7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Ryker

"Stephen Tremblay, meet one of our aspiring young law clerks, Ryker DeWitt. Ryker, Mr. Tremblay is a new client who is looking to create a 501(c)(3) corporation. I thought we could work on this project together."

I stared at Stephen Tremblay for a moment. "Are you one of the owners of The House of Tremblay?"

He was wearing dark glasses, and as I glanced at him, I saw a white cane folded and resting on his lap. What the hell?

Stephen grinned and nodded as he extended his hand. "I see you've met my twin brother, Etienne. I obviously don't work in the restaurant, so I run the family finances. I've been doing some research and discussed creating a charity with part of our family fortune to help those in need here in New Orleans."

I had to have lost my mind—or maybe I was dreaming? I pinched my leg, hard. Nope.

"That…yes, uh, that's a noble endeavor, Mr. Tremblay." What the hell was I supposed to say?

"Mr. Danvert explained the necessary steps, and it sounds quite involved. Will you have time for this, what with your responsibilities here at the firm?"

Danvert spoke up. "Oh, Mr. Tremblay, we'll make time for Ryker to work on the legal aspects of establishing your charity. Please, don't be concerned about that.

"If you gentlemen will excuse me, I need to join a preliminary hearing, so, DeWitt, you speak with Mr. Tremblay to get the specifics. You've arranged for delivery of the discovery documents to the clerk's office and opposing counsel, yes?"

"I was going to take them myself, Mr. Danvert." Hell, I wasn't trusting them to anyone else. If they didn't get there, it would be because I got run over on the way.

My boss grinned. "I admire that dedication. Take Mr. Tremblay to lunch and then deliver the documents and take the rest of the day off. You worked all weekend, and you did a good job, DeWitt. I saw the summaries in my assistant's inbox. Thank you."

I stood. "Sure, Mr. Danvert. I'll see you tomorrow. If you need me, I'm available on my cell phone." The man didn't look back as he closed the door behind him.

I turned to Stephen Tremblay. "What are you doing? Why are you here?" My tone was angry, but there was a lot of shit that didn't add up in my head.

"Ryker, please take a deep breath. There's an explanation to all this madness, but I wanted to get the ball rolling, and after Rory did what he did, I wasn't sure if you'd come to the restaurant." Okay, what the fuck?

"Where's Cubby?"

The man took off his glasses, and his eyes were milky white. It made no sense.

"Are those contacts?"

I wasn't falling for the crazy bullshit Etienne was pulling. I wanted fucking answers about what the hell was going on!

He chuckled. "Unfortunately, no. We need to go somewhere we can speak in private, Ryker. What's this task with the exhibits? You need to deliver something somewhere?"

I gathered all my patience. "I need to deliver exhibits for the trial I mentioned on Friday night. Today is the deadline for the discovery exchange. I need to deliver the documents to the court clerk and opposing counsel before five o'clock. I can't screw up this job because I wasn't at the top of my graduating class. If nothing else, I'll need a positive referral from the firm later."

"Can you deliver them earlier?" Etienne asked.

I sighed. "Not really. It's a legal strategy the lead partners use. We deliver legal documents and exhibits at the end of the day so opposing counsel can't file motions with the court until the morning of the next business day. It gives the attorneys time to review the discovery produced by opposing counsel and strategize before court opens in the morning. The attorneys will be here all night reviewing the documents we receive. I should probably be here, too."

Stephen's white eyes turned toward the sound of my voice as he unfolded the white walking stick used by sight-impaired people. I was offended on their behalf for him using it as a charade.

"You don't need that shit, Etienne. Pop those out, and let's get out of here. I can meet you at the restaurant after I deliver the documents because I want an explanation. I also want to see Cubby. I don't like what happened with your nephew, Rory."

He reached for the white stick and unfolded it, sliding the dark glasses over his eyes. "You don't understand it now, but you will. I'm not Etienne. I'm Stephen. " His voice was commanding, and my heart kicked up at the sound. I wanted to know what the fuck he was up to.

Sure. You're not turned on at all. The rod in my pants called me a liar.

I returned to the firm after dropping off our discovery documents at the court and to opposing counsel, stepping out of the cab in front of our building. I paid the driver and collected my receipt, hurrying inside. In the reception area at the top of the stairs was a courier with at least thirty boxes trying to open the glass door.

"I've got it." I hurried forward and grabbed the handle for the guy.

He pushed the hand truck inside and stopped at reception. "I have a delivery for Giles Danvert."

Lachelle, the receptionist, picked up the phone to make the call because the courier needed a signature.

I waved her off. "Who's it from?"

