Page 23 of Take the Bait

“Why are you so adamant that we go to trial, then?” she challenged.

He shook his head again, clearly indicating he wasn’t going to tell her why.

She took a deep breath, counted to four, and released it slowly. Stay calm. Stay professional.

“The details of the motions and evidence. I want you to give me every single one,” Alex reiterated.

She nodded. “Okay. I’ll go over all of it with you when we get a little closer to your hearing.”

“You promise?” he demanded.

“I promise.”

The tension went out of his shoulders.

He might be smart, but she was no dummy, herself. She and Zoey would figure out what he was up to.

Speaking of which, maybe he would respond better to empathy than threats or bullying. She asked kindly, “How are you doing in here? Is there anything I can get you? Other prisoners aren’t hassling you, are they?”

A shrug.

“Look. I like you, Alex. I can help with stuff like that. I’m not just here to crank out your case and move on to the next one. I’m your counsel. As in counselor. Listener. Advisor. Partner.”

“I don’t want your help,” he mumbled, staring down at the table. “I don’t want anyone’s help.”

“Why the fuck not?”

He looked up sharply. For just a second, stunning intelligence flashed out of his stormy gray eyes. It reminded her of lightning striking from the depths of a thundercloud.

He answered tightly, “My lack of desire for your help is not on the approved list of conversation topics between us.”

For your help. Did that mean he had a problem with her specifically? Did he not want a woman lawyer? Or did he think she was too young and inexperienced to represent him? Did he think she was some dumb bimbo and not capable of helping him?

Hurt spiraled through her. Was he right? Was the raspy voice from the party right, too? Was she just a throw-away hire? Tits and ass to pimp out and cast off when she no longer served a purpose at the firm—even if that purpose was sleeping with prospective attorneys the firm actually wanted to keep on?

She looked up and realized Alex was staring at her intently.

Crap.

Quickly, she slapped on her best poker face. But she feared it was too late. She’d given away her vulnerability to Alex…and she had a distinct feeling deep in her gut that was a bad thing to have done. One did not show one’s Achilles’ heel to this brilliant young man.

Logic forced her to consider how to proceed if he never did tell her why he was behaving the way he was, and if Zoey wasn’t able to uncover his deep, dark secret.

First and foremost, she had to accept that she was going to lose the case. Maybe she should concentrate on containing the damage instead of banging her head against a brick wall in search of a way to win the case.

Her strategy would need to revolve around painting Alex as an emotionally troubled young man in so much pain that he’d become self-destructive. She would need to play on the jury’s sympathy. Get them to see his stubbornness and truculence as defense mechanisms behind which he hid his pain.

She would be more convincing if she appeared close to her client. If she looked and acted like someone he’d confessed his troubles to, but which she wasn’t allowed to share with the jury. She would have to hint at knowing all about his private pain.

To do that successfully, she needed to develop at least a modicum of rapport with Alex before the two of them sat side-by-side in front of a jury that would be closely watching how she interacted with him. If he was defensive and distant with her, it would be hard to sell knowing him well enough to describe his inner emotional state.

Which meant she had to get to know him. Find a side of him that would appeal to a jury. Figure out how to draw it out of him. Although learning anything personal about him also seemed to be on the list of things not approved by him.

She was so screwed.

And by extension, so was he. The two of them still hadn’t managed to get comfortable being in the same room together, let alone figured out how to have an open, honest conversation with each other.

She said lightly, “I’m not a saint nor do I have some savior complex. I’m not insisting on helping you, Alex. I just offered to argue for better living conditions because it’s part of my job.”

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