Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (27 page)

CHAPTER
FOUR

Brooke

"
Good
morning, Ms. Raines," said the
gray-haired woman at the front desk. "Your messages are on your desk and
the memo you asked me to type up is in a file folder in your inbox."

"Good
morning, Alma," I said with a smile as I set a small, limp potted violet
on her desk. "I found this at the open market over the weekend and
wondered if you could nurse it back to health?"

"I will do my
best, Ms. Raines," she replied as she picked up the pot and gave it a once
over. Her disapproving “tsk, tsk, tsk” let me know that there was definitely
something wrong with the way the plant had been kept, but when she murmured,
"Now, don't you worry, I'll have you back in tiptop shape in no
time", I knew I'd made the right decision.

We had hired Alma
Granger a few weeks after we'd opened the firm. She was the only secretary that
the three of us could agree upon. Roger and Jordie had voted for secretaries
who resembled Hooters servers and whose nail appointments and spin classes made
them unavailable during business hours. I, on the other hand, wanted someone
who was familiar with the law, could work with design programs, and could write
like a novelist while answering phones and keeping track of my schedule.

Alma answered our
ad in the
Times
and was the only
candidate all three of us could agree upon. She was in her early sixties and
had run the front office of a small law firm in San Diego for thirty years
before the lawyer (her husband) had dropped dead of a heart attack while
meeting with a client about a murder charge. She'd moved to Los Angeles to be
closer to her grandchildren and wasn't ready to retire quite yet. She ran our
office with an iron fist and idiosyncrasies that ranged from having everything
on her desk placed at a ninety-degree angle to calling the three of us by our
surnames, and while we'd tried to get her to call us by our first names, Alma
was old school and refused to budge.

"Alma, have
you seen Roger or Jordie this morning?" I asked as I walked toward my
office.

"Not yet, Ms.
Raines, but I'm anticipating their arrival in just a few minutes."

"Very well.
When they get here, will you please have them stop by my office?"

"Indeed, I
will," she replied, making a note on the pad she kept sitting on the far
right edge of her desk. Alma was nothing if not extremely organized, and she
kept a running list of every single thing that needed to be done on the
notepad, which she tucked into a locked drawer every night before she left
work.

I walked into my
office and stood in the middle of the room contemplating the situation. Jordie,
Roger, and I had gone to law school together and then spent two years working
as public defenders. By the time we'd hit the two-year mark, we were all burned
out and ready for something that would give us a chance to actually practice
law rather than play games with the justice system. We were naive, but we had
the best of intentions as we set out on our own.

As a young law
firm, we dealt with a variety of clients, mostly people looking to beat DWIs
and petty crime, and occasionally taking on some contract and tax law cases. We
weren't experienced enough to pick and choose, so we took everything that came
our way and hoped that at some point we'd attract a case that would bring us a
lot of attention – and clients. But we were going on two years in business and
things were still depressingly slow.

We were barely
scraping by, and now we were facing a crisis of funds that would threaten to
shutter the practice if we didn't do something to turn the ship around.

"Morning
Brooke," Jordie said as he stuck his head in the door and waved at me.

"Hey,
Jordie!" I called as I got up from my desk and walked out into the
hallway. "Where's Rog?"

"He's on his
way in," he said as he started to go through his mail. "Texted me
something about getting caught on the 101."

"He was with
a new girl again?" I laughed.

"Yeah, I
don't know what that's about," he said shaking his head. "But then
again, I never have."

"Jordie, we
need to talk about the firm and how we're going to make this work past the
summer," I said, changing the trajectory of the conversation.

"I
know," he said. "I've been thinking about it a lot and I think I
might have a solution, but we need to talk about the positives and
negatives."

"Hey
guys," Roger called as he walked past my open door on his way to the
coffee pot. "How's it hanging?"

"Late night,
Rog?" I asked in a knowing tone.

"Hell
yeah," he said. "She was super hot, and I think I'm in love!"

Jordie and I
exchanged a grin and a pair of eye rolls. Roger was in love, on average, about
three times a month. He'd meet a new girl, fall head over heels, and then
before he knew it, she'd dump him and move on to greener pastures. Roger didn't
blame them, but he couldn't see that their initial interest in him was always
as a lawyer with great earning potential. Once they found out the reality of
his situation, they were less enamored.