The young guy glanced at the clipboard. "Perry Sloane Associates."

I considered not signing, but I knew that would cause a problem. "I'll sign." I took the pen and scrawled my name over the page.

I led the guy to a conference room down the hall from Danvert's office and helped him unload the first set of boxes. "I'll be back. I have twenty more."

I nodded and went next door to Mr. Danvert's open office, knocking on the door frame as he was reading something on his computer. "DeWitt. What's up? How did you leave things with Mr. Tremblay? He has an extensive portfolio that would be a great asset to the firm."

We hadn't even broached the subject of the work Etienne wanted my firm to do. "Uh, I told him you and I would be in touch regarding next steps. He agreed, so how should we proceed?"

I stepped closer to the desk and rested my shaking hands on the guest chair. My anger grew as I thought about Etienne trying to fool me into believing he had a twin. It was ridiculous.

"Good, good. Okay, what are you doing right now? Did you take Tremblay to lunch?" DeWitt stood from his chair and walked around the desk to lean against it, crossing his ankles.

"He, uh, he had another appointment, so I came back here to offer my help to inventory the discovery submission we received from opposing counsel. I'm meeting him for a drink later. What would you like me to do?" I sincerely hoped he assigned someone else.

The phone rang, and Danvert leaned over to answer, holding his finger up for me to wait. I stood there for ten more minutes, listening to half-assed answers I was sure had nothing to do with our other cases, and finally, I left the room. Fuck Giles Danvert for being such a prick.

Just as I was about to go to the conference room, Danvert called out to me. "DeWitt, I'll reassign the discovery inventory. You go ahead and meet with what's-his-name. That's a great project that will bring in a lot of money to the firm."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood at his words. Danvert didn't give a shit about the Tremblay family, but for reasons I couldn't explain, I did. Something about the family pulled me in, even though I worried things weren't right with Stephen or Etienne or whatever he wanted to be called. Besides, I still wanted answers to what happened to Cubby, and the last time he'd been seen, he was with a Tremblay.

"Are you sure, sir?"

Danvert sat at his computer, his attention shifting to the screen. "Yes, DeWitt. Keep the guy happy until we can lock him in."

I nodded and walked down the hallway, heading to my office to grab my things and leave for the day. I needed to get to the bottom of the Etienne and Stephen controversy. It didn't make sense, and I was tired of being confused.

I stepped into the bar at The House of Tremblay, taking a seat on the end stool where I'd sat on Friday night. A beautiful woman with raven-black hair and dark-brown eyes stared at me for a moment. She slung a coaster on the bar. "What can I get you?"

"I'll take a light beer, please."

The woman nodded and went to the cooler, taking out a chilled pint glass and filling it. She placed it in front of me and smiled. "You're Ryker DeWitt."

I didn't know her, but I feared she might know Cubby…and Lance. "What's your name?"

"Sabine Tremblay. I'm Etienne's sister. I saw you here on Friday night." Sabine looked nothing like Etienne. How could they be related? It made no sense.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm looking for Stephen."

The woman's dark eyes fixed on me, and she smirked. "Stephen? He's indisposed."

I chugged the beer and stared at her. "Is Etienne here?"

A strong hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned to see Etienne. "Bonsoir, Ryker. I'm glad to see you again."

Sabine stepped away, and Etienne sat next to me. He held up a finger to the female bartender, and she poured him a glass of wine. After she stepped away, I turned to him. "Where's your nephew? I think he has Cubby with him, and I'm not sure what the hell is going on."

"Ah, Stephen came to talk to you. Did he scare you? He has a volatile temper. Don't allow him to intimidate you, Ryker."

Stephen hadn't really scared me. He was different, but I didn't dislike him. He seemed very kind.

"He didn't scare me, Etienne. I had no idea he was your twin. He doesn't live here with the family?"

Etienne exhaled. "He shares the third floor with me. We don't always get along, but we are tied together. I'm sorry if he was rude."

I reached out to touch Etienne's arm. "He wasn't rude. He was actually nice and explained about wanting to start a nonprofit and have me oversee the creation. Did you tell him about our discussion? I didn't mean to push you to create a charity to help people in New Orleans, Etienne. It's my dream, not yours."

The gorgeous man stared at me for a moment before he scooted his stool closer. "I didn't think you'd come back, Ryker. I'm sorry about how I acted on Friday night. I was overwhelmed by your kiss, but it wasn't unwelcome, I promise."

That was good news, but I was still a bit baffled. "Stephen? Where is he?"

Etienne swallowed. "Closer than you think."

That wasn't mysterious at all…