Legal Attraction: A Romantic Suspense Novel (Legally Suspenseful Romance)

Chapter 9

Coral was ready for her first day of work. At least she looked ready. Inside, she couldn’t be sure. The trip to the Mediterranean had not been as relaxing as she’d hoped. Sitting alone at a hotel was certainly meant to give her time to let go of all the cares that plagued her. But it had instead given her time to think about them. And then of course the attack. And Rand. She smiled. At least there had been Rand. Even if he hadn’t called, she was happy she’d met Rand. It was a mildly unusual name. She’d been tempted to Google “Rand Attorney.” But had stopped short of stalking. She hadn’t had much time either. And now, she needed to focus on her first day on the job.

Goldstein and Smithson had been high on many third-year law students’ lists. It was a smaller boutique firm with high powered clients and excellent compensation. The starting salary base was more equivalent to a third or fourth year start base, and they didn’t publish their bonuses. That typically meant they were generous or at least comparable to the industry standard. But she hadn’t been interested solely for the compensation package though it was intriguing. She was in it for the long-term partner opportunities. She would have the chance to steer the firm’s activities toward more public service and direct some of their pro bono work.

And for the escape. She couldn’t ignore, even to herself, the reality that she was hoping to get away, for as long as possible, from the royal life on the isles. If she could get to the point of some of the others, where she stopped in to visit, made appearances for big events, and then otherwise ignored the place, she would be happier. And more emotionally stable. It was going to be an awesome first four years at her law firm at least, she predicted. That’s what her parents had agreed to, without complaint, they would say nothing about her living and working in the United States.

The longer she spent outside the country, learning and exploring and challenging herself, the better queen she would be when the time came.

She climbed into her ordinary looking car without any security detail following behind and made her way through the quaint town outside of Richmond, Virginia, to Goldstein and Smithson.

Parking was simple enough. They had their own spaces. And hers was already there and waiting for her, with her name on a small sign. “Reserved for Coral Anastas.”

She stepped out of her car. The firm housed itself in what looked like a stately mansion home in the deep south. But as soon as she stepped in the front door, it was obvious the building was modern in every way imaginable. It just looked old. And deep with money. The thick mahogany wood detailed every finish. Gold light fixtures. Thick heavy drapes. It looked to be thick and full of tradition.

But as she entered the second set of double doors, a small beep surprised her. The receptionist stood. “Hello. You must be Coral Anastas?” She held out her hand. “It’s good to see you. I’m Gladys Bellam. If you could please hold your purse and bag out to be inspected?”

Three men dressed in black suits with ear pieces entered and without a word, searched her things. One of them pulled out her toiletry case she carried with her everywhere, It was her mother’s insistence that she have a sewing kit, first aid and emergency defense measures with her no matter where she went. Included in the case was of course instant communication with her local royal security team as well as a quick pepper spray and a lipstick that had a blade attachment. She felt so much like a spy movie but it had been her mother’s criteria and at that point, Coral would have agreed to almost anything for a drama free exit from the royal world.

“Oh that?” She laughed. “That’s courtesy of my mother.”

They were messing with the items in an oddly thorough manner. When one grabbed the lipstick, she called out. “Be careful with that…”

But he’d already flipped the blade. He raised his eyebrows at her but said nothing, just sheathed it again and returned it all to her.

Gladys smiled again, and the door to Coral’s right buzzed. “You can go in now. Welcome to Goldstein and Smithson.”

“Thank you.” She nodded to the other men, but they were filing out through the door they’d entered, not the same place Coral was heading. Trying not to feel unnerved, she lifted her chin and walked into the main office area of her new law firm.

As soon as she stepped through that door, a woman waved her over. “Coral Anastas?”

She nodded.

“Here’s your packet of new hire information. Please go into conference room four with the others.”

“Thank you.” She followed the woman’s nod and stepped into a room with three other people. The man lifted his head and smiled immediately. His grin was wide, his eyes sparkling, his hair perfect. He was dressed impeccably in a designer suit that hung on him like it was made just for him. He could have been the most handsome man she’d ever seen and that was saying something. But his friendly nature took the edge off. As it was, he sort of gave off a guy next door vibe and she liked him immediately. He reached a hand over to pull out the chair next to him. It was thick and hand carved wood. It looked heavy but he had no trouble adjusting it for her.

“Thank you.” She smiled back.

The other two women in the room were less friendly but at least not antagonistic. She’d heard that law firms could be competitive like law school had been. So far, she was not getting anything like that from them. She sat down and opened up her packet.

The man at her side held out his hand. “I’m Trey Cruthers. This is Mel and Jaden.”

“Great to meet you. I’m Coral Anastas. I guess this means we are all starting today?”

Trey nodded. “And they did say to finish as soon as possible. We had a five second orientation.”

Coral checked her watch.

“Oh, you’re not late.”

“We were just all really early.” Jaden turned to the next page.

“Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I need to get started then.” She scanned the front page and then stood and made her way out of the room. Maybe the others didn’t read it? Or maybe hers said something different, but the instructions were clear. She stepped down the hall, turned the corner and was on her way to the corner office. The front page specifically said to skip the rest of the paperwork and go directly to see Connor Smithson in his office. But out of the corner of her eye, a specific movement, one she would recognize anywhere, caught her attention. She stopped in her tracks. Someone ran into her from behind.

