Chapter Two #2
‘I work well under pressure.’
‘I’m sure you do but how well do you know your client? Or do you possess magical people-reading skills?’
Jack gave one of his short and way too attractive laughs.
His gaze ran over her tightly set features, and she forced herself to sit in a more relaxed pose.
She didn’t want him to read her like a bestselling novel, but his intelligent gaze was unsettling, and she felt exposed in a way she had never felt with anyone else.
It was like he could see through the armour she had wrapped herself in to keep her past private.
She hated thinking of that bewildered little ten-year-old girl who had adored her father but then been cast aside, along with her mother, as if she meant nothing to him.
Something about Hugo Winters reminded her of her father and she was going to do everything in her power to stop what happened to her from happening to Edwina and her children.
‘I’ve met men in his situation hundreds of times before,’ Jack said. ‘He wants full custody of his children because he doesn’t believe his wife is capable of parenting them properly.’
Sylvie frowned. ‘You’ve only met Edwina once. How can you possibly make such a judgement on a single meeting?’
‘It sounds like she has weak boundaries when it comes to the kids,’ Jack said. ‘The school refusal for instance.’
Sylvie made a scoffing sound. ‘What? You think she should just push the kid out of the car on the way past the school? What do you know about teenage girls? It’s a tricky time of life and the tough love approach doesn’t work.
What if something else is going on for Mimi?
Bullying for instance? Mental health issues?
There are heaps of reasons she might be refusing to go to school. ’
‘What if it’s just good old-fashioned attention-seeking?
’ Jack said. ‘When a kid’s parents are in the process of divorcing it can be hard on everyone, but the girl’s acting up isn’t going to make her parents fall in love with each other again.
Hugo is done. He wants out. And he wants the kids in order to protect them. ’
Sylvie screwed up her lips in disgust. ‘He only wants the kids to punish Edwina. Surely you can see that?’
Jack’s expression gave nothing away. ‘He wants the kids so that they aren’t poisoned against him by their mother.’
Sylvie pushed her coffee cup away as if it tasted vile.
‘You’re so damn biased. You’ve only heard his version of the story.
He’s painting Edwina in an appalling light so he can win.
He doesn’t care about the kids. He done practically nothing towards their upbringing apart from providing for them.
Men like him make me sick to my stomach. ’
Jack rocked back in his chair, a cynical smile tilting one side of his mouth. ‘Now who’s sounding biased?’
She glared at him hotly enough to froth his coffee, except he had it black.
‘The reason I run an all-female law practice is to represent women who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance of fair and just representation.
The legal system claims to be fair but we both know justice isn’t what happens in court—it’s who spins the most convincing narrative. ’
‘Hugo Winters is my client and it’s my job to get him the best deal I can. I don’t have to like the guy. I just have to win his case.’
Sylvie gave him a scathing look. ‘Winning at any cost?’
Jack gave her one of his annoyingly confident smiles. ‘Yep.’
She ground her back teeth until her jaw ached.
‘Well, Jack Wilde, I’d like to remind you that young and vulnerable children are involved in this divorce case.
They are not just chess pieces you can move around a board.
They are kids whose parents’ divorce will have a lifelong impact on them if it’s not conducted in a fair and just manner.
This isn’t a game of win or lose, it’s a fight to protect a mother and her children from a coercive and controlling bully who seems to have pulled the wool of a whole flock of flipping sheep over your eyes. ’
Sylvie pushed back her chair and opening her purse, threw some money on the table. ‘Thank you for the chat,’ she said through tight lips. Then she turned on her heels and stalked out before he could have the last word.
Jack glanced at the note she had tossed on the table, then back at Sylvie as she wove around the café tables for the exit.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her small, elegant figure with her head held in a haughty manner.
What she lacked in height, she made up for in spades with attitude and feistiness.
He admired her spirit, her determination and drive, which were so like his own approach to life, but the thrill of winning for his clients had to come before anything else.
He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by her on a personal level.
But the thought of a fling with her was so exciting he could feel the tingle of anticipation deep in his groin.
