by Loretta Hill
Old Jack would never have done that.
‘People change. Do you think you’re the only one who’s grown up?’
The way he said it, slowly and quietly, made her heart jump into her throat, so much so that she could hear the echo of its beat in her head.
‘I’m sorry I left you hanging. When I received the offer for a job in Bordeaux –’
She cut him off, turning away to the window. ‘It’s all right, Jack. You don’t need to explain.’
The last thing she wanted to do was review his conversation with her mother. She was sure the French opportunity had been very attractive and if there was nothing to hold you back, why shouldn’t someone like him take it? She walked towards the window and the scenery outside seemed to soothe her somewhat. There was the ocean on her horizon, stretching her mind and smoothing away the ache in the bottom of her heart.
‘It was the right thing for you to do,’ she added tightly.
He was silent, and when she turned back around it was to find him studying her intensely.
‘Of course.’ A muscle in his cheek flinched. ‘Turned out to be the right thing for everybody, didn’t it?’
Not for Chris.
Not for your mum.
Not even for your dad.
She didn’t say any of that though. It wasn’t her place. That was between him and them, and if he found solace in being a bastard then who was she to disagree?
‘So what are you really doing here?’ he asked.
As if what she said before couldn’t possibly be true. She blew on her fringe and tried a different tack.
‘Claudia and I have swapped places.’
His eyes widened. ‘Come again?’
She took great pleasure in copying his flippant tone of old. ‘We thought it might be fun. I was over law and she was over the Franklins.’
He nodded. ‘That I can believe. But you do realise a move like that isn’t sustainable, right?’
‘Why not?’
She hated how shrewd his gaze was. ‘If you want to feel comfortable in your own skin, Bronwyn, you need to find a place and calling of your own and stop riding on everybody else’s coat-tails.’
She felt like he’d slapped her. What he said was true. More than anything else in the world, she needed to carve out a life for herself. All the same, she folded her arms defensively.
‘This is different. Claudia has put me in charge of fixing this place.’
‘What right does Claudia have to put you in charge? This is Dad’s business.’
‘And, little though you care,’ she returned sarcastically, ‘he’s half blind and retired. Besides, he likes me helping out. He trusts me.’
The only person who does.
‘Well, you’d be one up on me then, wouldn’t you?’ Jack returned bitterly. ‘Honestly, Bronwyn, what this place needs is a winemaker. And in this room, that’s me.’
‘Your father’s not going to like it.’
‘I don’t think he’ll have much of a choice. Mum has hired me back.’
She figured as much; however, it was still a blow to hear it.
He put his hands on his hips. ‘I don’t think the question is whether I’m staying, but whether you are.’
He was right, of course. She was still the outsider looking in. Not one of the family, although trying to be. She could contribute, but only if they let her. It wasn’t a job. She wasn’t being paid. There was no future in any of it. It was like being a band groupie on some perverse holiday away from her old life. It wasn’t anything real … unless she could make it so.
Even as realisation struck, an idea flew in with it. Suddenly she knew what to do.
‘Well?’ Jack enquired.
‘I’m not going anywhere.’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘And just so we’re clear, you’ll have to sleep in Claudia’s room.’
‘If I can find the bed.’
‘Your problem, not mine. In the meantime, I better get going. I’ve got a lot to do today.’ And I need to speak to Horace urgently. ‘So if you don’t mind?’ She did a little twirl and pointed with her finger, indicating he should leave.
‘All right,’ he responded in resignation.
‘Er,’ she said cheekily, ‘you’re not taking my doona with you.’
He had begun to turn but his eyes returned to hers, narrowing suspiciously as though calling her bluff.
When she folded her arms and stood her ground, he shrugged. ‘Fine.’ And he flung the bedding back on the bed. It took all her willpower not to gasp at the sight of him, fully unclothed in all his masculine glory. He stooped low, swiped his jeans off the floor and pulled them on.
Discreetly, she released her breath.
