by Alexa Davis
“So, I guess you’re really set on marrying this Hanson guy, huh?”
“Yes, Jack,” I said. “I am set on it. I love Adam and can’t wait to be his wife.” I couldn’t interpret the look that passed over Jack’s face, however, the words he spoke next needed no interpretation,
“Just remember what I said before, if it doesn’t work out, for any reason, I’ll be here for you.” I thanked him, but came away with an eerie feeling. If I were a superstitious woman, I would have said that Jack was predicting that Adam and I wouldn’t work out. I knew he was wrong. Adam was right for me in every way. We just needed to help bring all of this intrigue to a close and get on with our lives together.
CHAPTER FOUR
ADAM
Sunday, I had lunch with Alicia and her parents. It was nice and I think her mother is really warming up to me. The rest of the day I spent going over the lists of prospective jurors for the Brigham case that my investigators had put together for me. I had to be in court at nine a.m. for jury selection. I was trying to face this trial the way I did any other, but so much had happened that I was almost fearful I wouldn’t be able to put my best foot forward on this. I was grateful for Mac because even though he knew nothing about what was going on with the FBI, he would keep me grounded.
I got to court half an hour early and so did Mac. We went over our separate lists and spent some time strategizing before the judge called court to order. I started out positive and energetic, but as the day wore on, it was quickly apparent that we had been right to worry about finding an untainted jury in New York.
The prospective jurors who claimed not to have a bias against Miles Brigham IV in general had at the very least been exposed to the constant advertisements that the EPA had been running on television, radio and in magazines, to raise money for what they termed “The Victims” of the oil spill. They advertised that the “victims” were both people and animals, which screwed us further because if the prospective jurors didn’t care about one, they did the other.
That in and of itself was enough to make me concerned that the other side was coming to the table already ahead of us, even though Mac and I had our team working around the clock investigating backgrounds for weeks now. I told the team that I wanted to know if any of them so much as used a recycling bin on a routine basis. I didn’t want an EPA advocate sneaking into the jury pool. That would mean certain death for our case and millions or possibly close to billions of dollars loss to Miles’s company. The process of running background checks on jurors was not exactly legal, but I discovered early on in my career that it could be crucial to winning a case. In this case, it didn’t seem to be helping at all.
Mac and I took turns asking the prospective jurors and we each turned down the first six. We were running out of options and the attorney for the plaintiffs, Hal Rogers, was eating it up. My head was pounding like a drum by the time the judge called it for the day and told us to be back at eight-thirty a.m. two days after Christmas. All I could think about was that I needed a Tylenol and Alicia. I knew Marie would have something for my headache and tonight Alicia and I would have our much awaited alone time. I couldn’t wait.
I had my car service take me back to the office and when I climbed out of the car in front of the office, I saw Alicia’s friend Jack. He was opening the passenger door of his black Mercedes. I was surprised when I saw him extend his hand to help Alicia out of the car. She was smiling and so was he, until he looked over and saw me standing next to him. I almost smiled at how quickly his fell off of his face.
“Hi, baby,” Alicia said when she saw me there. “It was so warm earlier I decided to walk to court. I guess I wasn’t thinking very far ahead. Jack came by and saved me.”
“Imagine that, Jack was there…again.” I gave him a tight smile and he gave me one in return. He looked at his watch then and back at Alicia and said,
“I just remembered an appointment I have. If I don’t see you before, Alicia, have a Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you, Jack, you, too.” Hmm, he didn’t wish me a Merry Christmas, I thought.
“Thank you for giving my fiancée a ride,” I told him with a smile. He shot fire out of his eyes in my direction. He caught himself and quickly hid the look and said,
“It was my pleasure.”
Alicia and I watched as he got into his car and drove away. When he was gone I said, “I don’t think he cares for me much.”
Alicia chuckled. “Me neither, baby.”
I put my hand on the small of her back and steered her in out of the cold. “So he just ‘happened’ to be around again?”
“Yeah, you’re right…that happens way too often.”
“I really wish you would have called me or the car service. I don’t like the idea of you alone in the car with him. I don’t trust that guy.”
“I don’t either, anymore, but not in a sense that I think he would ever hurt me. I can’t even imagine that. Besides, it was a productive ride.” We both dropped it as we rode the elevator with several more people. When we go to our floor, we stepped off and I walked Alicia to her office, stopping by Mary’s desk and asking her for something for my headache. She opened one of her desk drawers and handed me a bottle of Tylenol. I shook three out into my hand and when I handed the pill bottle back to her she handed me a bottle of water to wash them down. I smiled at her and took it. She was a life-saver.
“Thank you, Mary. I’ll be back for my messages in a few.”
Alicia and I continued on to her office and I sat down when we got there and asked her, “What did you find out? Did Jack admit something to you?”
“No, not directly,” she said. “When I got in his car, I started out our conversation by telling him I ran into Alex earlier.”
“Did you really?”
“Yeah, on my walk to the courthouse I ran into him at the coffee shop.”
“What did he say?”
“Alex or Jack?”
