“And...If I want to see Mr. Hinton, I need to call and make an appointment.”
Unbelievably a smile curled onto the assistant’s face, transforming her into a very attractive woman. “Now. Would you like to make an appointment?”
“Sure.”
Michelle faced her computer again and tapped a few keys. “You’re in luck. He has an eleven-thirty available. Shall I add you in?”
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Don’t be silly. That’s why I’m here-to help.”
As Jonas marched through the doors of T&B Entertainment with his no-nonsense lawyer, Patsy Nelson, at his side, he promised himself that he would be on his best behavior. In business, lawsuits were commonplaced, but that didn’t mean that Jonas was in the habit of losing.
On the contrary.
He prided himself for having the best legal team money could buy-which is where Ms. Nelson came in. Though he and the buxom attorney had a brief personal history, one dating back to before his meeting Ophelia, they had since kept everything strictly professional.
There were a few signs from Patsy that hinted she was open to picking things up where they’d left off. He’d even been tempted once or twice since his failed engagement to take her up on her offer, but so far, he’d refrained.
Now, whenever he looked at her, he couldn’t stop himself from comparing her to another attractive attorney-one that had a pair of legs out of this world—and was currently dating his brother.
Not that he cared.
Meanwhile, he had a lawsuit to win. And the only way he could get down to the bottom of Ms. Gibson’s lawsuit was to talk to her former employers. Marcel and Solomon.
“She’s suing us?” Marcel and Solomon thundered at their attorney, Brian Olson, and then shot glances as Jonas and his attorney.
“For what?” Solomon added, though he had a sinking suspicion.
“Sexual harassment,” Patsy filled in. “She’s claiming that T&B Entertainment natures a hostile environment for women and that she felt objectified on a daily basis.”
“What?” Marcel continued, outraged. “Who is she accusing of objectifying her?”
Olson glanced down and squinted through his reading glasses. “A William Bassett.” He looked up at Solomon. “Any relation?”
Solomon groaned and slid deep into his chair.
“What?” Jonas asked suspiciously.
“He’s my uncle.”
Marcel just groaned.
Patsy straightened in her chair. “Are you telling me that her claims may be valid?”
“Hell, no,” Solomon thundered. “Uncle Willy doesn’t even work here.”
“Not to mention, Nora and Willy were in a relationship a couple of years ago. She’s suing us because it didn’t work out? Hell, I thought all that was settled when she gave him a black eye here in the office. You remember that, don’t you, Sol?
“How can I ever forget it?”
Olson picked up his pen and started scribbling. “Oh, this is good stuff. So you’re saying this Willy character never harassed her here at the office?”
Marcel and Solomon looked at each other.
Jonas caught the shared look. “What?”
“Well, we didn’t say that-exactly,” Marcel corrected, and then looked to his partner for help.
“My, um, uncle is sort of a...colorful character when it comes to women.”
Olson stopped writing. “How so?”
“Well.” Solomon loosened his tie. “He’s sort of an um...”
“Yes?” Patsy probed.
“He loves women,” Solomon finally settled on saying. “All women.”
“However, the crazier, the better,” Marcel tossed in for good measure.
“Uh-huh.” Olson set down his pen and leaned back.
Solomon continued to struggle. “He may have, from time to time, made a sexual reference to some of the employees. But he never means anything by it.”
“Unless they’re willing to take him up on it,” Marcel commentated from the sidelines.
Solomon jerked his chair toward his friend. “You’re supposed to be helping.”
“Sorry.”
Olson tossed up his hands. “Look, gentlemen. Maybe you should consider settling out of court. A jury could easily sympathize with the plaintiff on this. Employee or not, William Bassett is a relative of one of the owners and it could be construed that he’s, in fact, an extension of yourself. If you allowed his...colorful behavior in the office unchecked, then...”
“You’re supposed to be helping, too,” Solomon reminded the lawyer.
“I’m not in the habit of settling,” Jonas said, shifting in his chair.
“I just call it like I see it.” Olson shrugged.
“I hate to admit it,” Patsy chimed in. “It’s no different than employees seeing your wives or significant others as someone with power within the office hierarchy. Ms. Gibson could come off as a sympathetic character.”
“Words I never thought would be used in the same sentence,” Marcel said.
“Ms. Gibson is asking for one million. I can try to talk her down to half. But that’s a big if. She has a good lawyer.”
“You know him?”
“Her,” Jonas and Olson corrected. Everyone’s gaze shifted to Jonas. “Ms. Wright and I met briefly,” he answered.
The army of gazes then flew to Olson.
“Toni Wright,” Olson agreed, nodding. “She’s very good. She used to work at our firm...and we used to date.”
