35. Alexis
Valentina agreed to see Alexis as soon as she’d called her on her personal number. They’d had an unofficial mentor/mentee relationship when Alexis first graduated from university, but they hadn’t spoken since she’d quit the industry.
Alexis thought the best way to approach the meeting was to take Levi with her but have him wait in reception while she provided a little background information. Valentina might not be willing to meet with Levi, which would be awkward if he was sitting right beside her.
And she wasn’t too proud to beg for help. That would also be embarrassing to do in front of her boyfriend.
They arrived at Valentina’s building, and Levi handed his keys to a nearby valet. He looked up at the intimidating glass structure and squeezed her hand.
‘Thanks for organising this. Are you feeling okay?’
‘I’m not sure yet.’ To be honest, she was trying not to show how freaked out she was. She had kind of hoped she’d never have to step foot back in the legal world again, and she had definitely not planned to do it this soon. Not that she was officially back. But this was more than close enough.
She wasn’t even wearing any of her old workwear, having abandoned her Armani suits when she’d hurriedly packed and left Jack’s house. Today, she was in a simple black wrap dress and black heels. Her hair was tied low in a bun, and she’d put on full makeup, relying on muscle memory to get the job done. That was one thing she didn’t miss about being a lawyer—the amount of maintenance required for her appearance. She used to have her hair coloured and styled every four weeks, and she’d undergone regular expensive beauty treatments. She’d also spent a fortune on cosmetics and clothing. It was a huge relief not to have to do that anymore.
They went up to the thirtieth floor and entered an ultra-modern reception area.
A man dressed even more expensively than Levi instructed them to sit while he alerted Valentina to their arrival.
‘I’ll try and keep my part brief so you’re not waiting long,’ Alexis said.
‘Take your time. I appreciate everything you’re doing.’
He smiled at her reassuringly, but her heart rate was still worryingly high.
Valentina appeared, smiling warmly. ‘It’s lovely to see you, Alexis. It feels like an age.’
Alexis stood and shook hands with the woman she hadn’t seen for more than three months. ‘It has been a bit longer than usual,’ she admitted.
Valentina glanced at Levi and raised a questioning eyebrow at Alexis. ‘Who’s this?’
‘Ah, this is my… partner, Levi. He’ll wait here for now.’
Valentina eyed him for a moment longer before turning back to Alexis and sweeping a hand down the hall. ‘Then why don’t you come with me? I’ll have Fisher make us all some coffee.’
Alexis shot one last look at Levi, who gave her a tiny thumbs-up. She then followed Valentina into her office, nodding at Charlotte—Valentina’s PA—on the way. She tried to ignore the minor panic rising in her chest, knowing her appearance would result in an immediate call to Jack’s assistant—but there wasn’t much she could do about that now. She just hoped her dad didn’t come storming in to make a scene.
She inhaled deeply and kept walking. She’d been to Valentina’s office many times before, but it felt different now that she was an outsider.
Valentina ushered her over to a leather couch rather than the chairs in front of her desk. She sat on an armchair beside the couch and gave Alexis her full attention. It was something Alexis suspected made her clients trust her. ‘It really is nice to see you, but you seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. I was worried Jack had you offed.’ She chuckled, and Alexis smiled weakly in return.
‘Yeah, I kind of needed a break.’
‘Does it have anything to do with your father’s extracurricular activities?’
Alexis frowned. ‘What do you know?’
‘Just the rumours. You know how loyal Charlotte is to me. She’s close to Jack’s PA—not to mention every other assistant in town. Who needs a private investigator when you have an assistant like her?’
‘Do you think you could tell her not to tell Jack’s assistant I’m here?’
‘I could, but I don’t know how much good it would do. Yes, I pay her wage, but she isn’t easily controlled. It keeps me on my toes and ensures I don’t get sloppy. If she spreads anything she hears from me, it’s my own fault for letting her in the first place.’
‘Okay, well, fingers crossed Jack doesn’t hear about this visit before I’ve left.’
‘So you are here because of the rumours?’
‘Actually, no, although I’d probably like to meet with you another time soon to discuss that. But today, I’m here because of Levi. He has a family business issue he’d like you to consult on.’
‘How serious is it between you two?’
Alexis blushed. ‘I… I’m not exactly sure. But serious enough.’
‘Do you love him?’
Alexis had never consciously thought about loving someone. She’d never had anyone apart from Jack tell her he loved her, and that now felt like a lie.
When she thought of Levi, she definitely knew it was something, but was it love? It was too early to tell.
‘It could be heading that way,’ she admitted.
‘Then I’ll do it.’
Alexis laughed. ‘I never took you for a romantic.’
‘You’d be surprised. I’m a total sucker for love.’
That reminded Alexis of Theo. ‘Actually, I think you might have had something to do with my friend, Theo, a while back.’
Her face took on a wistful expression. ‘That boy was one of my favourites.’
‘What happened?’
‘He didn’t like that I earned more money than him.’
‘Seriously?’
‘He assumed he had more because of his family, and because I was older than him, he felt his finances balanced us out. But when he learned otherwise, he couldn’t handle it.’
‘Hmm.’ Theo had made it sound like Valentina had grown bored of him. She’d be having words with the guy later.
‘Anyway, back to Levi. Do you want to explain the situation before we bring him in?’
Alexis went over the basics, trying to emphasise how unfairly Levi had been treated.
Valentina made notes. ‘I’ve known the Beckingsales for a while now, but I had no idea this was going on. I mean, I’ve seen Catherine at the odd charity event, and I knew she probably wasn’t there out of the goodness of her heart, but I didn’t expect this. Let me investigate and see what I can do to help.’
‘Thanks, Valentina.’
‘My pleasure. So what do you plan on doing about your law career?’
‘I don’t know yet.’
‘You know, there are a few decent people in the industry. They’re hard to find, but they’re there.’ Something suddenly seemed to occur to her. ‘In fact, there’s an event coming up you should attend. It’s going to be sponsored by Agnelli Partners. One of their guys, Joseph Cox, is going to be doing a keynote on ethical lawyering.’
Alexis chuckled. ‘Is that even a thing? It sounds like an oxymoron.’
‘It should be the norm, but sadly, it isn’t. I know in my firm, we take on a slightly higher percentage of pro-bono cases than necessary, but we could do more.’
Something niggled at the back of Alexis’ brain. Where had she heard the name Joseph Cox before?
And then it hit her. It was the name of the guy Tamra had given them. The one who might know her mother’s whereabouts.
‘When is the event?’
‘I’ll find out the details and text you. Feel free to bring Levi too.’
‘Okay. Thank you.’
‘Now, why don’t you properly introduce me to that handsome man of yours, and we’ll see how we can solve his problems first?’
‘Perfect.’
‘I know you might not believe it, but I’ll always make time for you. I see a little of myself in you, and I really respected the work you did when you were practicing. I hope you decide to return one day.
‘I’ll think about it.’
Valentina opened the door to her office and asked Charlotte to fetch Levi.
Valentina made it sound like everything was an easily solvable problem, and Alexis wanted to believe her.
If you had the right people on your side, maybe it was true.
Maybe honesty and integrity could save the day.