My chest tightens. “Leave it. I processed what happened a long time ago. Let’s enjoy the evening.” Danny eyes simmer with frustration. “You processed half the story.” Like I don’t know that.
“How is Daniel?” Jack asks, shaking his head subtly at Danny.
I slump into my chair. “He’s acting up a lot, not surprisingly. He’s not listening to the teachers in school, he’s sulking when he’s at home. We’re taking him to a child counsellor to process the split but I don’t know if it’s helping.” I release a breathy groan. “What do I do, ask my child to stop being a dick? The guilt I feel every day from breaking up his family… It’s soul-destroying.”
Danny leans in. “Can’t your mother help with advice?”
“No chance.” I groan. “She’ll march him down to the priest if she knows what he called the teacher assistant.”
“Don’t look at me for advice.” Jack chuckles “Although I’ll admit I’m slightly jealous. I would like a mini me. Think how handsome he would be.”
His face falls. “Sorry, man.”
“No need.”
I had come to terms with the fact I wasn’t Daniel’s paternal father. Bloodline or not, you can’t switch off feelings.
I drunk a whole bottle of Scotch the day my DNA test came back. Then I did the same the next day, and the next day. But eventually I processed it and found a way to move forward.
But Danny was right, that was half of the story.
12
Elly
Monday morning and I’m ready for another week of contract reviewing and minute-taking. Sophie wheels her chair over to my desk. “I’ve got news for you. I don’t want you to get too excited because you’re there just to shadow, but do you remember the Maria Garcia case we talked about?”
“Of course.” I bob my head in agreement. “It’s gaining more publicity by the day.” I slap a hand over my mouth as realisation dawns. “No way!” I squeak.
“You’re on a part-time loan to the case team, a few meetings here and there, that’s all,” she warns. “But it will be good exposure. You get to watch senior lawyers in action on a delicate case.”
I bounce in my chair. “I can’t wait!”
“Good,” she replies. “Because there’s a meeting in two hours. The retainer has just been signed. Look for the instructions in your emails.”
***
I step out of the lift on the nineteenth floor. Why is the meeting room so close to the senior management floors? Suddenly I have a bad feeling about this.
I smooth down my blue shift dress so it stretches past my knees. When I walk too fast, the hem rides up, showing too much leg. I’ve bought a few of them in different colours in the sales. It screams low-end high street fashion, but it’s passable. I can’t afford to shop where Sophie and Amy shop. Not yet anyway.
Room 111, 112, this is it, 113. Three other people, two men, and a woman, are in the room talking when I nervously peer around the corner. “Is this the meeting for the Garcia case?”
The woman looks me and smiles. “Yes. And you are?”
“Elly Andric.” My eyes dart between them when there’s no recognition. Has there been a mistake?
After a moment, one of the guys snaps his fingers and turns to the others. “The junior shadowing.”
He beckons me to take a seat. “I’m Adi, this is Jacob and Lisa. Welcome, Elly.”
I take a seat opposite Adi and say hello to the team. They acknowledge me politely then return their focus to their laptops. With everyone studying their screens, I’m at a loss as to what to do with my hands, or eyes, for that matter. Do I pretend I have important business on my laptop too?
I focus on my hands. “I’m so excited to be supporting this case,” I say. “Who is the lead lawyer on it?”
“I am,” comes a smooth deep voice behind me, and I whip my head around to meet the stare of Tristan. Looking at me like he’s forgotten anyone else is in the room.
Seriously?
Lisa looks up, startled. “Mr. Kane.”
The same emotions flit across their faces like dominos- apprehension, fear, excitement. A chance to impress the CEO first-hand.
He takes the only available seat beside me. So close, too close.
I stare straight ahead at Adi and try to steady my breathing.
Adi folds his laptop shut, sitting up straight. “What a surprise and an honour. So you are leading this case, sir?”
Please say no.
My heart plummets. It’s too much of a coincidence yet would the CEO of Madison really go out of his way to handpick trainees?
I was nervous walking into this room, I’m so anxious to make a good impression at Madison and not look stupid at one of the world’s most elite companies. Now this added into the mix? I’m going to need a pacemaker to survive this assignment.
Tristan lets out a low chuckle. “Everyone seems shocked by this fact.” He leans back in his chair, the only person relaxed in the room. “It’s an interesting case that’s got the media attention.”
I smell his aftershave, the same aftershave he wore in Greece. It hits my nose, and the memories flood back; we’re in the restaurant, walking on the beach holding hands, in the bed with him between my legs. How many nights have I wanted that man musk as a candle in the bath whilst I’m pleasuring myself Down Under?
“Mr. Kane, have you met everyone?” Adi asks.
Blood rushes in my ears as he looks right at me.
“I have.” Tristan scans the room. “You’ll be my starting team for the case.” He checks his watch. “I have ten minutes. You’ve been granted permission to the case files on the system. There are fifteen charges filed against Maria Garcia. I expect you to be familiar with all of them by Wednesday. Last week, Colombia made an extradition request to the UK. The Secretary of State has already sent the case to the courts so an arrest will likely be issued imminently for Maria. Also on the system are the notes collated regarding Maria’s appeal for asylum, which has been declined.”
He launches into our strategy and approach in such a fast-paced delivery I struggle to keep up. It’s just another day in the office for him; for me it’s the highlight of my short career.
Such a waste. I could learn so much from this experience. His name is one of the most recognised and respected lawyers globally. Getting this opportunity, even just to shadow on one of his cases, isn’t something that comes up often in a lawyer’s career. Even if it is via suspicious circumstances.
Instead, I’m a quivering wreck.
The team leans in on high alert as he discusses the approach they will take and their roles. One thing I know now for sure. Every person in this company is crushing on Tristan Kane.
Including me.
***
Tristan ordered two cars for four of us to travel to where Maria is staying, just off Kensington. To my relief, I was told to travel with Adi, although annoyingly I felt a pathetic pang of jealousy when he insisted Lisa travel with him.
I use the car journey to scrutinise the case’s contents one last time. Last night, I stayed late in the office to review each detail of all fifteen charges against Maria Garcia.
We pull up outside a four-storey white stucco villa in Holland Park, an affluent part of London filled with embassies and old money. It’s beside the Uzbekistan Embassy and almost the same size.
Adi said Maria was living here alone. She must be the richest asylum seeker in the country.
Outside there are three burly security men. We show our passports to gain entry onto the grounds.