Legal Heat (37 page)

“And had a fatal reaction as well,” Joanna said.

“Yes.” James punched the air as more pieces fell into place. “That ties in nicely with the assault on her lawyer. He must have thought she took the drugs when she went to Wood’s apartment.”

Joanna picked up the phone. “So can we bring Saunders in for theft, dealing and obstruction? We should have enough leverage to get her to talk.”

“We’re still missing a few pieces of the puzzle.” James drummed his fingers on his desk. “Did Wood take all the drugs or did someone get to her apartment first and empty the bag? The break-in suggests she had a visitor before the lawyers found her. Jimmy was in jail, so it wasn’t him.”

“What about the same people who scared Saunders away?” Joanna’s face brightened. “Maybe they’re the ones who also shot at Sinclair to scare her, thinking she had the stash.”

James sighed. “But that means someone else took it, and I find it hard to believe that we have another player involved in the whole mess. I still think Kowalski was the primary target of the shooting.”

Joanna’s shoulders slumped. “We still haven’t established a connection to the cleaners.” Exhaustion lined her face. The team had been working round the clock and the stress and late nights were beginning to take their toll.

Time for a little outside intervention.

James grabbed his leather jacket from the back of his chair. “Bring Saunders back in. Make sure she understands her right to have a lawyer present. But not Katherine Sinclair. I can just see the case being thrown out on the basis of a conflict of interest.”

“Where are you going?”

James slung his jacket over his back. “To see my fairy godmother.”

Chapter Twenty-One

The door opened. Just a crack at first, and then wider.

Katy looked up.

Impeccably tailored suit, Italian leather shoes and blue silk tie.
Mark.
Carrying a lunch tray.

The scent of soap and sandalwood filled the small storage room, one of many in the basement of the office tower housing Hi-Tech’s headquarters. A deliciously familiar scent. Ruined by the smell of chicken broth.

Bastard
.

She scowled and flipped through the file she had just pulled from one of the dozens of boxes stacked against the wall. She couldn’t believe how many files Steele had suddenly managed to produce. Mark must have had a talk with him before he withdrew as counsel. But of course, no one had warned her about the volume of disclosure. There was no way she could get through all the documents by herself. Even though her meeting with Patricia had helped her focus the search, it would still take weeks. She only had an afternoon.

Mark sat down across from her and placed the tray on the table.

“You are still recovering, sugar. You need to eat. You’ve been here since seven and I know you didn’t have breakfast so I took the liberty of visiting the cafeteria.”

“I’m quite capable of feeding myself.”

Typical male. No greeting. No apology. Sauntering in here like he owned the place. Like he owned her. He could go to hell.

“If you don’t eat this, I’ll feed you myself.” A hint of warning sharpened the smooth tenor of his voice.

She caught her breath. There was no doubt in her mind he would do exactly that. But she was too angry for caution. Too hurt to care about the consequences.

“I’d like to see you try,” she growled. She glanced up to see his reaction.

Damn.

His steady, heated gaze made her shudder. Possessive. Dominant. Unyielding.

“Would you really?” His dark eyes glittered at the challenge.

Katy sighed. “Mark, please just go. Leave me alone. I have work to do.” She scribbled on her page. Nonsense words. Pretending to be busy as her heart turned back flips.

Stupid heart.
You’re supposed to be broken
.

“You won’t make it through all the documents if you don’t have the energy.” He pushed the tray towards her.

She jerked back and slid her chair away from the table. “I asked you to leave. For once, try to make an effort to respect what I want.”

Whispers in her ear. Soft lips on her neck. Promises. Secrets. The memories hurt.

“You aren’t safe. I’ve been watching the door all morning. There are several businesses in the building with storage rooms down here. A lot of people have access to the basement. Steele should have let you review the documents in his office. I think he put you down here for a reason.”

“You’re overreacting,” she snapped. “The police are watching the elevator and the stairwell.”

He rested his elbow on the table, his finger brushing over his bottom lip, drawing her eyes to the mouth that had kissed her with such tenderness and spoken the words that had broken her heart.

“How did I get in then?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t care how you got in, but for the record, it was a supremely stupid thing to do. If you’re caught down here, Steele will have a hands down case of conflict of interest against you, not to mention all the other ethical breaches involved in breaking into a former client’s storage room and talking to former opposing counsel.”

His gaze locked on hers. Beautiful eyes. So familiar. She didn’t know how long they simply stared at each other. Why was he really here? To torment her further? To distract her? She didn’t want to consider the other option.

“I’m willing to take that risk to keep you safe. I care about you, Katy.”

She left the table and headed over to the wall of boxes. “If you cared, you wouldn’t have interfered.” She had opened herself up. Trusted him. Now she knew she’d done it for nothing. In the end, men always betrayed her.

Lesson learned. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

She stood in front of a precariously stacked pile and searched for the next one in the series. She could feel his eyes on her body, as if he were touching her with his hands.

Well let him look. He would never touch her again.

His chair scraped the floor. Italian leather heels thudded softly towards her.

She froze. Closed her eyes. Breathed in his scent. Steeled herself against him.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

A shudder rocked her. Unable to resist, she turned her head, looking back at him over her shoulder. His tie glimmered under the soft florescent lighting. Another memory. Another event she wanted to forget.

Gently, slowly, he turned her around to face him.

“I understand how important your career is to you but I knew, between your stubbornness and Ted’s ambition, you would continue to pursue the case. Even after what happened. You just can’t let things go. Someone needed to look out for you.”