‘Oh, by the way,’ he said as he headed for the door, ‘before you go out I’d put on some underwear first. You can see everything when you stand in front of the window like that.’
She jumped out of the light, her hands immediately going across her body.
‘So you haven’t completely lost all your shyness,’ he noted. ‘Good to know.’
His wicked chuckle echoed all the way down the hall.
Chapter 18
You would have thought that after their little run-in with Bianca Hanks at the Perth District Court, Claudia Franklin might have pulled back her attitude a little or at least acknowledged the hit. However, much to Seb’s chagrin, all she did was put her head up and soldier on. He couldn’t help but admire that just a little. After all, she had most of the firm’s junior lawyers after her blood, Bianca Hanks wanting to crush her under her heel, and then there was Seb – the hard-hitting boss who wouldn’t allow her to breathe.
‘So how’s my niece really going?’
The door to his office swung open, breaking Sebastian’s train of thought. The man who had put them all in this mess in the first place strode in, all business and efficiency, before parking himself in the visitor’s chair.
‘Good morning, Cyril,’ Seb responded dryly.
The managing partner of Hanks and Eddings did not look happy. ‘Is it? I hadn’t noticed.’ He crossed one leg over the other and rested his right hand on his knee. ‘Just got off the phone from that bloody ex-in-law of mine.’
‘Let me guess, Bianca Hanks.’
‘The one and only.’
To be honest, Bianca’s animosity towards Claudia did worry Seb. That woman had more influential connections than fingers and toes. She could do some real damage if she was left unchecked. He was already certain she had some equity in the Hanks family trust and hoped she didn’t mean to use it. She definitely didn’t have any day-to-day say at the firm, but come financial-reporting time she could make herself a real pain in the arse if she wanted to.
‘Wants me to fire my niece,’ Cyril announced as though to punctuate this concern.
Sebastian stilled, surprised that the primary emotion he felt in that moment was disappointment. ‘I thought Bianca specifically recommended her,’ he said, even though he knew that this, among other things, was just another lie in Claudia’s elaborate portfolio.
‘Ha!’ Cyril snorted. ‘Her recommendation, or should I say demand, was for me to hire her daughter.’
‘Bronwyn Eddings.’
Seb hadn’t seen Bianca’s daughter in years but he had met her. She’d done some work experience at the family firm in her final year of university. After some disagreement with her mother, though, she had decided to take a job somewhere else. He’d heard she’d started at Bantam, Harvey and Grey, which was by no means less reputable. However, Bianca’s daughter had never struck him as the kind of lawyer who was going to make waves.
‘I know Bianca has an agenda,’ Cyril shrugged. ‘But I’ve always liked Bronwyn and never approved of my brother’s attitude towards her. He isn’t a family man. He’s like you.’
Seb raised his eyebrows at the reproving comment but said nothing.
‘Anyway,’ Cyril continued, ‘the point is, I was going to do it. Then Bronwyn rang a few days before her interview
and recommended Claudia instead.’
‘So have you hired Claudia as a favour to Bronwyn or to spite Bianca?’
Cyril smiled. ‘Perhaps a little of both.’
Sebastian groaned. ‘Is it really wise of you to pick a fight with Bianca again? Honestly, when she left the firm I thought we were through that phase.’
‘Can I help it if that woman brings out the worst in me? She put me through hell for years, almost putting a wedge between me and my brother, which we have never truly recovered from.’
Sebastian was under no illusions about that, given he’d been there to witness most of the fallout from Bianca’s scheming. The woman was a psychopath who moved people around her chessboard like they were playing pieces in her game of life. He looked up at Cyril, whose chin was buried in his chest. The man was staring steadfastly into his lap as though watching a reel of past gripes. Their fight for the top position at the firm had been the stuff of legend.
‘The problem with Bianca Hanks,’ Cyril remarked slowly, ‘is that she wants the best of both worlds. You can’t be at the bar and have a say in the family firm at the same time. She obviously thought she’d be able to do that through her daughter.’