"We need to
have a sit down," I called after him.

"Okay, but
let me make this quick call," he said as he disappeared into his office.

"We've lost
him again," Jordie sighed.

"Nah, he's
just on the upswing of the female roller coaster," I said. "He'll be on
his way back down in no time."

CHAPTER
FIVE

Dax

"
Welcome
to the monthly meeting, everyone," I said as I
walked into the room and stood at the head of the table. Around the table sat
fifteen members of the Southern California Sales Alliance. We'd agreed upon the
name several years ago when the Feds started cracking down on dealers. The name
added legitimacy to our organization and, more importantly, kept us somewhat
under the radar.

"How's
everyone doing?" I asked as I looked around the table and noted who was
there and who was missing. I made a mental note to tell Riza to check out the
missing members and their connection to Lydia.

"The first
order of business is the issue of respecting boundaries," I said and the
room erupted in a cacophony of voices all trying to get the first word. I held
up my hand to silence the group and then continued, "Look, I don't care
who is doing what to whom, what I want is for everyone to respect the
boundaries we've drawn and stop trying to sneak over the lines. I know business
is rough, but if we start fighting each other, we're all gonna go down
hard."

"I'm not
gonna lie, Dax," said Southside Rudy. "We're hustling to make a stack
and sometimes my people cross over the line, but that's customer service, man.
If we respect the customers, we're all gonna win."

"Bullshit,
Rudy," said Reverend. "You're crossing the lines knowing full well
that it starts a skirmish with my people every damn time!"

"Gentlemen,"
I said quietly. "I don't care what the reason is for the crossing of
boundaries, no one is going to do it again. Am I understood?"

"Yeah,"
they all grumbled as they eyed each other suspiciously.

"If I hear of
anyone failing to stay within their own boundaries, I'm gonna come down
hard," I warned. "I'm not fucking with you. Stay in your own
territory or pay the price."

The room went
silent as the message sunk in. They knew I wasn't kidding, and they also knew
that my definition of consequences was swift and merciless. I'd learned the
hard way from Papi to keep a lid on the business or pay the ultimate price.

We quickly covered
our new business and wrapped up the meeting. I had been watching Riza out of
the corner of my eye and knew that she had something to report. I shook hands
with everyone and told them they were welcome to stay and enjoy a night at the
club, but we all knew it was just a courtesy. None of the members of SoCSA
wanted to be caught in my club after dark. Still, manners are what separate us
from the animals.

"What's
up?" I asked as I gestured for Riza to follow me.

"I think I've
got a line on what happened to Lydia," she said checking her phone for the
hundredth time. "I got a tip from one of the corner boys over on the west
side. I'm gonna go check it out."

"You want to
take Dozer with you?" I asked.

"Nah, better
if I just go in casual and not act like we're ready to start a war," she
grinned.

"You sure you
can handle it?"

"Don't be an
asshole, Dax," she said seriously. "Of course I can handle it. You
should know that by now."

"I do, but I
don't like sending you in blind, that's all," I said, studying her
carefully. Something was bothering Riza, but until she decided to tell me what
it was, I wasn't going to know a thing. She'd also grown up with Papi, so at
times, we were like two brick walls facing one another.

"I know, I
know," she waved me off with no hard feelings and then turned to head out
to the meet.

"Riza,"
I called. "Be careful."

"I always am,
boss." She smiled. "I always am."

CHAPTER
SIX

Brooke

"
We
have to do something to generate a
positive cash flow, guys," I said. We were sitting around the big oval
table in the conference room that we'd outfitted to impress clients. The room
was a testament to Jordie's impressive design skills and the functionality of modular
furniture bought at one of the office furniture outlet stores near Skid Row. It
was impressive, but that wasn't helping us attract clients, only impress them
once we got them in the door.

"Chill out,
Brooke," Roger said as he sipped coffee from a cup that said “Hang Ten”
and “Chillaxe” on the side in red letters. His surfer dude attitude irritated
me.

