Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
Morgan
I stood in front of my father’s grave, staring at his name on the headstone. Leaning over, I set the bouquet of flowers down and tucked my hands into my pockets.
“Hi, Daddy. It’s been a long time. God, I miss you so much. I’m back in California for now, and I finally found out the name of the man who killed you. I will get justice for you, Dad.” I turned and returned to the car, where Ollie waited.
“Are you okay, Morgan?” he asked when I climbed into the back.
“Yeah. Take me to Roman’s office.”
Walking down the hall, I heard Julian shout my name from his office. I stopped, backed up, and stepped inside.
“How are you, Morgan?” He smiled.
“I’m good, Julian. You?”
“Living the dream. I heard Roman offered you a position here.”
“He did. I haven’t decided yet what I’m doing.”
“Until you figure it out, how about another case?” He handed me a file .
“What’s this?” I opened the file and scanned it. “Wait a second. Your mother is being sued?”
“Yes. I need you to dig deep into this Vanessa Graves woman. And I mean deep. Between my brothers, you, and me, we’re going to destroy that bitch.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can find. Do you know if Roman is in his office?”
“He’s in court. I don’t know you very well, but my brother has been different since you walked into his life.”
“Oh yeah? And how has he been different?”
“I can’t put my finger on it, but he has been. It would mean the world to him if you took the job and stayed in Los Angeles.”
“I’m still thinking about it.” I smiled before walking out of his office.
I went into the conference room, sat down, and placed my hands over my face, reflecting on Roman and this situation—a situation that evoked feelings of fear. The fear that I was possibly falling for him scared the living shit out of me. Ever since my father’s murder, I felt nothing—numbness had become my best friend. But when I was with Roman, everything was different. I felt things I never intended to feel. No matter how hard I tried to stop the feelings from emerging, I couldn’t. I liked him and liked spending time with him. He was a playboy dressed in sheep’s clothing—a womanizer who didn’t believe in relationships. Did I believe in relationships? No. The way my mother tore my father apart was something I’d never forget.
The door to the conference room opened, jolting me out of my thoughts.
“Hey, are you okay?” Roman asked.
“Uh, yeah. I thought you were in court. ”
“I was. Closing arguments are tomorrow.” He sat in the chair across from me.
“I spoke to Julian. He asked me what I could find out about the woman suing your mother.”
“Good. I was going to ask you if you’d look into her. It could be your first investigative work as a permanent employee of The Hamilton Group.” A sexy smirk crossed his lips.
The corners of my mouth slightly lifted as I stared at him. “You said no pressure.”
“I’m not pressuring you. It was just a statement.” He winked.
“I’ll see what I can find on her. You can leave now.”
“This is my conference room.” A light chuckle escaped him.
“Don’t you have a closing argument to work on?” My brow arched.
“You’re right.” He tapped his knuckles on the table. “We’ll go to dinner right from the office. Unless you want to go home and change first.”
“We can go right from here.” I opened the laptop.
“Excellent.” He walked to the door.
“Roman?”
“Yeah.” He turned and stared at me with his hand on the handle.
“If I do decide to become an employee of The Hamilton Group, there are many things I would need.”
“Such as?”
“A variety of computers, different servers, a car?—”
“A car?” He asked, cocking his head.
“Yes. The primary use would be to investigate people for your firm. The miles, gas, and wear and tear would come from all the traveling I’d do to get information for you and the other attorneys here.”
“You have Ollie,” he said.
“Ollie is your driver, and at some point, we’ll need him at the same time. Plus, as much as I like Ollie, I’d rather drive myself. I’ll also need several burner phones.”
“You have a deal. If you decide to work for me, I will provide everything you need.”
“Thanks.” I smiled.
“So, did that just seal the deal?”
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“Okay. I’ll be in my office if you need anything. Oh, by the way. I saw the D.A. in court earlier. He’s going to stop by in about an hour to talk to you. He needs that footage of Gregory leaving his father’s home and returning the night of the murder.”
“I don’t know if there is any.”
“Then check now before you start digging into Vanessa.” He opened the door and walked out.
I pulled my father’s flash drive from my purse and stuck it into the computer, hacking into Mr. Williamson’s home security system. I searched the recordings until I found the one I was looking for.
“You’re not as smart as you thought, Gregory.” I smiled as I saw him leaving his father’s home. Grabbing a blank flash drive, I stuck it into the other USB port and copied the recording.
“Excuse me, Morgan? District Attorney Bennett is here to see you,” Olivia said, popping her head inside the conference room.
“Thanks, Olivia. Send him in.”
“Miss Ashley, it’s nice to meet you.” He walked over and extended his hand .
“District Attorney Bennett, the pleasure is mine.” I placed my hand in his.
“Please, call me John.”
“And you can call me Morgan.” I smiled. “Here is Gregory leaving his father’s house. You can see the time stamp in the corner. And here he is, returning two hours later. He didn’t think to shut down the cameras before leaving.”
“This is good, Morgan. It’s really good. Can I get a copy?”
I pulled the flash drive from the port and handed it to him.
“It’s all on here. You sent an innocent man to prison, John.”
“I know. But at the time, all the evidence pointed to him. There wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that he was guilty.”
“Do you know Colin Weathers?” I asked.
“Yeah. He’s an FBI agent and a real asshole. Why?”
“Just curious. I saw him the other day at the police station. I didn’t get a good feeling about him.”
“Do yourself a favor and stay away from him. I have to run. Thank you for this.” He held up the flash drive.
“When will Theo be released?” I asked before he left the conference room.
“We’re working on it now. It should be soon.”
“Roman Hamilton.” A handsome man smiled when he approached our table and extended his hand.
“Sebastian, how are you?” Roman shook his hand.
“I’m great. How have you been?”
“Good. Sebastian, this is Morgan Ashley. Morgan, this is Sebastian, Detective Simon Kind’s brother and the owner of this restaurant. ”
“It’s nice to meet you, Sebastian. I have to say. This cherry butter is to die for. I’ve never had anything like it.”
“Thank you.” He chuckled. “It is a customer favorite.”
“And it deserves to be.” I smiled.
“Enjoy your dinner, and let me know if you need anything.” He placed his hand on Roman’s shoulder before walking away.
“Tell me about your childhood growing up with three mothers,” I said.
“It was fine. They worked out their schedules, so one was always home when school got out. We all celebrated every holiday together and got triple the gifts.” He grinned.
“You never got teased at school for having three mothers?” I asked.
“All the time. Why do you think we’re as tough as we are?” A smirk crossed his lips. “Honestly, besides our father being a man-whore, we had a good childhood.”
“I see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I smirked, tipping the glass to my lips.
He chuckled. “If you’re referring to being a man-whore, what can I say?”