by Loretta Hill
And then there was Bianca Hanks.
Anyone who could make an enemy out of her so easily was in over their head.
So what was Claudia up to?
Or Claud, as Nelson was now calling her. His protégé’s familiarity sent an irrational streak of jealousy straight through his body, causing him to grit his teeth and draw his keyboard towards him roughly.
He was sure that Claudia’s immediate knowledge of the stamp-duty waivers for farming land had something to do with her own history. Didn’t she say she’d run a vineyard at some point? The wine he’d sampled at Seashells came from Oak Hills, a brand he recognised immediately. A quick google search showed that the winery had not been doing so well in recent years though. He had to wonder what strife Claudia had walked away from.
Another search under the name Peter Goldman didn’t make him feel any better. The man’s crime and conviction meant nothing to Sebastian. However, he noticed that the firm representing him had been Bantam, Harvey and Grey.
Bronwyn Eddings.
Unease rippled through him and could not be stilled. Was there a connection between Peter Goldman and Bronwyn Eddings? Was Bianca’s daughter the one running and not Claudia? From whom? Claudia, Peter or her own mother? Whatever the case, the house of straw she was holed up in was about to blow down. If not by him then someone else. He resolved to comply with Cyril’s wishes, but with caution. There was no telling who the big bad wolf would turn out to be.
Seb went by Claudia’s desk that afternoon to break the news about Cyril’s wishes. She was certainly pleased to hear it.
‘Really? You want to give me more responsibility?’ Her eyes lit like stars, an expression that was entirely infectious if one was inclined to let it get to you. ‘But I thought –’
She cut the sentence off before she could utter it, her eyes darting about in confusion.
‘You thought what?’ he enquired silkily.
‘I thought after our case at the Perth District Court last week, you might want to dial it back.’
He swore inwardly. She’s not trying to be honest again, is she?
His gaze took in the curve of her cheek, those dark lashes against her pale skin. How did anyone so strong manage to look so vulnerable? He looked about the open-plan office and watched the way interested eyes quickly glanced away. Not wanting to make the same mistake as last time, he said gruffly. ‘I think we’ll finish this in my office.’
Then he walked away. He heard her get up and follow him but didn’t turn around until they were both behind closed doors. He felt the air whoosh out of his body as soon as they were alone, in a space so quiet he could hear the pulse of his own blood. Not that they were safe from prying eyes. Their body language could still be scrutinised by everyone on the floor. That was the drawback of glass walls.
‘I’d like to explain what you overheard at court the other day,’ she said softly.
It would be so easy to be drawn into her web, given how good she was at weaving it. He resolutely shook his head to clear his mind.
‘There’s no need.’
‘Surely you’re wondering how I managed to get a recommendation from Bianca Hanks without her knowledge,’ Claudia suggested.
‘Actually, no, I’m not,’ he said, in perfect truth, and strode away from her to sit down behind his own desk. ‘You manipulated Bronwyn Eddings into speaking for you.’
Claudia gasped. ‘Bronwyn Eddings is my friend.’
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. Was she?
From what he knew of Bronwyn Eddings, she was nothing like her mother. He’d never forget the day she’d looked after one of their clients – a chronic shoplifter and mother of infant twins. The woman had arrived for her appointment late, frazzled and pushing a pram containing two screaming babies. So what had Bronwyn Eddings done? Sent the woman downstairs to get a coffee and a breather while she rocked her kids to sleep in the boardroom. He supposed it was a nice gesture, well-meaning and even slightly practical. It could have been just fine had the shoplifter come back up after ten minutes. However, the mother didn’t reappear for her meeting until five o’clock that evening. Bronwyn Eddings had been beside herself and Cyril … well, Cyril had been about to call social services.
The girl was too trusting. There was no doubt that if someone as smart as Claudia Franklin had managed to play on that trust … He frowned.
She got you to be an accessory to her lie, didn’t she?
