Page 79 of EverGreene
“It was, um, just a misunderstanding. We’ve gotten past that.”
“Clearly. At least from the looks of things in the bar.”
A lead weight sank to the bottom of my stomach. That’s it. I was going to be let go because I was horny for the boss’s nephew. “It’s not what you think. Loche and I aren’t together.”
At least half of that was the truth.
“I’m not here to discipline you, Ever. My nephew can be charming when he has to be. I just want to warn you because?—”
“I already know about his father,” I said, hoping that would end the conversation as Conrad’s wandering eyes had begun to make me feel uncomfortable, and I wished I had brought my purse knife with me to clutch in my free hand right now. But alas, the court frowned on bringing weapons into the courtroom, so I’d left it at home to avoid a pat-down by the court’s octogenarian security team.
“He told you he murdered his father? You must be more special to him than you think. That’s something he always keeps close to the vest.”
I nodded. “Yeah, he told me. It was self-defense. He saved his mom. He’s a hero.”
Conrad snickered. “Hero isn’t necessarily the word I would have used.” He took a step closer to me, clearly taking notice of me matching his step with a step of my own in the opposite direction. Except, unlike Conrad, my back struck the door to my room, effectively meaning I had nowhere else to go. “Lochehas violent tendencies. His anger gets the best of him at times. I just wanted to make sure you’re aware of that.”
“He’s never been violent with me. I don’t believe he ever would be.”
Conrad held eye contact with me. He shared the same intensity in his gaze as his nephew, but where there was a kind of softness in Loche’s eyes, there was nothing but emptiness in Conrad’s stare. It was the same kind of emptiness profilers pointed to in serial killers. A hollow, soulless gaze. “My nephew holds none of the family money, if that means anything to you.”
My blood boiled with Conrad’s insinuation that I was only interested in Loche for monetary gain, both for Loche and for myself. “How much or how little of a balance Loche has in his bank account doesn’t matter to me in any way.”
Conrad smirked as though he thought I was full of shit, most likely because the only type of woman who had ever been interested in him had been in it for the money. “You’re a rare breed, then. I can see what Loche sees in you.” Another step forward brought him within a foot of me. I pressed my back against the door to my room, heart racing. With the keycard hidden in my hand behind my back, I moved to quietly unlock it, turning the knob and pushing it open slightly so as to allow myself the ability to run inside. “You act like you’re afraid of me. Are you afraid of me, Ever?”
“No, Mr. Harrison,” I lied, my eyes scanning the hall, wishing someone would step out of their room.
“Good.” He placed his hand against the wall next to my door, leaning in closer. “I want us to have a better working relationship in the firm. I see potential in you that I wish Loche had. You have more drive than he does.”
“You see, I don’t think so. Because to get to where he is right now in life takes a lot more drive than you may think.”
“That may be true, but there’s something about you, Ever. A spark. After trial, why don’t you let me start mentoring you, raise your position in the firm, maybe become my own personal assistant.”
Was this how it all started with Kim? Empty promises in exchange for trysts behind closed doors? Perhaps, she had seen an opportunity with someone in a position of power to move up the food chain, or maybe there had been feelings with the human tree stump that was Conrad Harrison. I, however, was not going to sell my soul for the table scraps he threw at Kim, shuddering at the thought of his hands anywhere near any part of my body.
“What does your wife think of you mentoring the young women in your firm, Mr. Harrison?”
“This has nothing to do with my wife.” All attempts at pleasantries left his face. He furrowed his brow, his gaze becoming more of a glare.
“Or Kim? Did you mentor Kim, too?” I pushed the door open a hair further. “Don’t answer that. It was more of a rhetorical question, because we already know how you, Conrad Harrison, define mentoring. So, Mr. Harrison, I respectfully decline your indecent proposal at advancement within the firm and will gladly stay a lowly peon in the ranks for the sake of my self-respect.”
Without breaking eye contact, I threw the door behind me open and rushed inside, allowing it to slam shut in his face, locking it for good measure as soon as I heard the telltale click of the latch. My days at the firm may be numbered, but at least I would be able to look myself in the mirror tomorrow, knowing that I’d verbally castrated Conrad before Sylvia called me into her office for the last time, and I was forced to throw another dart at a map and pick up my life to start all over again somewhere else.
Chapter 20
Loche
Despite Cole and Nix’s reassurances that they hadn’t seen anything out of place when they drove by Ever’s house and parked at a distance to keep watch on it for a couple of hours, I was still bothered by the video of the figure walking past her door so late in the evening. Ever’s street wasn’t exactly Grand Central, especially at night and this close to winter. But as we entered the fourth day of trial, there were no other sightings of the figure, and the only movement picked up by the camera was the mailman and Katy coming and going to feed Vinny.
“Do you mind grabbing the deposition transcript for Dr. Little, so I can read along with it during his video testimony?” I asked Ever, who, despite her repeatedly telling me that nothing was wrong, had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since she left the bar. Not to mention, after the trial concluded for the day, if she wasn’t needed, she retreated back into her room, declining dinner invitations, which also wasn’t like Ever.
“Sure,” she answered.
At the front of the courtroom, Jason plugged in the HDMIcable to connect our trial laptop to a large-screen television, while Blaine brought up the video of Dr. Little because Conrad was allergic to modern technology and thought it was beneath him to learn anything he saw as being the job of the help. Ever pulled the Bankers Box containing copies of the deposition transcripts out from underneath the bench where we were storing everything we weren’t presently using. Clutter could be distracting to the jury, especially one who had been sitting through three days of technical testimony from expert witnesses.
Ever’s skirt rode up as she stooped down, and I tried not to stare at the same legs that had been wrapped around my body only a few days ago while envisioning my tongue gliding up her thighs toward?—
Nope. Popping a boner in the middle of a civil trial was strictly against court rules, punishable by a lifetime of abject humiliation.