Jonas’s head snapped up. Damn, the woman got around.
Chapter 11
“Is something wrong, Jonas?” Patsy asked once they returned to the limousine. “You look as though you could chew nails.”
Pulling his gaze from the side window, Jonas attempted to smile, but only one side of his mouth curled. “Everything is fine.”
The look she gave said she didn’t buy his answer. She shifted from the seat across from him to slide next to him. When she crossed her legs, she made sure that they rested on his. “What you need is to relax.” Her fingers walked up the center of his chest and then loosen his tie. “You know my place isn’t too far from here.”
Jonas stared into her chocolate gaze, seeing nothing but the promise of pleasure. But again, he found himself comparing Patsy’s ethereal beauty to Toni’s sultry beauty and grew frustrated in the process.
“That’s not necessary, Patsy. I have a full day of work ahead of me. I need to get back to the office.”
Instead of backing off, Patsy leaned close and nibbled on his ear. “We can always do it right here.” You used to like that.” The hand on his tie dropped suddenly to grab at his crotch.
Jonas launched out of his seat and landed on the opposite side of the limo. “Uh, I think I’m going to take a rain check. I really got...a lot on my mind.”
Patsy erased her look of surprise and replaced it with suspicion. “What’s her name?”
Jonas straightened his tie. What’s whose name?”
She laughed and straightened in her seat. “What? We’re playing games now?” Patsy shook her head and tsked under her breath. “The annoying thing about you is that you’re monogamous. “If one woman has captured your heart, the rest of us mortal women don’t have a chance. It would be refreshing if life was a romance novel-but in real life, it’s just plain silly.”
A sardonic laugh rumbled in his chest as he turned back toward the window. “There’s no woman.”
“Liar.”
His gaze swung back to his attorney, but she only shrugged beneath his piercing stare.
“I call them like I see it.”
Jonas clenched his jaw tight and remained silent during the rest of the ride to his office. There were still a few legal issues they needed to go over, but Jonas suggested they review them at another time.
“You’re the boss,” she said, and remained in the limo to return to her office.
He climbed out and swiftly entered his building.
>
Once he was alone in the elevator, he finally questioned his reaction-and definitely wondered at Patsy’s assessment. Why in the hell didn’t he take her up on her offer? He was a free man, despite his affinity for women who belong to other men. In this case his brother.
Who knows, maybe Q was right. Where women are concerned, he needed to keep his heart out of it.
“You have a visitor,” Michelle informed him the minute he strolled through the door. “Last minute,” she added when he rolled his eyes.
“Give me a minute and then send them on in,” he instructed, storming through his office door. Once inside, he made a beeline toward the bar. He only intended to toss back one shot but instead downed three.
At the knock at the door, he bristled, “Come in,” and was thrown off guard when Toni Wright stepped into his office. But then, given how his day was going, he shouldn’t have been surprised.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Gee, you don’t sound too happy to see me.” She closed the door, but inched across the office like she was in pain.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, of course,” she covered, but her tight smile belied the words. “Let’s just say that your brother is quite a handful.”
Jonas tossed down another shot. “Going well, is it?”
“Too soon to tell.”
“Apparently it’s not too soon for some things.”
Toni stopped and whipped a curious look in his direction. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You tell me,” he said, his gaze remained laser-sharp.
“I have no idea.” She eased into a vacant chair and sighed in relief to be off her feet. “But to answer your question I’m here on more business.”
Jonas didn’t want to talk about business. “You know, Sterling is a good guy,” he said, unsure where he was going with this. On one hand he loved his brother and on the other...it was like Tracey Mathis all over again. Why that was so, he didn’t want to explore.
She smiled. “I know he’s a good guy. That’s why agreed to go out with him.” Then her eyes took on a teasing glint. “I’ll be easy on him.”
Jonas poured another drink, while his gaze zeroed in on her long shapely legs. A half a heartbeat later, he had a throbbing hard-on.
Damn it.
“You’re being sued,” she informed him, reaching into her briefcase.
“I know. You already told me. I’ve met with-”
“No. I mean two more women have filed suits.”
“What?” Jonas slapped his glass down on the bar. “You have to be kidding me.”
“I told you. I don’t kid about such things.”
What the hell had he gotten himself into by tying himself to T&B Entertainment? He had ownership in the business for six weeks and there was potential hemorrhage of money.
“How much?”
“The new number is three million.”
“Jesus.” He poured another drink.
Toni frowned as he brought the glass up to his lips.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing. I was just wondering...nothing.”
Jonas looked down at his drink and then set it back on the bar. “You were just wondering what?”
Toni quickly tossed up her hands. “Forget it. It’s none of my business.”