And she’s working some angle on Bronwyn’s last case.
Yet even as he sat here thinking about Claudia’s possible deceit, his eyes had sketched a path from her hip to her ankle and he’d mentally noted that he had never seen a more stunning pair of legs in his life. Whoever said men couldn’t multi-task was a moron.
Oblivious to either of these thoughts, Claudia Franklin lifted her chin and eyeballed him. ‘As I told Bianca, I did not coerce Bronwyn to leave town. She left of her own accord.’
‘Frankly,’ Seb shrugged, ‘it doesn’t matter what I think. You may believe I have some sort of vendetta against you but honestly,’ he dipped his head, ‘I’m leaving that particular joy to Bianca Hanks.’
‘B–’
He held up a hand for silence. ‘Please don’t burden me with any more of your “honesty”. The truth is, Claudia, you are currently nothing more than a bone between two dogs.’
She blinked. ‘I don’t follow.’
‘Cyril and Bianca,’ he said curtly. ‘They are using you to sort out their differences and I just happen to be the poor fool who has to facilitate the argument.’
‘Oh.’ She seemed stunned and moved to sit down in his visitor’s chair. ‘What differences?’
‘Did I ask you to sit down?’
‘No, I guess not.’ She quickly stood up again.
‘You don’t have time to sit down. My priority is obvious. Cyril wants his niece to shine. So next week you’re going to be all the colours of the rainbow. Do we understand each other?’
Much to his disappointment, she looked absolutely delighted. ‘Does that mean I get to go to court?’
‘As many times as you can.’
‘Can I still come to you for advice?’
‘You may have to,’ he returned dryly. Her happiness was by no means diminished as she left the room.
His was.
Cyril may not be worried. However, Claudia Franklin was an enigma that he couldn’t fully grasp and his attraction to her was starting to grate on his patience. He had always been able to separate his physical needs from the business. The two had never clashed so completely before. It got too messy because, let’s face it, his affairs usually ended badly. Woman always seemed to expect more from him.
And that just wasn’t something he could give.
Claudia’s forthrightness was refreshing, and so was her enthusiasm. Her ripper-sharp tongue excited him in more ways than one. He wanted her.
Badly.
He couldn’t deny it anymore.
However, that didn’t make it right … Or possible.
She was too young for him, too idealistic, and she was his subordinate. Even he had to recognise the unethical nature of taking advantage.
She was definitely better off with Tom from the coffee shop, a man whom she would have dancing to her tune with a snap of her pretty fingers. Tom would expect their mutual attraction to lead to a relationship. And their romance would probably be sweet and uncomplicated.
Touching her would be a mistake. Liking her, entirely dangerous to his peace of mind.
Claudia liked to be upfront but only when it suited her. Cyril was right. He didn’t trust her and didn’t plan on doing so anytime soon. Claudia would get a legal-system education, but only on his terms.
And as for his ridiculous attraction to her, he’d never let a woman get the better of him before, so why on earth would he start now?
Chapter 19
The week after her confrontation with Bianca Hanks, Claudia wasn’t sure whether the woman had done her a fav
our or was setting her up for a fall. Her standing at Hanks and Eddings was better now than it ever was. True, no one else was happy about it except maybe Cyril Eddings, but he was a ball firmly in her court. When Bianca Hanks had announced her intention to bring Claudia down, she never thought she’d be so lucky as to fall under his protective wing. An enemy of my enemy is my friend, the saying went. Or uncle as the case may be. All she had to do now was cement her position by performing well.
Razzle dazzle.
Sebastian Rowlands, however, was a snake in the reeds. She could feel his eyes on her sometimes and knew that should she put one foot wrong, he was all but ready to pounce. Despite this he gave her, as promised, her first case to handle in court alone.
‘It’s not a difficult one,’ he instructed. ‘The hearing is merely to obtain consent orders. You just need to hand up to the judge a signed minute of consent orders.’