Trey laughed. “Hey, thanks for actually reading the cover page.”

She half laughed but hardly heard, her attention glued to the man in the office to her right.

Rand stared back, a packet of papers open in his hand, unheeded. His face was expressionless. And Coral could only guess what she looked like.

Trey called, “Hey, you coming? I don’t want to beat you there. It was your idea, after all.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks.” She looked back again at Rand whose mouth was now in a firm flat line. He hadn’t moved but he watched her until she had rounded the corner.

“Do you know Rand McCarthy?”

Ah, his last name. She recognized it more than his first name. He had been the top graduate at Harvard law years ago and had become famous for an article he’d written about Intellectual property in foreign markets. “Um, not really, no.” She shook her head. She knew nothing about this man, nothing except the feel of his skin under her fingers and his mouth caressing hers. She felt her face heat. That would not do. She needed to shut down all intimate thoughts about Rand right then. Mr. McCarthy. It was much easier to think of him as Mr. McCarthy. Not the man who had rescued her from terrorists, who had escaped sharks and had lain with her on the sand. No, he was definitely Mr. McCarthy.

“You okay?” Trey looked amused. “I’ve heard Mr. McCarthy has an effect on women.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

But Coral frowned so immediately at him that he frowned back. “So right. Super inappropriate. But that frown is better than the blushing. So maybe thank me?” He nodded and then picked up his pace.

“You racing me?”

“Of course I am.”

She stretched her stride as long as it would go and then walked as quickly as she could. The two entered the office at the same time.

“And we have a tie.” Connor Smithson clapped his hands. “Well done Ms. Anastas and Mr. Cruthers.”

Coral smiled. “Call me Coral.”

“And me Trey. She is the one who actually read the front page. I’m just here because I was smart enough to pay attention.”

“Both great qualities. And you get access to our high-profile client. I think we will give this first one to Coral.” He handed her a particularly thin file. “And this one to Trey.” The file he hefted into Trey’s hands was about five times larger.

“Thank you, I think.”

“Oh, you’ll thank me. Just remember to invite Coral to the court side seats now and then.”

“What?” He flipped open the front page. “Nice!” His grin was wider than before if possible.

Coral laughed. “What, is it like the Rockets or something?”

He turned to her, his face alight. “Better. The actual arena.”

“Wow, that’s awesome.” She nodded and then took a peek at hers. All information was X’d out. She looked at Mr. Smithson for clarity. “Are you kidding? Is this for real?”

“It is. But your client is a bit particular about his identity. It’s on a need to know basis.”

She could understand that level of privacy so she just nodded.

“We knew you would understand.”

Trey looked more curious than anything, but he didn’t say more.

“You can both go get moved into your offices and wait for the phone to ring.”

“Excellent.” Trey reached for the door to hold open for Coral. As they were both exiting, Jaden and Mel rushed toward them.

Mr. Smithson clapped. “Well done. Come on in. You two will also be assigned high profile clients for following our instructions exactly.” He winked at Coral.

She turned to Trey. “Were our instructions different from theirs?”

“I don’t know.” Trey held out his papers. “Swap?”

She scanned his. They were the same as hers. “Who knows. This is definitely a different sort of first day than I was expecting.”

“It’s way better. Can you believe I get to have the Caster Arena as a client? Court side seats is right.” He held out a hand. “And I owe it to you. Want to go with me?”

“Sure! I’m in!”

“And you. Who is your client? Do you think it’s like royalty somewhere? Or some eccentric billionaire?” He laughed and Coral laughed with him, though she knew she sounded strained.

“I have no idea. I feel like the real file is going to have some warning. “This message will self-destruct…”

“Right. If you can, tell me all about it.”

“I will. And maybe I can get in on your arena work too.”

He held out his hand again. “Here’s to collaboration.”

“Agreed.”

The two others walked out of the corner office looking a bit more sour but smiled and waved to them.

“Hey, our offices are next to each other too.” He waved a hand with a flourish and she entered her new office for the first time as an attorney.

“See you on the flip side.” She lifted her fingers to say goodbye but she was already focused on what was in front of her. A large clean desk, a tall floor to ceiling window, a set of cabinets, an empty shelf… the phone rang.

“Hello, this is Coral Anastas.”

“Ms. Anastas. This is Cass Taylor. I understand you’ve been given one of my clients to work on?”

“Excellent. I’m happy to hear that.”

“Come on down to my office and I’ll fill you in. I’m in the East corner.”

“On my way.” She hung up and then groaned. Rand was right next to the East corner office. For a brief second, she considered going the long way around so she didn’t have to walk in front of his office. But no. She could be professional. She could walk in front of a man’s office. They would talk. And it would all be fine. She assumed. But what did this mean? Would he want to pick up where they left off? Her cursed heart raced at the thought. That was probably a terrible idea. A relationship with a partner at her law firm from the first day, prior to the first day, was one of the most terribly epically bad ideas she’d had. But she was tempted. She couldn’t help it. Just the thought of Rand set her skin on high awareness.