She took a step back and folded her arms. “How unbelievably arrogant.” A quiver of anger worked over her body. “How many times have I told you? I don’t need you to take care of me.”

Her elbow hit one of the boxes and the stack tilted forward. Mark reacted before she even sensed he had moved. One minute, she was standing in front of the avalanche and the next, she was cradled under his arm as his other hand shot forward and slammed the tumbling boxes into place.

She closed her eyes. Every inch of her skin came alive, her temperature soared. Her body leading her mind. Again.

“Stop protecting me,” she muttered into his chest.

He laughed with a deep rumble, his breath warm and moist in her ear. “Not a chance.”

He crushed her to him and banded his arms around her waist. “I love you, Katy. I don’t want to lose you.”

Her heart pounded. Her thoughts slowed down. The stacks of boxes receded until there was only Mark.

She missed him.

She hated him.

She loved him.

He kissed the top of her head and leaned forward to nuzzle her neck. “This is when you’re supposed to run away.”

She moaned. Needing him. Despising him.

“I love that sound,” he rasped. He cupped her face with both hands and slanted his mouth over hers.

A creak startled them both.

“I always trust my instincts.” Steele’s voice, dark and dangerous, echoed through the small room. The door closed behind him with a loud bang.

Mark pushed Katy behind him, an instinctual move and totally ineffective. Katy immediately stepped away and into Steele’s line of vision.

“As usual, they never let me down.” He leaned against the door, arms folded, blocking their only means of escape. His hooded gaze raked over Katy, and then flicked over to Mark. “I thought something was going on during the discovery. After the seminar at the Fairmont, I was almost convinced. But I knew for certain when I discovered where your little kitty went to recover after her terrible accident.”

“I’m not his kitty,” Katy snapped.

Steele snorted. “The label doesn’t matter. You’re his. It’s written all over his face. Now I understand why he was so eager to drop my case.”

“You asked me to do something unethical,” Mark said. “It had nothing to do with her.”

“You’re a hypocrite as well as a coward.” Steele toyed with the Rolex on his wrist. “You’ve had a conflict, possibly since the day of the discovery. Whether you acted responsibly is neither here nor there. I have to assume you compromised my case. I think the video footage of this afternoon’s activities will prove to be quite informative to the Law Society.”

“What do you want?” Mark growled. Steele would have reported them already if that had been his intent.

A sensual, carnal smile tipped Steele’s lips. “I think that’s obvious.”

“Humor us,” Katy said, her words laced with venom. “Spell it out, or is the word blackmail too hard for you?”

“Katy.” Mark cut her off with a bark. Attacking Steele would only lead to disaster. Had she not learned that lesson before?

Steele’s lips curved into a smile. “The question is, kitty, will it be too hard for you? Looks to me like you need someone to tell you what hard really means.”

Katy wrinkled her nose. “You’re disgusting. If you think for even a moment that I would sleep with you—”

“I assure you, in my bed you wouldn’t be getting any sleep,” Steele chortled.

“Bastard.”

“The thought of being with a real man excites you, doesn’t it?” Steele smiled at Katy’s outburst, his feral gaze blazing a trail across her body. “I can see it in the flush of your cheeks and the rapid beat of the pulse in your neck. We have chemistry, kitty, and I know all about chemistry.”

“Enough.” Mark crossed the room in three long strides and stood toe to toe with Steele. His body shook with the effort of containing his fury. He drew his arm back, but Steele held his hands up, palm forward and took a step away.

“Are you sure you want to add assault to your growing list of misdeeds?” Amusement laced Steele’s tone. “I’m just playing with your little kitty, but you don’t seem to have fully grasped your situation. You have a serious problem—an undeclared professional conflict of interest. I should really call the Law Society and file a complaint…unless…” his gaze settled on Katy and he beckoned her forward, “…I get what I’ve always wanted.”

A surge of anger coursed through Mark, electrifying his body. “You can’t have her.”

Steele snorted a sigh and shook his head. “You’re thinking with the wrong part of your body. I don’t want her. Well I do, but not at the cost of billions of dollars. What I want is the fucking case off my desk and her nose out of my business. You…” he pointed at Katy, “…are going to bring me a settlement agreement, signed by your client, and we’ll finish this case once and for all. Tonight.”

Katy shook her head in confusion. “What kind of game are you playing? You know I can’t force my client to sign anything.”

Steele’s eyes hardened. “By the time you’ve drafted the agreement and made your way to her house, I can assure you she will sign anything you put in front of her.”

Son of a bitch
. Mark let loose. One fist found Steele’s jaw and the other pounded into Steele’s gut.
One. Two. Back away
. Just as he had learned on the streets.

But Steele was no lightweight. Although his head snapped to the side and he hissed out a breath, he didn’t move. Instead, he put a hand to his jaw and rubbed it over his chin. “Now that was uncalled for. Here I’m trying to save two promising legal careers and I’m assaulted for my efforts. I just hope kitty’s client isn’t as…recalcitrant.”

“Gordon,” Mark growled. “You’re going to send Gordon after her.”

Steele spat blood on the concrete floor and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Mark felt a faint twinge of pleasure. His punch had had an effect after all.

“Gordon lacks the finesse for this kind of work. Saunders and I have a few things to discuss. Private things. I’ll be paying the little troublemaker a personal visit.”

Katy bristled. “You stay away from her.”

Mark’s fingers twitched at his side, but he leashed his anger. Beating Steele to a pulp would achieve nothing and instead would only prove to Katy that her fears about his past resurfacing were true. He would have to find another way.