‘Do you think Bronwyn is aware of this?’
‘Of course she’s aware of it,’ Cyril scoffed. ‘Why do you think the poor kid’s disappeared and sent a decoy in her place?’ He smirked. ‘Bianca must be spitting mad knowing that my niece is taking the place of her daughter, only cementing my family’s clout further.’
‘Cyril, I know Claudia is not your niece.’
Cyril raised his eyebrows. ‘Really, how?’
‘Because I’m not an idiot.’ Sebastian gave him a pointed look. ‘That’s why you hired me, remember? Way back when. It worries me that you are placing too much trust in a girl chosen at random by the daughter of your worst enemy.’
Cyril gave an indulgent titter. ‘Not at random, I assure you. Do you think my thirst for revenge has in any way reduced my responsibilities to this firm, or to you, my son?’
It felt like a fist had grabbed hold of Seb’s heart and squeezed it. Cyril didn’t refer to him as his son often, but when he did it never failed to floor him. They never spoke of their relationship. Sebastian often felt too overwhelmed by it. It was unbelievable that this man had given him so much, for no apparent reason, and expected nothing in return.
‘We both know who I want to take over the firm when I leave,’ Cyril said quietly.
His eyes widened. ‘Cyril –’
‘Don’t get me wrong,’ he shook his finger, ‘that won’t be anytime soon but I need something more from you, Sebastian.’
‘What?’ Sebastian sat back in his chair. ‘Is this the part where you give me a lecture about my morality again?’
‘Maybe so. You’re a brilliant lawyer, Seb. However, if you continue down the path that you’re on, it’s going to eat you alive. Exactly as it did Bianca Hanks.’
Sebastian couldn’t help it, he rolled his eyes. ‘You’re over-dramatising.’
‘You think so?’ Cyril shrugged. ‘I’ve been in this profession longer than you have. I know what it does to the best of us, including my own brother. If you let law become your life, with nothing else of meaning in it but this firm and this office, you might as well die right now.’
Sebastian laughed. ‘Whoa. That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?’
The older man shrugged again. ‘Spending a lifetime solving other people’s problems so that you don’t have to look at your own is no way to live.’
‘So what?’ Sebastian’s eyes lit in amusement. ‘You’re giving me a problem to focus on?’
‘I like Claudia.’
‘That doesn’t mean you need to call her your niece.’
Cyril sighed. ‘You’re really going to insist on taking all the fun out of this, aren’t you?’
‘Absolutely. This lie you’ve started …’
‘And you’ve encouraged,’ Cyril added shrewdly.
‘Is out of control.’
‘Not at all. It’s actually your fail-safe,’ Cyril explained, ‘because I know you don’t trust her.’
Sebastian threw up his hands. ‘How has that anything to do with it?’
‘One day, she’ll tell you that she’s not my niece and that’s the day you’ll know you can.’ Cyril put his palms up. ‘No, that’s okay. Don’t thank me.’
‘It’s never going to happen, Cyril.’ Sebastian glared at him.
‘You don’t know that.’
‘And you don’t know her. She’s a smart-mouthed, cunning little fox with a backbone like a steel rod. I’ve tried to break her, believe me.’ He gritted his teeth. ‘But her ambition is probably just as high as Bianca’s. Is that really what you want around here?’
‘Or what you don’t want around here?’ Cyril countered. ‘Claudia is a life lesson you need to learn, Seb. I think it’s been smooth sailing for a little too long.’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Then understand this.’ Cyril stabbed a finger at him. ‘I want you to protect my niece at all costs from Bianca Hanks.’
‘And how do you expect me to do that?’
‘Bianca wants her buried. So let’s unveil her talent.’
‘You want me to give her more responsibility.’
‘Exactly.’ Cyril stood up, buttoning his jacket. ‘Send her to court on her own.’
‘On her own?’
‘Let her spread her wings. Give her every opportunity to excel. I want Bianca to know that she doesn’t intimidate me in the slightest.’
