Unlawful Desires
Page 14
“Maybe you and Fletcher should discuss what you’d like to do and get back to me.”
Fletcher pulls Mia close. “Honey, we’ve already discussed this. I want Vernetta to handle this for us. She’s a brilliant lawyer and, on top of that, I trust her. She’s just doing her job. Covering all the bases.”
Mia starts to tear up. “Nobody understands what I’m going through. Bliss has to pay for this. You don’t know how manipulative she is. This isn’t the first time she’s pulled something like this.”
“Really? It could be helpful to the defamation case if she set up another guy.” I smile over at Fletcher. I hope he appreciates the way I’m playing my role.
“This is her M-O.” Mia pats away her tears with two manicured fingers. “She has a six-year-old son she’s getting child support payments for. Ten thousand dollars a month. She also has a three-year-old son. No telling how much money she’s getting for him.”
I’m baffled that the prissy Mia would even have a friend like Bliss.
“How did you two become friends?” I ask.
She clasps her hands and sets them in her lap. “We were never close. We just started hanging out after yoga class. I still can’t believe she’s doing this.”
Fletcher kisses Mia on the cheek. “We’re going to work this all out and our wedding is going to be fabulous.”
“We’re getting married in the South of France,” Mia brags. “In the same village where Brad and Angelina tied the knot.”
Good for you.
They both get to their feet.
“Fletcher,” I say, “I need a quick second with you. Alone.”
Mia opens her mouth to object, but Fletcher leads her to the door. “We’ll only be a minute.”
Once she’s gone, I stand so that I can look Fletcher in the eyes.
“I just want to be sure you’re being honest with me. Is there any way that kid could be yours?”
He responds with a bad imitation of Bill Clinton. “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”
I don’t crack a smile. “Please answer my question.”
“I’ve been one hundred percent straight with you, counselor. Bliss Fenton is simply out for revenge.”
I stare at him long and hard. “Can I ask you one more thing?”
“Shoot.”
“What in the hell do you see in her? She’s cute and all, but she’s a bit high strung.”
Fletcher chuckled. “Mia came off a little hard just now, but she really has a heart of gold. You’ll see that once you get to know her. Maybe you and your husband can join us for dinner sometime. As a matter of fact, I’m having a shindig at the house Thursday night. You should come.”
He gives me a hug that lasts way too long and feels way too good.
“I hope your husband is as good to you as I would’ve been.”
“He is.”
“Sorry to hear that.” There’s a long awkward patch of silence. “You ever wonder what it would’ve been like if we’d made it?”
I smile but don’t otherwise respond to his question.
“Thanks for taking my case.”
“You’re welcome.”
Just before he grabs the doorknob, I stop him.
“I have some free legal advice for you.”
“Shoot.”
“Get a pre-nup.”
He winks. “It’s already drafted.”
“That’s good to hear. Just make sure you get it signed.”
Sassy Sinclair also writes under the name Pamela Samuels Young. If you love a good mystery, be sure to check out her legal thrillers.
Books by Pamela Samuels Young
* * *
Vernetta Henderson Series
Every Reasonable Doubt (1st in series)
In Firm Pursuit (2nd in series)
Murder on the Down Low (3rd in series)
Attorney-Client Privilege (4th in series)
Lawful Deception (5th in series)
Dre Thomas Series
Buying Time (1st in series)
Anybody’s Daughter (2nd in series)
Abuse of Discretion (3rd in series)
Lawyers in Lust Novella Series
Erotic Suspense by Sassy Sinclair
Unlawful Desires: An Erotic Suspense Novella (1st in series)
Short Stories
The Setup
Easy Money
Unlawful Greed
Non-Fiction
Kinky Coily: A Natural Hair Resource Guide
Acknowledgments
First, I want to thank my romance author friends who enthusiastically welcomed me into their world, Lisa Rayne, Maureen Smith, Lutishia Lovely, and Renee Daniel Flagler. Your advice, resources, and encouragement were invaluable. Can’t wait to hook up with y’all at the next writing conference.
I also owe a big thank you to the folks who read the manuscript for Unlawful Desires on very short notice and offered extremely helpful feedback. They included my adult niece Linette Carey (I truly appreciated your incredible insight in several important areas which I will not enumerate here in case your mama and daddy read this, wink-wink), Cynthia Hebron (I know you were blushing the whole time), Gregory Sawyer (thanks for pointing out the parts where I was thinking like a woman, not like a man), Dawn Clark (the first person to request multiple copies, LOL!), Patricia Shaw (a true romantic who wanted me to cut out all the sex scenes, LMAO!), Darlene Hayes (who kept pushing me to add more sex), Jerome Norris (the kind of insightful editor every writer needs), Arlene Walker (my writing compatriot), and Sharlene Ratliff Moore (my muse for this book). Thanks for being such supportive friends and avid fans.
Unlawful Desires is my first venture into the erotic suspense genre. But stay tuned. There’s definitely more to come.
About the Author
Sassy Sinclair is the pen name for attorney Pamela Samuels Young, the author of multiple legal thrillers. Pamela started writing out of a desire to see more diverse characters in the legal fiction she read. She finally retired from the practice of law to pursue her passion of writing legal thrillers on a full-time basis.
Now, her passion also includes writing suspenseful stories about lawyers that entertain as well as whet readers’ erotic appetites. Unlawful Desires is the first book in her Lawyers in Lust novella series.
You can read an excerpt of Pamela’s other novels at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.