I knew Sol, Pike’s manager, still wasn’t sure about using us, but it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Pike’s contact was up for renewal with the recording company he’d first signed with, but he wanted out only to find it might not be that simple to move on. He’d been thinking of starting his own label for up and coming or unheard of musicians, focusing on rural areas and more infusion of genres. Since that’s where his background is from. I’d read his file five times already. And gone over his current contract just as much. No need for Pike to buy his way out of it, since it’s up for renewal, nor did he have to be penalized if he didn’t renew, as they’d originally feared. That’s what Sol wanted to see if I could break. I grinned thinking about it. Yes, I could.
In anticipation, I liked being prepared, I’d already drawn up two new contracts, one for my firm, me specifically, to represent Pike, and one for Pike and Sol. I was making it clear…my client would be Pike, not Sol. That little bit Sol was not going to like much, but I didn’t give a fuck. It was also, why we’d been so successful with our clients, why they stay with us, and recommend us to others. We damn well make sure the talent get’s good representation from all fronts. The talent was the client. Not the agent, manager, or recording company.
The talent.
“Morning Bab’s,” I greeted my assistant when she came into my office.
She hadn’t been at her desk when I first arrived, but I figured she was setting things up. She always got there before me. Besides, her cup of coffee sat on her counter. This morning she was pretty much dressed like me, we were both suited up. Normally, we’re more casual around the office. Not unheard of for anyone to show up in jeans, although that’s usually reserved for Fridays. It’s mostly only when we have a meeting in office or out that we played ‘dress up’. Just one of the ways our firm differed from more traditional ones, and a lot of the time we could work from home.
My law firm had fifteen attorneys and three named partners, my cousins who were actually brother and sister. We didn’t always work out of the office. It was rare for everyone to be in at the same time, on any given day. In truth, we could pretty much work anywhere with Wi-Fi. We had a secure system set up with assigned laptops. The down side was we rarely got down time, even on vacation we were still connected. All we needed was a phone with good internet service. We always got the job done.
“The green conference room’s all set up for you,” Babs replied.
“Good. I’m all ready.” I dropped my purse into the desk drawer I had in there for that purpose and grabbed the laptop on my desk, before heading back to the elevator. I knew our guest should be here any second.
Babs followed beside me. “Can I sit in on it?”
I laughed. “Babs, didn’t know you were a fan girl too.”
“I might be married with kids but I’m not dead. I love his music!”
I chuckled. In truth, I was pretty excited about meeting him too, again. The beautiful man behind the soulful music. “Okay, but you still have to stay here and you can escort them downstairs.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. I’ll make sure and point them in the direction they need to go and while they’re in front of me I can check out Pike’s ass. I’ve heard it’s—”
“Babs. Married. With children. Remember?”
She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers at me. “Married not dead. Besides, I’m way too old for him, and you know you want me to look, so I can report to you.”
The elevator opened and I got on, shaking my head knowing it would be no use, Babs was incorrigible. For all her flirting, we both knew how much she loved her husband of thirty-some years and he her.
I entered the conference room make of a gray, blue and white mosaic tile design and glanced around, noting the mini quiche, muffins and pastries, as well as a tea pot and coffee pot, Babs had set out on the long glass table standing below the window. The place looked great. Not a shred of dark wood or heavy cabinets in sight. Everything was very modern, open and airy.
I walked over to the window and looked out at the Washington Monument towering over the city, then I heard the elevator ding. “Show time,” I whispered to myself.
Harameed glanced at the phone in his hand as he drove through the gates of the embassy and they closed behind him. He went straight to his office and made a phone call. “Aru got away.”
“You fool! I told you to handle her with care.”
“I will. I need to know where she’d go.”
“That’s easy. Her sister. Serrita is not to be harmed. But Aru must be taken care of tonight, tomorrow at the latest. She knows too much. One second.”
Harameed waited on the line. He could hear the sound of muffled voices, before his employer returned to the line.
“Yes. I just got confirmation Aru is with Serrita. Tomorrow night, I want this over and done with.”
“Will she say anything to her sister?”
“If she does I will know, so do not concern yourself with that. Just see to it she can tell no one else of what she knows or suspects. The plans are all set in motion. Nothing must stop them, not even family.”
“Understood. However, there might be a slight complication.”
“What kind of complication.”
The ice in his voice had Harameed frowning. This was not a man to piss off. “Someone may have seen me with Aru today. I may have to eliminate the problem. And I might not have time for finesse.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you have to do, take care of it. Failure is not an option. Handle the complication by any means necessary that is what you are paid for. Or slit your own throat, because you do not want me to do it for you.”
“I will take care of it.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Pike
“Where are all the files?”
It was the first thing, well maybe the second thing, I noticed as soon as we entered the building. Fucking loved it. None of that stuffy quiet shit, where everyone walked around like they had a stick stuck up their ass. I hated that, but necessary at times. Definitely got my attention, this place did not appear to be that way, didn’t hurt when I got on the elevator they were playing my music in there. The real thing…not canned shit. I grinned. I wondered if they did that all the time for each client they represented. Play their music if they were in the building, or if it was random. Either way, I liked it, and the look of the office space.