She was excited and not really that nervous. He’d been more than generous by giving her a file that was very straightforward. All the work had been done. Both parties involved had already negotiated and signed their agreement. Unlike her other high-profile case against Bianca Hanks, she couldn’t imagine how anything could go wrong.
She fronted up at court early to make sure that she had all her ducks in a row before she went in. This was probably her first mistake, because Bianca Hanks happened to spot her there loitering in the foyer. Much like a scene in a corny cartoon, their eyes met across the room and Bianca’s narrowed menacingly.
Claudia knew that this was what Cyril wanted. He was parading her blatantly; letting Bianca know that he would not be ordered about by someone who no longer worked at the firm, let alone controlled it. Yet doubt still put a tremble in Claudia’s knees. If Cyril lashed out, then how could Bianca not be expected to retaliate? She was half afraid that Bianca was going to come up and threaten her again, but the woman seemed to look beyond her at someone else who was entering the court. She turned her gaze away from Claudia and then walked straight past her. Claudia’s heart sank. Bianca was conversing with the judge who was about to take her case, just like they were old friends. Probably because they were. She shook his hand and gave him a smile that could beguile a rattlesnake.
What is she saying?
Judge Hickles laughed, his yellow teeth flashing wickedly before he turned and walked into the judge’s chambers. Bianca glanced at her briefly before walking out of the court. Neither smile nor frown crossed her features, which made Claudia clutch her file all the tighter.
Don’t let her get to you.
It’s a simple case.
Short of breaking the law she can’t have it overturned.
Claudia knew she was fully prepared. Since her last lesson in ‘What Not To Do’, she had remembered to bring all the required documents with her. In the walk over she had also mentally gone through the rituals. Where and when to stand, when to sit down, who talks first, correct greetings and callings. The last thing any young lawyer on their first appearance alone wanted to do was commit a faux pas that would have court staff giggling behind their hands for the rest of the day. Stories like that travelled up and down the Terrace like free community newspapers, and there wasn’t a single corporate player who didn’t want a bite of someone else’s humiliation. The most precious commodity to a lawyer, other than their smart phone, was their ego.
In terms of visual presentation, she was quietly confident. Her business suit was freshly pressed. Her make-up was matt, not glossy. Her fingers might be trembling slightly as she lined up the papers on the desk in front of her but at least there was no jury to her right to observe this, given it was a civil action. The public gallery was also mostly empty. She hadn’t expected it to be full, given the completely standard, run-of-the-mill task at hand.
At the appointed time the bailiff, a man dressed in black with crowns on his lapels, asked all to rise. As they did so, Claudia heard a knock-knock behind the judge’s desk and then the door was opening. Judge Hickles strode out in sweeping black robes and took a seat at his bench facing her. His expression was one of impatience. He tapped the desk with his hand as he sat down.
Everyone else followed suit but Claudia remained standing. She cleared her throat.
‘Ms Franklin for the plaintiff, Your Honour.’
Judge Hickles nodded almost gleefully, like a serial killer who had just opened the door to his basement and waved her in.
She forged ahead, anyway. Straightening both her shoulders and her jacket, she took a leap of faith.
‘Your Honour, today I have a consent order to hand up for your consideration that is signed by the parties, by the plaintiff Mr Michael Lewis and by the defendant Ms Lavinia Becker. If you agree that everything is in order, Your Honour, the proceedings will be disposed of.’ She held the orders out to the bailiff who took them and handed them to the Judge’s Associate, who then handed them up to His Honour. Judge Hickles perused them with a wrinkled brow.
There was a prolonged silence and Claudia stood uncomfortably, hands resting on the lectern before her. Finally Judge Hickles looked up from the document he was reading.
‘And where is Lavinia Becker?’
Why is he asking me that?
‘Er … sorry, Your Honour?’ she said, hoping she’d misheard the question.
He shuffled the papers on the desk and said once more, ‘Where is Lavinia Becker?’
