by L. J. Taylor
Ivy looked at him, her eyes brimming with happy tears. “Yes. Yes, I will.”
He opened the box and took out the ring. It was a brilliant cut solitaire that gleamed in the sunlight streaming through the airport window. He slid the ring onto her finger, then stood up, pulled her to her feet and kissed her passionately. They were still kissing when Omari came running into the lounge area with Kathy and Charles following behind. When they saw Luke and Ivy kissing, they stopped short and looked at each other with raised eyebrows and amused expressions on their faces. Kathy held a hand out toward Omari as if to stop him, but it was too late.
“Mommy! Mommy!” Omari shouted.
Ivy pushed back from Luke, turned and crouched down to greet her son. He leapt into her arms and she held him tight, spinning around and kissing him all over his little face.
“Oh baby, I’m so happy to see you,” she said. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Mommy.” Omari gave Ivy a kiss and then turned to Luke. “Hi Luke.” He held out his arms for Luke to take him.
“Hi, little man,” Luke said, taking him from Ivy.
Omari gave him a hug. “I missed you, Luke.”
“I missed you too, little man.”
Kathy and Charles reached them. “Hey, little sis,” Kathy said.
Ivy rushed over to hug her sister and brother-in-law. “Oh, it’s so good to see you both. I can’t thank you enough for keeping Omari safe.”
“Are you kidding? We had a ball hanging out with Omari these past few weeks,” Charles said.
Kathy turned to Luke. “Hello Luke. I heard about everything you did for my sister. Thank you very much for keeping her safe.” She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“We have an announcement to make,” Ivy said. “Luke just asked me to marry him and I accepted.” She held out her left hand to show off her new engagement ring.
“Congratulations!” Kathy hugged Ivy and Luke all over again. Then she grabbed Ivy by the arm and pulled her aside. “Let me see that ring.”
Charles and Luke looked at each other and laughed. “Women,” they said in unison, shaking their heads.
Omari giggled.
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About the Author
The oldest of six children, I grew up in New York City. As a child, I escaped my noisy siblings by voraciously reading every book in my parents' collection and every romance novel I could check out of the public library. My tastes later expanded to include classics, spy novels, and thrillers. Inspired by the stories I read, I began writing poetry and song lyrics and even tried to write a fantasy novel at the tender age of 13. I began writing novels as an adult during National November Writing Month in 2007 and have been chugging along ever since. When I’m not writing, I practice law in Miami, Florida.
You can also find me at the following places:
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to my baby sister who makes me laugh all the time.
Acknowledgments
I’m going to keep this short and sweet and general for fear of leaving anyone out. First, I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity, the skills and the perseverance necessary to write this book. Next, I want to thank my friends and family for believing in and supporting me throughout this process.
I want to thank all of the members of my writers group for encouraging me to keep my considerable behind in a chair and finish writing and editing this novel. I also want thank my outside editor for helping me to whip it into shape for publication.
I want to thank my readers for all of the wonderful feedback and encouragement they’ve given me both in person and in their reviews.
Finally, I want to thank my significant other for his love and support, and his design of the cover.
Copyright
Dreams Deferred
Waterview Publishing, LLC
ISBN 978-1-941778-05-0
©2015 by L.J. Taylor
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or used in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, including but not limited to xerography, photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of Waterview Publishing, LLC.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, dialogue, incidents, and places, except for incidental references to public figures, products or services, are the product of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. No character in this book is based on an actual person. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintentional. The author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this book and assume no responsibility for any errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or inconsistencies contained herein.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact the author or Waterview Publishing, LLC.
Waterview Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 398244
Miami Beach, FL 33239
www.ljtaylorbooks.com
Printed in the U.S.A
Just Dreams
The Brooks Sisters Dreams Series Book 1
By L.J. Taylor
To purchase click here
Love is a dirty word and passion has no place in the world of high-profile litigation.
Sparks fly when attorney Kathy Brooks agrees to represent novelist Charles Morgan, Jr. in a high-profile suit against a powerful government defense contractor. But when Charles’ hidden agenda threatens to expose the government’s dirty little secrets, what started out as the case of a lifetime could cost Kathy her heart, her career and even her life.
Charles doesn’t just want to win the lawsuit. He wants to destroy the company responsible for his wife’s death. His enemies, however, will stop at nothing to make the case go away – and that includes blackmail, kidnapping, and murder.
As the body count rises and the stakes get higher, Charles and Kathy will have to decide just how much they’re willing to sacrifice for the win. To get justice, they’ll have to put it all out on the line - including each other - and it still might not be enough.
***
“You can do this. It’s just another client meeting.” Kathy Brooks mumbled the words under her breath like a mantra.
Nerves had her loitering in the hallway instead of entering the conference room where her new client waited. She’d learned of the case only two hours before in a meeting with the managing partner of her law firm. He’d made her lead partner on the case saying it was time she came out from behind her senior partner’s coattails and made a name for herself.
Lead partner. Kathy swallowed hard. She and her mentor, Steve Perdue, had tried cases together for the past five years. They had their respective roles down to a science. She dealt with the details. He dealt with the people. Together they made a highly effective team winning multimillion dollar jury verdicts and bringing in substantial fees. The very thought of having to deal with the people part of the practice made Kathy feel queasy. But she had no choice.
She glanced down at her navy blue pants suit and sensible pumps to make sure she looked the part. She transferred the legal pad,
file folder and business card from her right hand to her left, took a deep breath, and opened the conference room door.
He was standing by the window, gazing out at the view of Biscayne Bay, his back to her. Tall and lean, he wore dress slacks and a shirt tucked into his belt. His long legs and taut rear-end filled out the slacks nicely. She caught herself staring and shook her head.