She was losing me. My head was throbbing. “Either,” I said.
She grinned. “I’m sorry, babe. I know you’ve had a tough morning. We can do this later…”
“No, later I’m going to be kissing and touching you…and inside of you…”
“Okay,” she actually blushed. She’s so damned cute. “I asked Alex about Jack. He told me about Jack’s dad and the presidential campaign money. Then lo and behold, there was Jack as I came out of court with a warm car and a friendly face. I couldn’t resist at least trying to get a little bit of information.”
“So then did you ask Jack about Alex?”
“Yes and he tried to say he didn’t know him again until I told him that Alex admitted they knew each other. He finally gave in and told me that he was acquainted with him and the last time I asked about him he’d just been confused and hadn’t put the name with the face. Once I told him what Alex said about his father making campaign donations, he acted like he just suddenly remembered and said that his father decided it was the best way to make strong political connections.”
“They’re getting their stories straight,” I said. It pissed me off even more to think Alex was working with Jack. For some reason, I saw Jack as sleazier than Alex, although they were accused of doing the same things. I knew it was jealousy, so I was glad to just have another reason not to like him.
“I asked him about his father and Interpol,” Alicia suddenly said.
“Baby! You’re not supposed to do that. You were alone in the car with him. He could be dangerous if he gets suspicious.”
“I just asked casually. I told him one of my legal contacts in the U.K. had mentioned it and I wondered if it was resolved.”
“So what did he say?”
“He got defensive and told me that with his father’s wealth comes enemies and those enemies would like nothing more than to see him fail. Jack questioned why I was so interested.”
“See why I worry about you?”
She smiled again and waved at me with her palm. “I told him that I
was just concerned about him. For years, he adamantly refused to have anything to do with his father’s business and now here he is up to his elbows in it. I also told him that I was confused about him and Alex acting like they don’t know each other when they obviously do.”
The Tylenol was starting to work, but much more of this conversation would bring the headache back with a vengeance, I’m sure. “You should call David and tell him what you found out and then we should both finish up our work and get this day over with so that we can have our night together.”
“I’ve got no argument with that,” she said with a grin.
********
We left together to head home that evening. We stopped at the Thai restaurant down the street from Alicia’s apartment and picked up dinner on the way home. Luis greeted us at the door and called up the elevator for us. He told Alicia he had seen her parents off for the evening just an hour prior.
When we reached the apartment, I went in to make a fire while Alicia put our food on plates. I pulled off my jacket, tie, and shoes and took a seat on the floor in front of the sofa facing the fire. Alicia set down the tray with our food and a bottle of wine on it and joined me. I slipped my arm around her and she laid here head into it. We sat there silently for a while, just enjoying our much needed time alone.
I’m not sure how much time passed, but I was the one that finally broke the silence by saying, “I hear your stomach rumbling, did you eat today?”
“As a matter of fact, I did,” she said. “But it was early.”
“Then let’s eat,” I said. “Better yet let’s have a picnic.” I stood up and grabbed the quilt off the back of her couch and spread it out on the floor. Alicia set our plates down on top of it and I poured us each a glass of wine. We ate and talked about wedding plans for the next half hour. When we finished, I helped Alicia carry the plates into the kitchen and told her to go wait for me in the bedroom and I would be right in. Once she was gone, I set up the little surprise I had for her. I carried the tray with several multi-colored bottles of massage oil, a bowl of fresh strawberries and one of whipped cream on top of it.
“Where did you get all of that? I didn’t buy strawberries today,” Alicia asked, impressed.
“I called Luis while I was making the fire. He had someone run out and get them and then he had them brought up. It was all waiting at the door,” I told her with a grin.
“Wow, sneaky. I’m impressed!”
I gave a slight mock bow and then said, “These three bottles are magic potions, guaranteed to cure whatever ails you. If you lie down on the bed on your stomach, I’ll prove it to you.”
She grinned and went over to the bed. She lay down on her belly and by the time I got everything set up she was almost asleep. I saw her pull her eyes open as soon as I touched her with the oil. I picked up one of her feet with my oiled hands and began to massage from her toes down to her heels. She moaned slightly as I used just enough pressure in all the right places, and even massaged her toes one by one.
I put more oil on my hands and started on the backs of her calves. I worked the oil into her skin with alternating soft and just a little bit harder strokes in circular motions.
“Wow, baby, I hadn’t even realized how tired my muscles were. That feels amazing.”
“Good, just relax.” I started on her thighs then, sliding the back of her gown up to her panty line. I gently stroked the insides of her thighs before moving my hands outward. I felt her shudder.
“Are you cold?” I whispered in her ear from behind, making her shudder again.
“No, it just feels so good.”
I finished her thighs and slid her gown up even higher, working on her lower back, and making her moan audibly. When I finished with her back and shoulders, I rolled her over onto her back. I leaned down and kissed her lips and then both of her eyelids and said, “Now my favorite part.”