If I didn’t know this was a law firm, I would have thought it might have been an advertising agency, or maybe even an art gallery. They had some really interesting pieces all over the place with price tags. I happened to catch a glimpse of some of the prices. Expensive as fuck.
We got off the elevator onto another floor.
Eryn’s legal assistant, who’d met us and taken us upstairs, answered my question, “We don’t have much paper. No need. Everything is digital. Even contracts once they’re signed are electronically scanned into our database. Easy to access, hard to misfile or lose. Everything is backed up copied and backed up to an iCloud, specially designed for us. Nothing can ever be misfiled. A simple search enables us to pull up any information we require. If it needs to be in printed form, easy enough to do. Why waste floor space if we don’t have to, merely to charge our clients more?”
Makes sense, but still I knew these lawyers didn’t come cheap. “What happens to the paper contracts?” I asked curious, as we continued to walk.
“Once any paper files are scanned into our database they’re sent to a storage facility and after five years, they’ll be destroyed.”
“This place is charging a hell of lot for something not committed to paper,” I commented.
“And worth every damn penny,” Eryn fired back.
Our gazes locked as she stepped out of the conference room, gesturing for us to enter.
I raked my gaze over her from head to toe in a slow glide, noting she’d tided up a little, not that she needed to really. I kinda like the rumbled vibe, sorta what she might look like fi
rst thing in the morning after a night in my bed. I paused, I didn’t do morning afters. Where the fuck did that come from? Along with this damn heat. Feeling it in every fiber in my body. I already knew what her services were going to cost me. After seeing her for yet a second time, I had a gut feeling it might cost me even more. Damned if I didn’t want to fuck her.
“You okay, Eryn?” Sol asked.
She laughed softly. “Yes, I’m fine really. Come on in. I’m glad you all could make it.”
“I wouldn’t have missed this meeting for anything, well this one, not the earlier one, not if you got hurt.”
“Hurt, what?” the assistant asked confusion evident in her tone.
“It’s nothing Babs. I’ll tell you about it later.”
Oh, I liked her. I wanted, needed to touch her again. “It’s nice to officially meet you Eryn.” I held out my hand to her. I knew it before it even happened, was ready and waiting for it. She did not disappoint. When she touched me—fucking fire. Yeah. I didn’t give a shit what she wanted, it, whatever it was she could have. Again, I held her hand a little longer than necessary, couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to quite give up her heat.
Like the first time, she seemed to be in no rush to pull away either. Then again, most women didn’t, yet some instinct told me she might be different. Maybe because she was a lawyer, but didn’t matter sooner or later, most women spread their legs for me.
When I stared into her eyes, from the dilation of her pupils I knew she felt something too. I smiled letting her see the full wattage of the smile that got me pretty much any woman sitting on my dick or with the right woman, my face. I loved burying my face in a woman’s sex and making her come, but I saved that for the special ones. I fucking feasted on it. I might not do relationships, but when a woman left my bed, she left it feeling real good. I oh, so wanted Eryn, hair down, panties off. She was special…very. I would be well fed for a week. My dick went hard.
Slowly, I tilted my head and allowed my gaze to take in the rest of her. Tall for a woman, even without the heels she wore. Couldn’t really tell exactly from this angle, she came just to my nose. At six two, I liked that. I wouldn’t have to bend far with her.
Sol said something that caused her to release my hand and move over to the table. “Please, feel free to help yourselves to something to eat and then we can get started.”
Sol made straight to the table with the food on it. The man should have been a chef the way he loved to eat, yet surprisingly he wasn’t much overweight. And not because he worked out. He claimed all the stress from his clients, namely me, caused him to eat and burn nervous energy, which keeps the weight down at the same time.
I was no fitness model, but I worked out as much as I could and had a naturally slender built, but nicely ripped.
“Oh damn, Pike you have got to try these mini quiche,” Sol exclaimed, holding the small offering up in front of me.
“I’m good man, thanks. But I can use a cup of coffee, black.”
“I got it,” the assistant said. Moving past us to get to the coffee pot.
Eryn sat down and gestured to the chair to her right.
Sol sat beside me. I noticed Eryn only had a cup of tea near her, unlike Sol who had a full plate of goodies. I smiled and shook my head.
The assistant, Bets or Babs something like that, placed a cup of coffee down on the table in front of me. And a cup of tea for Sol. I guess they did know Sol and what he liked. A tea drinker through and through.
“Thank you for meeting with me today, Pike,” Eryn said. “Babs is placing an iPad in front of each of you with the contracts I’d like to go over with you while you’re here. They’re pretty straight forward and I’ll go through them with you both now, line by line and we can make any changes or clarifications. After we’re done, I’ll print up the contracts for you both and you can sign it before you leave here today or get it back to me within forty-eight hours.”
“Why forty-eight hours?”
“Because that’s how long the offer will be on the table. If you have to think about it longer than that, then we’re not the place for you. I can help you Pike. First and foremost. You need to understand, in case Sol didn’t make it clear to you. I will represent you, only you and your interest. That includes protecting you from your agent. So there are two different contracts to go over.”