"Chill out?
You want me to chill out, do you?" I said, fighting to hide my irritation.
"We're months behind in everything except our insurance payments, and we
have exactly three clients on our roster. I'm not sure why you're advocating
the 'chill out' approach when what we really need is a 'step it up and get some
business' approach."

"Look, don't
stress out on me," Roger began.

"Stress out
on you? Stress out on
you
?" I
shouted. "I'm stressed out in general, and it might help if you were a
little less chilled!"

"Guys, guys,
guys," Jordie intervened. "It's not going to help if we start
attacking one another. We need a game plan, so let's focus our considerable
brain power on formulating one, shall we?"

I shot Roger a
dirty look as he gave Jordie a thumbs up and a lopsided smile. Jordie's look
pleaded with me to relax, so I sank back in my chair and waited to hear what he
had to say.

"We need to
expand the practice and attract new clients, that's for sure," he said.
"But what we really need is a just one really high profile case that will
get our firm on the front pages."

"Oh, so we
need to find someone who's a murderer or something," I said dully.

"Well, that would
be ideal," Jordie replied. "But it's probably not very likely, so we
need to look at some of the sketchier elements in town and see if there's
anything we can do to get them to use our services."

"Oh,
cool," Roger said. "So, we need to get in bed with the mafia? All
Godfather
and shit?"

"Roger,"
I warned. The other reason Roger infuriated me was that his cool surfer dude
persona was totally an act. He talked like a lunkhead while the three of us
were together, but when he got in a room with a client or in a courtroom in
front of a judge, he was as sharp as a tack and didn't miss a beat.

"What?"

"Guys, I'm
serious," Jordie said. "We need a high profile case – just one – then
we win it and everyone will flock to us for help."

"But what
about the illegal activities of the folks you are talking about
attracting?" I asked.

"Brooke,
seriously," Jordie said. "Everyone deserves legal
representation."

"Even the bad
guys?" I asked.

"Dude, the
bad guys need it most of all," Roger interjected. "They always get the
short end of the stick and never the benefit of doubt. They have to work ten
times harder to prove they're innocent, whether or not they are. I think these
are the kinds of cases we could really win."

"So, what do
we do when we're defending drug dealers and thugs?" I asked.

"We represent
them," Jordie said. "We don't lie; we simply represent them to the
best of our ability."

"Jesus,
Brooke," Roger said in an exasperated tone. "You need to come down
off your high horse and join the real world where things aren’t all good or
evil and black or white!"

"Wait a
minute, that's not fair!" I shouted. "You're the one who is always
bouncing between extremes, not me!"

"What the
hell are you talking about?" he shouted.

"I mean,
you're in love with a new woman every other week, but you can't see the forest
for the trees!" I yelled. I had a vague sense in the back of my mind that
I was now being unreasonable, but Roger had a tendency to push me over the edge
– kind of like my brother, Teddy, did.

"What the
hell does my love life have to with this firm's clients?" he yelled.

"It's an
indication of your inability to make sound judgments when it comes to clients
and business!" I knew I was treading on thin ice, but my frustration
overruled my brain and I headed perilously close to the edge.

"Oh
really?" Roger said with a raised eyebrow. "If we're going to start
judging each other based on our romantic relationships, then I'd say that
you're at the base of our problem, Brooke."

"What the
hell are you talking about?"

"You take
perfectly good men and crush them under the weight of your expectations about
how much they can take when it comes to your devotion to your job," he
said calmly. "I'd say that about defines the problem, wouldn't you?"

Dumbfounded, I
stared at Roger. He'd hit a nerve and I could feel the blow reverberating
through my body. I took a deep breath and said, "Fuck you, Roger."

"Truth hurts,
doesn't it, baby girl?"

"Dammit, you
two!" Jordie shouted. "I'm so sick and tired of your constant
attempts to top each other and prove you're each the alpha dog. Fuck you both!
This is my firm, too, and I want to do something to save it, not tear it apart
and leave the pieces in the gutter!"

No one said a word
for a couple of minutes and then Roger muttered, "I'm sorry."

"Me
too," I replied.

"Back to
work?" Jordie said hopefully.

"Back to
work." I nodded and we sat down and started to map out a plan for saving
our law firm.