I slid down on the bed and began working on the tops of her feet and fronts of her calves. Alicia was beginning to squirm. She reached out for me, but I told her, “Let me spoil you first, if you touch me now, I’ll ravage you too quickly.”
She did as I asked and lay still while I rubbed more warm oil on my hands and worked my way up her legs. Before I started on her belly I leaned down and kissed that. She moaned softly and I saw her clench her fists at her sides. I began massaging her again and worked my way up to her chest. I slid the gown up her body until I could slip it gently over her head and then I massaged the outsides of her breasts.
She forgot she wasn’t supposed to touch then. She grabbed the back of my head and led my mouth to one of her nipples. “Please,” she whispered…and the ravaging began.
My mouth and tongue seemed to ignite a fire inside of her that was already raging. She began clawing at the buttons on my shirt while I licked and sucked. Finally, I stood up and took it off myself and stripped off my pants and shorts, too. I lay down next to her and slid an arm underneath her and rolled her over on top of me. She straddled my waist and leaned down and kissed my face and neck while my hands explored every part of her body.
We kissed and touched and melded our bodies together for what seemed like an eternity until I couldn’t take it a second longer. I lifted her up again and turned her on her side. I held up one of her legs and entered her from behind. She let out a cry when I bottomed out inside of her. I pulled back and did it again and again, moving faster each time. When I was on the verge of coming, I pulled out of her and before she had a chance to protest I rolled onto my back and pulled her up on top of me again. I slid her up to my face and sat her sweet pussy down on my lips. She was soaked; she whimpered and squirmed against my face as I worked my tongue in and out of her and licked and sucked on her clit. I brought her to two orgasms before flipping her onto her back, climbing between her legs and taking what I’d been craving for days.
She thrust up her hips as I thrust mine down and plunged my throbbing, aching cock into her over and over again. I felt the walls of her pussy spasm in her third orgasm of the night and when she clamped down around me like a vice, I went head-first off the bridge I’d been standing on the edge of. The orgasm was massive and it shook every part of my body. When I could speak again I whispered,
“I love you so much,” in a hoarse and raspy voice.
“I love you more,” she said with a giggle. I grabbed her and tickled her until she admitted she was wrong. That night neither of us slept more than an hour or two. We experimented with every different position we could think of and when I had to drag my tired butt out of her bed so that I could be out of there before the Lord and Lady returned, I didn’t even complain. Much.
CHAPTER FIVE
ALICIA
“Don’t you Americans take any time off for the holidays? Today is the day before Christmas Eve. You would think the courts would be closed.” I laughed at the way my mother had referred to me as one of the “Americans.”
“The courts will be closed tomorrow, Mother, from Christmas Eve day until the day after New Year’s. Until then, it’s business as usual.”
Lady Winston shook her head disapprovingly. “This is why there are so many unhealthy Americans,” she said. “All work and no time to take care of themselves. It gets you an early grave. I certainly hope you and Adam will remember that. You both work too much. You need time for your health, both physical and mental.”
“Yes, Mother, you’re right. I promise we will do our best to remember it. I plan to have a long, healthy life with the love of my life.”
“And give me plenty of healthy grandchildren, I hope?”
I laughed and said, “Slow down, Mother. We’re not even married yet. We’d like to get comfortable living with each other before we start adding ‘plenty’ of children to the mix.”
The truth was that Adam and I had not even talked about having children. I would like one or two someday, but I have no idea how he feels about that. He and Marjorie didn’t have any kids and he is forty years old…maybe it’s something
I should talk to him about before we get married.
“Well, of course you should give it some time,” Mother said. “But not too much.”
I kissed her on the cheek and stole a piece of the cookie dough she was rolling. “Not too much,” I agreed. “I have a meeting and a court date. I won’t be late today. We also have the company Christmas party tomorrow night.”
My mother nodded. “I’ll need to go shopping for something to wear.” That was when my dad looked up from the table where he was sitting quietly reading this whole time.
“Why on earth did I pay so much for luggage on the airplane if you’re going to buy a whole new wardrobe while we’re here?”
Mother rolled her eyes. “Don’t you want to be proud to have me on your arm?”
“I’d be proud to have you on my arm naked,” he said.
“Of course you would be. I look fantastic naked.”
“Oh my goodness, that’s my cue to leave,” I told them. I heard them both still laughing as I went out the door.
I went to the office before the courthouse to meet with Miles. As soon as I stepped off the elevator I saw him standing near Carla’s desk. I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying, but I knew Carla well enough to judge by the look on her face that she was actually impressed by the man. As I got closer, Miles looked up and spotted me.
“Well, hey there, little lady. I was just getting to know your very pleasant assistant here.” I glanced at Carla and was surprised to see that she was actually blushing. I knew Miles’s history of mating and dating beautiful young women, but I couldn’t for the life of me see what was attracting them. With the other women I might possibly say money, but I also knew Carla well enough to know with her that wouldn’t be the case for her. I made a mental note to ask her about it later as I greeted Miles.
“Good morning, Mr. Brigham. Thank you for agreeing to come in so early at the last minute. They changed my court time on me today.”