Sol laughed. “See why I told you you’d like her? She tells it straight.”
I nodded. “Fair enough.” I looked at the iPad as she began to point out the first part.
Two hours later, it turned out to be better than I thought. The contracts were pretty easy to understand, once she explained a few things, but she was right. She would represent me, even if it meant going against my agent. Sol had been my agent/manager from the beginning. He’s the one who first discovered me, during open mike night six years ago. He wanted to put me with a band, but I don’t play well with others and told him so.
Once he got me into the studio and heard what I could do, he never mentioned it again. I trusted him, and if he trusted Eryn, I knew I could too. Frankly, anyone who’d done what she did, stepping in to help a stranger I felt I could trust. Perhaps she might be different from any of the other women I’d encountered, most would have walked right on by.
Looking at her contract, I would bet on my instincts, I could trust her. She also said she could get me out of my existing contract and pointed out one thing that my last attorney hadn’t. I wasn’t stupid as he seemed to think either, just because I was a rock star didn’t mean I had rocks for brains. Eryn treated me with respect. For one thing, she spoke to me like I had a college education. I didn’t, but it didn’t make me dumb. And she was one hella smart lady. Before she outlined exactly what she would need to do, so I won’t be penalized or pay any extra fees, she wanted a signed contract back, making her my representative.
I’d always made decisions, some times quickly, based on my gut, instincts, whatever you wanted to call it. It’d always served me well in my musical career as well as keeping me out of trouble growing up. Aside from the fact I wanted this woman on a physical level, I found myself being attracted to her on other levels as well.
I was ready to sign now, but not so fast…I wanted something in return. I wasn’t averse to using whatever I could. “I’d like to think things over. However, I’d like us to have dinner together tomorrow night, just the two of us. To…talk a little more, after I’ve had a chance to sleep on this.”
“Wait. Are you sure?” Sol asked. “No offense, Eryn.”
“None taken, Sol.” While she spoke to Sol, that dark gold gaze remained fixated on me.
I would’ve insisted we have dinner tonight but I’d already booked the studio, Sol and I would be heading there as soon as we’re done. No telling how long I would be tonight, so tomorrow it would have to be. “I have thought it over. She’s very convincing. Dinner and bring the printed contracts with you. With the changes we talked about and I’ll give you my thoughts then, and if I have any further questions.” Might as well kill two birds with one stone, get to know my sexy ass attorney a little more and take care of business at the same time. We were both professionals, wouldn’t be the first time I fucked someone who worked for me. I’d seen the flash of interest in her gaze when we first met before she concealed it, but I was a master at reading body language. Damned, if hers didn’t say fuck me.
As long as we were both clear up front, that it was only a fuck, something to get out of our systems, and then business would continue as usual. It worked in the past, because I always managed expectations, and I never repeated it. That was key. I wanted no one getting ideas. I thought this was going to be just another boring meeting, it turned out to be anything but boring. Ever since I saw her pushed to the ground, now I found myself looking forward to mixing a little business with a whole lot of pleasure.
“What time?” Eryn asked.
“I’ll pick you up at seven”
She smiled. “You’re going to nee
d my address.”
“No need. I already have it. Your cell number too.” I did. The one thing about Sol, he paid attention to detail and provided a lot of background information on her. I knew she graduated cum laud from Georgetown, got her law degree at 19, had actually been practicing at a much younger age, but couldn’t officially practice till she turned 21. Fucking impressive. Meant she probably didn’t have a whole lot of time to date, or party. I always did have a thing for smart women. And this one was smart as fuck and that attracted me big time. I watched her smile turn into a frown, and her eyes narrow. Did she think I wouldn’t have checked her out?
“My phone.”
“What?” Both Sol and I asked her at the same time confused.
“Did you leave it in your office?” her assistant asked.
“Shit! Sorry,” Eryn said glancing at Sol and me. She stood up and went over to the window staring down onto the sidewalk.
I got up and walked over to stand beside her. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I dropped my phone when that asswipe shoved the woman into me. I was hoping I could see it still laying on the ground from here, but no such luck.”
“Shit.”
She glanced over at me and granted me a lopsided smile. “Exactly.”
We shared a brief look. Something passed between us. Attraction most definitely, but maybe something more too. Shit if I knew what it was, but she was—different from the other women I was used to. “Do you want to go down and look around for it?”
“Yes, I’ve got to go take a closer look. Maybe it’s near one of the cars now parked there and we just can’t see it from this angle.”
“All right we’re done here, so I’ll go down with you and help you look.”
CHAPTER SIX
Eryn
Damnit! I can’t believe I lost my phone. This day would suck big time, especially if I don’t manage to land Pike’s account. And I wanted to work with him. Maybe a little more than I should. Who knew he would be such a gentleman? Well, one with quite a dirty mouth, but damned smart too. I knew he had that whole rock star vibe going for him. Still, it was difficult for me to stop staring at him, all that ice blue in his gaze held a hell of a lot of heat. He shocked me when he came to my and the woman’s aid earlier. It was kind of a really heroic thing for him to do.
The Prison Guard's Son: Young Guns Book One Page 3