A fleet of questions raced through Claudia’s brain at lightning speed.
Am I supposed to know that? Is she supposed to be here? Should I have shot her an email? ‘Er …’ she blinked, ‘I don’t know where she is, Your Honour. I represent Michael Lewis.’
‘I am fully aware of who you represent,’ Judge Hickles tossed at her impatiently. ‘But does Lavinia Becker know about this hearing?’
‘Ah,’ Claudia clenched her fist behind her back. Stay confident. ‘Yes, Your Honour. She’s a party to the action.’
He put her orders down, folded his arms and looked at her from his lofty position. She felt the eyes of everyone in the court upon her and Seb’s own voice in her ear, ‘Shine with all the colours of the rainbow,’ making her self-esteem sink like a little stone to the bottom of the river.
‘How do you know that she knows?’ the judge smirked.
‘I …’ she swallowed. ‘I just presume so.’
After all, she signed the bloody document!
He clasped his hands together on the desk in front of him and raised an eyebrow. ‘If Lavinia Becker does not know of this hearing, doesn’t that go against her natural justice?’
Panic seized her by the throat and lifted her at least a couple feet off the ground.
Shit! What is natural justice?
Wasn’t that in Administration Law at university?
Damn it, I only got seventy-two per cent for that unit.
I could easily have missed something.
Hang on! This is a civil case. What’s that got to do with Admin Law?
Judge Hickles was smiling down at her, the sheen of his yellow teeth destroying all hope that she had any chance of answering the question correctly. ‘What would you have me do, Ms Franklin?’
‘I …’ Claudia swallowed and glanced at the bailiff, who immediately averted his eyes. With a sigh of defeat she said in all humility, ‘I guess I’m happy to be led by the court.’
‘You guess?’ Judge Hickles’s tone was sugary-sweet.
Claudia cleared her throat. ‘I am happy to be led by the court.’
‘All right.’ The judge folded his arms. ‘Outline for me exactly the orders you seek.’
Given she had already handed over the orders to him and she had not thought that it was imperative for her to memorise them or make a copy, she could only stammer quickly.
‘It’s what is written in the document, Your Honour.’
A snigger came from the back of the court.
‘Are you saying that you don’t know what is written in the document you have just given me?’
‘No, Your Honour. But I’ve only read it once. I can’t remember specifically –’
He cut her off. ‘So you are telling me, Ms Franklin, that you neither know for sure or specifically where Lavinia Becker is, what is written in this document and how to proceed further in this matter without guidance from the court.’
Claudia wanted to die.
A stake through the heart, lightning bolt from heaven, falling down a crack through the earth – she honestly had no preference at this point except for it to be over.
How did I get here?
‘Perhaps,’ Judge Hickles suggested silkily, ‘it would be best if we were to adjourn this matter for another time when you are more prepared or you can send someone more senior to handle it for you.’
‘Yes, Your Honour.’ She bowed her head.
The judge hit his hammer, the bailiff asked all to rise, and Hickles walked out, leaving Claudia standing knee-deep in shame, watching her dignity retreat out the door with him.
Well, now you know Bianca’s power.
Mortified, she collected her things quickly and turned to go. A movement in the public gallery caught her eye, making her look up. Claudia’s feet stalled. Sitting there, legs crossed, one hand resting lightly on her knee, was Bianca Hanks. An expression that was neither apathy nor triumph but something in-between featured on her hard face – almost as though to feel victory over someone who held no more significance than an ant was beneath her. She did, however, wait patiently for Claudia’s mouth to drop open before she stood up coolly and left with the rest of the spectators.
As though I needed confirmation.
Claudia was out of the courtroom like a shot.
The only thing left to do now was return to the firm in disgrace and wait for the story to follow her up the Terrace. Anna was going to love it. And Seb … she didn’t like to think of the disappointment she would read in his face.
If she could read his face at all.