She snagged her laptop from off her desk and a notebook and her very uninformative file and made her way down the hall.

“You getting started already?” Trey’s head poked out of his office like an eager Boy Scout.

She laughed. “Yep. I guess so.”

“Lunch? I already want to know how your morning goes.”

“Lunch. Unless they have something for us.”

“Right. And then we might be together anyway.”

“True. Good luck today with yours.”

“You too.”

She liked this guy. He at least gave her a boost of cheer to get her through this next stretch of hallway. What on earth was Rand doing at her same law firm? What were the chances she would meet her future boss at The Palisades? And how were her two worlds colliding so immediately upon arrival at Goldstein and Smithson? The frown that lowered her eyebrows came naturally. It wasn’t Rand’s fault but suddenly he became the focus of intense frustration. She’d worked really hard to keep her royal life as far away from her life in America as possible. And now here one of the partners already knew. She supposed they all knew. But up until now, there had been no reason to focus on it at all. She picked up her pace, all her training and instincts from years as a royal kicked in. Her head lifted. Her shoulders dropped in pretend relaxed confidence. Her steps were carefully placed and her face open and engaging. She could be professional in the face of any situation. Her mother had made certain of it.

But as soon as she rounded the corner and Rand’s office was in view, her knees felt wobbly. She tightened her core and kept walking. She would be fine. If she hadn’t spent the last twenty-four hours reliving all their moments on the beach together, things would certainly be simpler. But she could do this. She straightened her spine further and kept walking. Maybe she would walk right by without looking in. That would be too obvious. So she had to look in, as if to say hello. Maybe she could be really casual about it. “You work here? Me too. Imagine that.” She laughed at herself. And then she was walking right by his office. Not too eager, she waited three steps and then glanced inside. He was not in there. But the two new women Jaden and Mel were, and they both wore incredibly pleased smiles. She looked away before they would notice her watching and continued down to the corner office. Cass Taylor had an impeccable reputation in the attorney world, and Coral was looking forward to working with her. As soon as she stepped up to her door, Rand’s voice carried out to Coral. “She’s new, untested, untried. At least put someone with a little experience behind them.”

“You know I have nothing to do with these decisions.”

“Except that you snatch up the best women associates.”

“Except for that, yes. Rand. Focus on what you’ve been given and be happy about it.”

He frowned and then Coral cleared her throat. “Ms. Taylor? I’m Coral Anastas.”

“Ah yes, come in. This will be your desk here.” She indicated a clean, open desk across from her own. “We have a lot to go over in a short amount of time.” She turned to Rand and when he didn’t move, she said, “this is Mr. Rand McCarthy. And this is one of our newest associates, Coral Anastas.”

Coral held out her hand as though to meet him. “Mr. McCarthy.” Her eyebrow rose.

“Ms. Anastas.” His hand grasped hers and for the briefest moment she was back on the beach. But then he let go and nodded to her. “Welcome to Goldstein and Smithson.”

“Thank you. I’m anxious to get started.”

Ms. Taylor cleared her throat. “Yes, I as well. We can talk more later if you like, Rand. But as far as your other concern, the decision is final. You can take it up with Mr. Goldstein.”

He turned without another look at Coral.

So that’s how it was going to be. She nodded to herself. She could handle that. He was professional. But who had he been complaining about? His two associates sitting in his office?

Ms. Taylor leaned back on the edge of her desk. Mr. McCarthy doesn’t think you’re ready for this client.”

Coral sucked in a breath, irritation surging. “Why not?”

“You’re new. They’re complicated. And well, honestly, he hasn’t had a bite into them yet, and I think he’s hungry to try.”

Coral nodded. “Is that what he was complaining about?” She’d seen an eye opening glimpse into Rand’s willingness to stand in the way of her career. She definitely needed to keep her eyes on him. Certainly no breaks simply because they’d kissed. She tried to ignore the stab of hurt, but it festered anyway.

“That’s a bold question about one of the partners in our law firm.”

Coral was about to recant her question when female partner name smiled. “I love it. He’s a good man though. Don’t hold it against him.”

Her frown made another appearance without Coral even trying and female partner waved her hand. “Let’s get to work. Your file was supremely unhelpful. The real file is on that book case over there in the corner and in a room full of cabinets. It would take a person ten years to catch up on the history of this client. And I don’t recommend it. But what you do need to know is on that book case. Before we can do anything at all. I’ll need you up to date at least on that information.”

Coral managed not to flinch. But that was more case reading than she’d done for one whole class last semester. “You got it.”

“I’ll leave you to it then.”

“Wait. That’s all you’re going to tell me? Why the secrecy even among people here at the firm?”

“We don’t talk about the why. We just respect their wishes. I think once you get into their cases, you will be able to infer some of it.”

Coral nodded and started walking toward the bookshelves.

“And always in the back of your mind, remember attorney client privilege. In their case it applies to even the other attorneys in the firm. It is not to be discussed except with people working directly on the case with you.”

“And who is that?”

“Right now? Me.”