He turned to face her and, for a moment, time stopped. He had a caramel complexion, high cheekbones, and hazel eyes she could just drown in. She felt her smile slip for an instant before she recovered her composure.
“Mr. Morgan? My name is Kathy Brooks. I’ll be the attorney helping you with your case.”
She detected a glint of amusement in his eyes as he shook her hand. No doubt he was used to women falling at his feet with his looks.
“Please call me Charles,” he said.
She gestured toward the conference room table. “Please have a seat, Charles. Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said.
He certainly was. She cleared her throat. What she needed to do was clear her head. She had a job to do and, as a client, he was off limits. To give herself a moment, she set her stuff down onto the table and headed over to the credenza to pour a glass of water. She carried the glass to the table and took a seat facing him. “So Charles, how did you hear about Gold, Rome and Harris?”
“My father’s law partner is a friend of Bill Winters. His firm specializes in criminal defense. When he heard I needed an attorney for a wrongful death suit, he referred me to your firm. I’m told you have an excellent reputation for aggressively pursuing these types of matters. That’s exactly what I need.”
Kathy nodded. “I see.” She glanced down at her notepad then looked him in the eye. “There are a few things we need to talk about today. First, I’ll walk you through what we can expect to happen in the case, then we’ll talk about specific things like settlement --.”
“Whoa -.” He held up a hand, cutting her off. “Did you just say something about settlement?”
She stopped and stared at him. Clients didn’t usually react so strangely to the mention of the word “settlement.” Maybe he just wanted her to slow down and discuss the issue. She tended to speak quickly – especially when she was nervous. “Yes. We’re bound to get settlement offers during the course of this case. A security firm like Peachtree, which has several government contracts, is going to want to get rid of this case quickly to avoid negative publicity. I need to know at what number you’d be willing to settle. You don’t have to give it to me now. Just give it some thought.”
Charles leaned forward in his chair, his hazel eyes shooting sparks in her direction. “I don’t need to give it a moment’s thought. That man’s recklessness took away two of the most important people in my life - my wife and my unborn child. No amount of money can make that up to me. I want to inflict as much pain on that company as possible. I want my day in court. Do you hear me? There will be no settlement.”
Even though he never raised his voice, the intensity with which he made the statement had Kathy leaning back in her chair - away from him.
She nodded. “Yes, I understand.” She stifled a sigh. Any hope she had of settling the case short of trial just flew out the window. “Okay. Let’s talk strategy. The first thing we’re going to do is prepare a complaint – the document we use to file the lawsuit. Then we’ll serve some document requests and written questions for Peachtree to answer under oath. After we serve the papers, we’ll hold a press conference. They’ll have twenty days to respond to the complaint and forty-five days to answer the discovery requests assuming they don’t get any extensions of time. After that-.”
Charles held up his hands forming the universal time-out signal. “Hold on. What do you mean extensions of time? Where would they get those from?”
Kathy felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She prayed he wasn’t one of those clients who didn’t believe in granting reasonable extensions. “Well, it’s not unusual for one or both parties in a civil lawsuit to ask for extensions of time on a court deadline. We routinely grant them so long as they don’t harm the case in any way. If not, the court will usually grant them so long as they’re reasonable and don’t throw off the trial date.”
He shook his head. “We’re not giving any extensions. I want to get to trial as quickly as possible.”
“Look,” she said, “I understand your desire to resolve this matter quickly, but there are consequences to not extending basic professional courtesies in a case. They can range from making a case more expensive to pissing off the judge.”
“Exactly. I want to make this case very expensive for Peachtree Consulting - in more ways than one. As far as we’re concerned, money is no object. We’ll stop short of pissing off the judge, but otherwise, I don’t want to give these guys an inch. Look, if you can’t handle this, I’ll ask Bill to put someone else on the case.”
What a jerk. She shot him a piercing look that tended to intimidate many of her opposing counsel and any witness who dared to lie to her on cross-examination. “Please don’t mistake my looking out for your best interests for weakness. I assure you I can handle any type of case. Bill would never have assigned me to your case otherwise. It’s my job, as your attorney, to let you know if the decisions you make could have unintended consequences.”
He glowered at her. She met his stare and refused to back down. He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Fine. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” In the face of her silence, he gestured with his hand for her to continue. “So, go on. What else can I expect to happen?”
“You can expect them to be just as intrusive with their discovery as we’re going to be,” she said. “They’ll serve you with document requests and ask you and anyone who ever knew your wife questions under oath. They’re going to want to know everything about her to see if they can blame her for the accident. They’ll try to claim that she was drunk or talking on her cell phone or texting while driving. Or they may claim she was sick and had a heart attack or a stroke or something and stopped short. They may even ask to exhume her body to test it --.”
She stopped when she noticed the horrified look on his face. She remembered, too late, that Bill wasn’t usually so blunt at the first client meeting. Something about the man had gotten under her skin causing her to dive into the sordid little world of “civil” litigation almost gleefully - as if she wanted to punish him for daring to believe she might not be cut out for it. She wondered if he knew what he was about to get into.
“Can they do that? Have my wife’s body exhumed?”
She shrugged. “It’s possible. It happened in another case we handled. We’d fight it, of course, but I can’t guarantee we’d win on that issue.”
He swore, got up and began to pace. She sat there and watched him. After a moment, he returned to his chair, and stabbed an index finger in her direction. “You do that. You fight those bastards tooth and nail every step of the way. But if we have to exhume my wife’s body to prove she wasn’t to blame in any way for the accident, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Okay,” she said.
He picked up his water and took a sip.
She paused to give him a moment. She didn’t know how this case would turn out but it promised to be an interesting ride.