Claudia couldn’t have forged a better path forward than if she’d planned it herself, and this worry sat with Seb long after Cyril left his office. What did they really know about this girl other than the fact that Bianca hated her because she’d ruined her plans to install her personal puppet in a place where she no longer had much sway?
The girl was ruthlessly ambitious and too confident, almost to the point of arrogance.
Only like every other lawyer in the building, he reasoned, and then frowned as he recalled the scene he had involuntarily witnessed earlier that week.
Not quite.
He had been sitting in the conference room waiting for his nine o’clock to show up. The door was open, so he’d had a clear view of the stationery area just outside, where Nelson and Claudia were reordering documents currently spewing out of the printer.
Nelson was sweating as usual, his forehead gleaming with the damp sheen as his eyes wandered worriedly over the text he was reading.
‘I just don’t know how I’m going tell him.’ He looked up at Claudia. ‘He’s going to be really mad. Which is not good considering he’s also one of those scary, burly types. He speaks really loudly cause he’s a farmer. I guess he must be used to yelling across fields. Now he’ll be yelling at me for my miscalculation.’
Claudia laughed. ‘What’s the problem, Nelson? What are you so scared to tell him?’
‘The stamp-duty expense is going to make this land transfer jump by a huge chunk. The client is going to freak out.’
‘Give me that.’ Claudia snatched the document out of his hands, skimming the main section at the top. ‘He’s transferring it to his brother, right?’
‘Yeah but –’
‘And what’s his brother going to use it for?’
‘More of the same, I imagine.’
‘Then I think you can get a stamp-duty exemption,’ Claudia mused, and passed his contract back to him.
‘Really?’ Nelson’s face lit up and he glanced at the document again like it was a completely new animal.
‘Yep,’ Claudia nodded as she returned to the printer. ‘If it’s being transferred between family members and has been used for farming for at least five years prior, and will be used for farming purposes post sale, then I think you’re okay.’
‘Really?’
‘Sure. Check the WA Stamp Act 1921. I think it’s somewhere in section 75.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Er …’ Claudia seemed to hesitate. ‘I tend to just retain useless random facts.’
‘Hardly useless,’ Nelson sighed. ‘You’re a life-saver, Claud. Thanks.’
As Nelson walked off, Sebastian’s appointment arrived, allowing him to get up and shut the door. However, recalling this scene now, he realised that the conversation was significant in two ways. It revealed that:
a) Claudia was probably as smart as she advertised herself to be.
b) She hadn’t minded helping Nelson.
In an office where any upper hand got you one step closer to promotion over your peers, none of the junior lawyers ever shared knowledge. They were too busy pretending they knew exactly what they were doing to offer any tips to their colleagues. She was either very confident in her own ability or simple kindness was just second nature to her.
Perhaps it was a bit of both.
He also liked that she was so passionate about her clients. Most lawyers got very annoyed if they had to explain any concept more than once to their client, especially if the advice was simply to settle. Some clients would dig their heels in, hankering for their day in court to bring the bad guys to justice. Justice was sometimes a very large price to pay, especially for a retired old lady.
Claudia spent a whole morning on the phone to Mrs Herman, soothing the older woman’s indignity and explaining the concept to her until she was satisfied enough to accept it. Anna Mavis would have dismissed her opinion and told her to just let her do her job. Mrs Felicity Herman may still have got a good outcome this way but she would have left the firm always feeling like she could have done better.
Whatever the case, witnessing Claudia’s generosity made him uncomfortable.
It was all right when she was just the smart-mouthed, over-ambitious lawyer who was always underfoot. Then he could dismiss his growing attraction to her as a physical problem easily pushed to one side. Liking her, however, was completely unacceptable. How could he like someone he didn’t trust?
She was masquerading as Cyril’s niece, for goodness sake, and working for someone else on the side. Juliet had overheard her talking to Casuarina Prison at least a couple more times. He knew about that off-the-books meeting she’d had with a certain Peter Goldman late last week.