Suspicious and then angered by her possible judgment, he marched from around the bar and then realized his mistake when the beautiful attorney emitted a small gasp at his enormous hard-on.
Instead of being embarrassed this time, Jonas slowed his gait to a leisurely stroll.
“You know, I’m starting to think your constant hard-on is a medical condition and has absolutely nothing to do with me,” she said.
Jonas took his seat behind the desk. “Then you would be mistaken.”
Her brows arched in surprise. “In that case, I’m flattered.”
His head cocked with a silly grin. “C’mon. You have to know your effect on men. Especially since I’m surrounded by ex-boyfriends.”
Her smile vanished.
“Brian Olson,” he said. “Charming man-though I have to admit, he doesn’t quite seem like your type.”
“And you know my type, do you?”
His gaze leveled with hers. “I think so.”
“This I have to hear,” she said, crossing her arms and settling back into her chair. “Please, Mr. Hinton. Tell me my type.”
“I’m your type,” he said simply and then looked equally surprised he’d said it.
After an awkward silence, Toni burst out laughing. “That’s quite an ego you got there.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“And end your dreams of grandeur?” she bristled. “I couldn’t do that.”
Jonas’s rich laughter overpowered hers. “You’re a slippery fish, Ms. Wright.”
“One you’re sorry you let get away?” she challenged, and then smiled in triumph when his laughter died. After all, to admit that would be a betrayal to his brother. She watched him shift restlessly in his chair for a moment before letting him off the hook.
“The three million is on the table until Friday.” She pulled out a set of papers from her briefcase and tossed them across his desk.
He didn’t bother to look at them.
“I think the women have a strong case. One, Georgina Wilson, has even recorded some of the incidents. Real entertaining stuff.”
“Yes,” Jonas said suddenly.
Toni cocked her head. “Yes what?”
“Yes, I’m sorry I let you get away.”
William Basset made his million in real estate. Though it was true that he was no Donald Trump, it didn’t stop him from living a life of excess. A loud, wise-cracking philanderer, Uncle Willy had long been Solomon’s favorite relative.
“What do you mean Nora’s suing you? I gave little ma’am the ride of her life. The girl is a tiger in bed...a pussycat on top of the kitchen table and a beast in-”
“We got it, Uncle Willy,” Solomon erupted.
“You want to check her out in action? I think I have a few DVDs around here somewhere.”
“No.” Sol jumped in. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Uncle Willy,” Marcel started. “This is serious. Our attorney is actually saying she may have a case.” He turned his accusing glare back to his partner. “I warned you this day would come.”
“I know. I know.” Solomon drew a deep breath. “Uncle Willy, we met with our new partner and-”
“Yeah. I heard. Jonas Hinton. I guess he didn’t let bygones be bygones, eh?”
“Anyway,” Solomon continued, “we wrapped up one meeting this morning with our attorney-only for him to call us an hour later and tell us two more women are filing suits.”
“This is going to set off a chain reaction,” Marcel groaned. “And with a staff that’s over ninety percent women, this could be a catastrophe.”
“Relax, relax.” Willy reached across his office desk to grab his cigar box. “Have a puff. The best Cuba has to offer. Just don’t ask me how I got them.”
“We didn’t come for a smoke,” Solomon said, his patience wire-thin.
“Then don’t mind me if do.”
Marcel tossed up his hands and then collapsed into a leather chair.
“First of all. I think you guys need to get better legal representation. Nora’s suit wouldn’t stand. Her being fired had nothing to do with me, right?”
“No,” Solomon and Marcel said.
“She’s just a gold digger looking to strike gold wherever she can. I’m sure the other two women if you investigate are likely Georgina Wilson and Theodora Golden.”
Marcel and Solomon shared another wearied look.
“And how would you know that?”
“Because we all did a foursome.”
“A foursome?” Marcel asked.
Willy shrugged. “Why settle for two when you can have three or four? You want to watch? I think I have that DVD around here,
too...”
Chapter 12
Sterling was having a good day. It was just lunchtime and he’d already closed on a real-estate deal and two of his major investment companies had reported record profits and were expected to close with record highs on the DOW. The only hiccup on his schedule was to meet with his freeloading younger brother for lunch.
“Sterling, my man. I was just beginning to think you were going to stand me up.”
“And let my baby brother starve? I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Glad to hear it.” Quentin stood from the bar and followed his brother and hostess to a vacant table. The brothers kept the chitchat light until Q approached Sterling’s latest relationship with Toni Wright.
“So how are things going with you two?”
Sterling’s gaze immediately turned suspicious. “Why do you ask?”
“Relax. I’m not interested in stealing your girl.”
“Not that you could.”
Q’s grin sloped lopsidedly. “Of course I could, don’t be ridiculous.”
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