to vote no for her employment, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Once we’d finished with the last interview of the day, the decision on the top pick was unanimous: Aubrey Everhart.

Yet, while they frenziedly weighed the pros and cons of the other applicants, I sat there in a daze—angry with myself for not seeing through all of Aubrey’s lies earlier.

In the six months that we’d spoken, she’d always asked questions that were a little too simple, questions that sometimes made me wonder, but I never thought twice about it. She’d mentioned Duke University a few times, but she never talked about it for long and she always made it seem as if she’d graduated from there. But her constant talk of how she wanted her parents’ approval and had conflicted feelings between choosing dance and the law should have been a dead ass giveaway.

At this point, I wasn’t sure which lie to be more upset about: The fact that she wasn’t a lawyer, the fact that she was still in college, or the fact that she’d lied about her physical appearance.

Pouring my sixth shot of the night, I realized that that last lie—although irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, was the one that hit me the hardest. She was definitely my ‘type,’ and the second she walked into that interview I wanted her, before I found out who she really was, before I found out her age.

Tossing back a shot, I heard my phone ringing. Her.

I rolled my eyes and let it sit on the table. I grabbed one of my last Cuban cigars and stepped out onto my balcony. I needed to think.

The sky was starless tonight—nearly pitch black, and the moon was hiding underneath a curtain of dark clouds. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, tonight’s sky bore a horrid resemblance to a certain night that occurred six years ago.

It was the night my life changed forever, the night that left me broken, shattered, and numb. All because of lies—a series of heartbreaking and inconceivable lies.

I tried hard to prevent myself from picturing the memories, but I could still hear that strained, ragged voice in my head: “ Andrew...You have to help me...You have to get me out of here... Please... Save me, Andrew...”

I shook my head and blocked out the rest of that memory. Unlike six years ago, I was in control of this situation, and “Alyssa” lying to me meant that our friendship was over, done.

There was no justification for what she’d done, but before I cut her off, I needed to make her pay for lying to me, and I needed to figure out how.

Conviction (n.):

A judgment of guilt against a criminal defendant.

Andrew

“Mr. Hamilton?” Aubrey set my coffee down on my desk two weeks later. I’d personallyinsisted that she work as my intern, even though looking at her made me angry.

I’d made a point not to say too much around her, to refrain from staring at her too long, and I couldn’t help being crueler than ever—dismissive even. I made her responsible for my daily coffee, demanded that she re-do every assignment at least three times, and whenever she asked for my help, I answered her with a detached “Figure it out yourself.”

She never seemed upset or offended by my harshness, which made me even angrier. I’d thought that by having her work for me and seeing her crack under pressure that my attraction to her would fade, but it only intensified each time I saw her face.

Especially today.

As I pulled my coffee closer, I noticed that her nipples were poking through her thin, beige dress, and it was so tight that I could see the imprint of lace panties.

Fuck...

“Mr. Hamilton?” she asked again.

“Yes, Miss Everhart?”

“I have an important rehearsal for a ballet I’m a part of, so I was wondering...” She looked absolutely nervous. “Can I go home early today?”

“ No.”

She sighed. “I really need to be at this rehearsal...It’s at the Grand Hall.”

“So?”

“ So,” she said, clearing her throat, “with all due respect, Mr. Hamilton, this is a pretty big deal for me. The Grand Hall is usually reserved for performances, so for them to open it and let us use it for a rehearsal is—”

I wasn’t listening, and as much as I wanted to look at my work again and make it clear that she was being ignored, I couldn’t. I was too busy staring at the contours of her mouth.

“That’s a fact.” She was still talking for some reason. “I think I’ve made very valid points, and since I’m not asking for too much, you should agree to let me go.”

“Get back to work, Miss Everhart.”

“Mr. Hamilton, please—”

“Get. Back. To. Work.” I glared at her, daring her to let another word slip out of her seductive mouth. “I don’t care about your personal life. I pay you for twenty five hours a week, so you’ll work twenty five hours a week, and you’ll work them when I say you’ll work them. So, get back to your cubicle.”

She stared at me for a few seconds, and I couldn’t help but notice tears welling in her eyes.

“You can take that box of Kleenex with you on your way out,” I said.