Mixing business and pleasure wasn’t his normal modus operandi.
He liked to keep his personal life separate from his day job.
No exceptions. But hot damn, this time he was tempted.
The Winterses’ divorce could well be a long drawn-out one, which would mean Jack would have more contact with Sylvie over the following weeks if not months.
He had won a couple of court cases against her, which he assumed was why she was so testy with him, but work was work.
He didn’t allow feelings to get in the way of a court battle.
In fact, he didn’t allow feelings to get in the way of anything.
Losing his parents so young had taught him to bury his emotions, to keep them contained so they couldn’t bubble up to the surface and haunt him in ways he didn’t want to be haunted.
He was the eldest of the Wilde brothers, and even at the age of seven he had grasped what the tragedy of losing his parents meant for both him and his younger siblings.
He was going to have to be tough, invincible, resilient.
He would have to be strong for his brothers.
He grieved but in his own private way. His grandfather had not allowed him and his brothers to rely on each other and had sent them to different boarding schools to toughen them up.
Jack had coped with it, but he wasn’t sure it had been the best approach for Jago and Jonas.
More recently, Jago had gone through two years of hell after his fiancée jilted him, although they were now back together and planning a summer wedding once Jonas came home from his latest project.
Jonas had cut all contact with the family for the last few months, supposedly working on some top-secret naval architect contract, but Jack’s natural tendency for scepticism made him wonder if something else was going on.
But it wasn’t the first time Jonas had gone to ground, and it likely wouldn’t be the last. Jonas was a solitary person who had taught himself not to need others.
Jack’s mate Ben came over to the table carrying a tray of used cups and reached down to pick up Sylvie’s empty one. ‘Did your lady friend give you the brush-off? You must be losing your touch, mate.’
Jack gave a crooked smile. ‘We’re colleagues, not lovers.’
Ben’s smile was teasing. ‘How soon before that changes, eh?’
The tingling in Jack’s groin stirred again at the thought of mixing business with pleasure with feisty little Sylvie Rathbone. ‘I get the feeling she hates my guts. I won a couple of cases against her. Not sure she’s going to forgive me for that.’ He kept his tone light and playful.
Ben laughed. ‘What woman you’ve wanted has ever said no to you? I bet it won’t be long before you score with her.’
For some reason his mate’s words didn’t sit comfortably with Jack.
It made him sound like a trophy hunter, looking to carve out another notch on his bedpost. Yes, he was a playboy who changed lovers faster than most people, but he didn’t see Sylvie as a casual once-only hook-up, although he wasn’t sure why.
She wasn’t someone who would disappear from his life like someone from a dating app.
They moved in the same circles, they encountered each other at the law society functions, including the Summer Fundraiser Masked Ball this coming Saturday, which was being held at his brother Jago’s fancy hotel right here in London.
Jack picked up his coffee cup and drained it, then handed it to Ben across the table. ‘The case we’re working on looks like it could drag on for months. Anyway, I don’t know if she already has a partner.’
‘That hasn’t stopped you in the past.’ Ben said it playfully, but it still made Jack mentally cringe.
To his shame he had slept with a married woman once, but only because she had lied and told him her marriage was over.
However, he still felt he had failed himself by indulging in a one-night stand with her.
He had crossed a moral line he had not wanted to cross.
He liked casual dating for the simple transaction of pleasure between two consenting adults.
But to engage in an affair with someone who was with someone else was something he always avoided.
Jack pushed back his chair and stood. ‘How are Yasmin and the twins?’ Nothing like a quick change of subject to get away from his troubling thoughts.
‘They’re great, although they’re both teething at the moment.
’ Ben grimaced and added, ‘I can’t remember the last time I had a full night’s sleep but it’s worth it.
The twins are starting to talk, and Ellie took her first steps on the weekend.
Ethan is still cruising the furniture, but it won’t be long before he lets go.
You should come over sometime, have dinner with us.
It’s a bit of a circus and food goes everywhere but it’s fun. ’
Jack smiled back. ‘I’ll wear a hazmat suit, then, shall I?’
Ben chuckled. ‘You do that.’