Shaking her head, she stepped back and headed for the door. “I’m going to ask Mr. Bach if I can leave early. No disrespect to you.”

“ Excuse me?” I stood up. “What did you just say?”

She continued to walk toward the door, the sound of her heels clicking faster and faster. Before she could turn the knob, I spun her around and slammed my hand against the door.

“I’m not a fan of insubordination, Miss Everhart.”

“You won’t have to worry about that anymore.” Her face was red, twisted in anger. ““I’m going to ask Mr. Bach to move me with someone else because I refuse to work with you anymore.”

“Good luck with that. No one else wanted you. Only me.”

“I highly doubt that.” She tried to move away, but I grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head.

“I was the best interviewee and you fucking know it.” She hissed. “And since we both know that’s a fact, I don’t have to put up with your shit anymore.” She looked as if she wanted to spit in my face. “You are a cruel, cold, and condescending asshole, and I haven’t learned shit from you; I doubt I ever will.”

“Watch your goddamn mouth. I’m still your boss.”

“You weremy boss.”

I tightened my grasp around her wrists and looked directly into her eyes, pressing my chest against her breasts. “Let me tell you what’s about to happen, Aubrey. You’re going to go back to your cubicle and you’re going to stay there until you’re done for the day—only getting up to bring me a new cup of coffee. You will tell your ballet director that you’ll come after you get your work done, and you will not go to Mr. Bach and say anything, because we don’t reassign interns just because they cry.”

“Then I guess there’s a first time for everything.” She threw my glares right back at me, narrowing her eyes as her chest heaved up and down.

“Aubrey—”

“Let me go before I scream, Mr. Hamilton. I wasn’t listening to a thing you just said so I highly suggest—”

I crashed my lips against hers, effectively making her shut the hell up. I kept my hands tightly clamped around her wrists, pressing her body against the door with my hips.

She murmured as I slipped my tongue into her mouth, as I bit her bottom lip as hard as I could. Without thinking, I let her hands go and gripped her waist—pulling her taut against me as my hand found its way underneath her skirt.

I slid my hand across the crotch of her panties, tapping my fingers against the lace, and then I slowly pushed them to the side and plunged a finger deep into her pussy.

“Ahhh...” she moaned, making me bite her lip again, making me use two fingers instead of one.

She was wet– soaking wet, and as much as I wanted to fuck her senseless against my door and make her forget her name, I tore my mouth away from her.

“Get the hell out of my office.”

“ What?” She asked breathlessly, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Go to your importantrehearsal.”

“Mr. Ham—”

“Hurry up before I change my mind.” I reached around her and opened the door. “ Go.”

She didn’t hesitate to walk past me, and as soon as she was gone I knew damn well this arrangement wasn’t going to work for too much longer. Either she was going to be reassigned or I was going to have to fire her, fast.

Hours later, when I was halfway through my work for the day, I noticed I’d received a new text from Alyssa. I rolled my eyes and changed her name to Aubrey before reading it.

“Where have you been for the past two weeks?”it said. “Are you okay? I’ve called and texted you and you haven’t said anything. I’m really concerned...If you get this, say something, anything. ”

I didn’t want to respond, but with the taste of her mouth still lingering on my lips, I gave in. “ I’m fine. Just made a major discovery not too long ago and I’ve been trying to figure out how to deal with it.”

“Is it something serious?”

“VERY serious.”

“I’m sorry...Want to know something that will make you feel better?”

“I doubt anything you say can do that right now.”

“Want to bet?”

“Try me.”

“My boss just kissed the shit out of me. I think that’s why he’s so damn mean to me; he wants to fuck me...”

“I really don’t think your ‘boss’ wants to fuck you...”

“He definitely does. His cock was rock hard when he was kissing me, and he was biting my lips and gripping me like he wanted to own me... I’ve never been so wet in my life...”

I hesitated. “How exactly is this supposed to make me feel better?”

“I was pretending he was you the whole time. I miss you.”

I immediately turned off my phone. I didn’t know what type of shit she was trying to pull, but I wasn’t falling for it.

“I was pretending it was you? I miss you?” Bullshit.

I wasn’t going to answer her calls or her messages for a long time. Sexy ass mouth or not.