Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Smoke

Iarrive at work at nine a.m. sharp. Marge came in earlier than usual. I can tell because the entire office looks immaculate, and the coffee is stronger from having sat on the warmer for a while. I drank the last cup, because again, I’m not precious that way. Marge can’t get to the coffee maker fast enough to ensure there is a fresh pot of coffee waiting for Serena when she arrives. Yeah, we’re both excited as hell to have a new employee. Since our ride along the coast and what happened afterwards, I’ve been unable to get her from my mind. So I’m gonna have to get my ass in gear and stop acting like a lovesick teen before she arrives.

Serena walks through the door a few minutes later. She’s wearing a smart suit and carrying a designer briefcase. She has her hair tied back at the nape of her neck in a little twirl. I’m starting to suspect this is her preferred professional hairstyle for the office. Her makeup is perfectly applied. She’s wearing a muted shade of red lipstick that really draws attention to those pouty lips of hers. All I can think about when I look at her lips is how they felt moving across mine, and how they’d feel wrapped around my cock.

If I were a man of lesser control, I would be popping a boner at the sight of her. Since I’m not a degenerate jerk, I somehow manage to hold it together as I step out to greet her. “Good morning, Miss Sommers. I hope you slept well and are ready to get started this morning. We have a mountain of work to plow our way through.”

“I’m well rested and eager to get started. Thanks for asking, Mr. Drake.”

Marge stands up from her desk, looking all kinds of pleased with herself. “Welcome aboard, Miss Sommers. There’s a fresh pot of coffee on the coffee bar, and your office has been equipped with everything you should need. If I’ve overlooked anything, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

Serena looks from one to the other of us and says politely, “Thank you both for the warm welcome. And please feel free to call me Serena.”

Marge doesn’t say anything. I know it’s because she would never call one of the partners by their first name, she wouldn’t consider it dignified. I know Serena isn’t a partner and is only here temporarily, but Marge was old school.

“That’s very kind of you, Serena,” I reply smoothly. “If you like I can show you around the office.”

“Yes, please. I would love that.”

I’m pleased she seems sincere and excited about working with us. I’ve put my heart and soul into building this firm over the last few years. It means the world to me that she’s taking my offer seriously.

“Behind the reception area there are two offices,” I explain. “The one on the right is mine and the one on the left is yours. Separating the two offices is a unisex bathroom, and a walk-in closet that we are currently utilizing as a records room, as well as a place to store our office supplies. Since we only have six file cabinets and one shelf of office supplies, everything fits into the room with a little space to spare.”

“It sounds like you might need to expand if you end up hiring additional attorneys.”

“That’s not in the cards right now. If at some point in the future expansion is required, I’ll hire a construction crew to open one of the walls and cannibalize office space from one of the other office suites.”

She raises her eyebrows at that, “I’m assuming you own the building, or on very good terms with the owner.”

“It went on the auction block as part of an estate sale a couple of years ago.”

“Let me guess,” she said with a glint in her eye. “Your club brothers got together and helped you renovate the space. Now the other rentals are lucrative derivative income.”

“Very perceptive. But it does afford me several options in terms of expansion.”

I open the door to her office and allow her to walk in first. Giving her a minute to take in her surroundings, I wait for her to comment first.

“Wow, this is much nicer than I thought it would be. At my old law firm, even senior partners didn’t enjoy such luxurious accommodations.”

I’m not sure I believe what she’s saying is quite true. “I’m glad you approve. Marge worked hard to make sure our offices were comparable in quality and comfort.”

“Do I even want to know how much that cost?” she asks flippantly.

“Trust me, you don’t.”

Serena just grunts at me. “In that case we should probably get down to business, so that I can help bring in income to offset the cost of taking me on as an employee.”

“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about. If you’ll come to my office, we can discuss it in greater detail.”

“Absolutely. I had wondered what the onboarding process would look like in such a small firm.”

I smother back a smile. “First things first.”

We settle down at my desk and I open the file that I’ve prepared for her. “I’ve decided that because of the recent romantic interlude we shared, hiring you as an employee would be unethical.”

Her mouth falls open, but her expression moves from shock to anger in a heartbeat. “Asshole! You’ve decided not to hire me? You could have dropped that in a text message and saved us both a bunch of time. Seriously Smoke, why bring me here and give me the grand tour of the office I’m not getting, because you’re hell bent on not hiring me because of a damn kiss.”

She jumps to her feet. I follow suit and grab onto her arm, forcing her to refrain from storming out of my office.

“Holy shit, princess, give me a chance to explain.”

She jerks her arm out of my hand and crosses her arms over her chest. “Look, I’m not angry about you thinking it’s an ethical violation. I’m angry because you didn’t give me a head’s up.”

“There was nothing to give you a heads up about. I want you to work with me, not for me,” I clarify.

Her angry gaze turns confused as she tries to work out what I’m offering. “I don’t understand. What’s the difference?”

My shoulders relax and I try to quell my own panic, “I’m taking you on as temporary partner, not an employee.”

Her hands fly to her mouth. She’s clearly surprised by my offer.

“I can’t believe you would do something like that for me,” she says in a shocked tone.

“I fucked up a bit by indulging your kissing fantasy,” I explain jokingly. “You were too irresistible. The thing is, it would be ethical to fool around with an employee. Therefore, you have to be my partner. Being my partner makes us equals.”

“Hiring a former love interest isn’t a conflict of interest?”

“I’m willing to chance it, because I want to work with you,” I say without blinking.

Hiring a person and continuing to sleep with them is shady, but not actually unethical. I wouldn’t mind an opportunity to get to know her better if it eventually leads to a relationship, all the better for both of us. If not, she’ll be gone in ninety days so it’s no harm, no foul.

When she doesn’t say anything, I add, “You deserve the chance at being a partner and it’ll look worlds better on your resume than being an employee.”

Excitement blooms on her face. Unable to contain her exuberance, she launches herself at me and throws her arms around my neck. “Thanks for this, Smoke. You don’t know how much it means to me,” she whispers in my ear. “You’re the best.”

When she lets me go, we sit back down. “The onboarding process you were so curious about is probably going to be much less complex than you’re used to.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she says happily. “This is a short-term arrangement and I trust you.”

“Trust is a good thing, but I created a contract to cement an understanding between the two of us. We also have the typical new hire paperwork for you to fill out.”

We begin going over the new hire packet. I’m proud that she reads the employment contract over thoroughly before moving onto the tax forms. She has all the hallmarks of a great attorney.

I’ve created a short handbook of policies based on how I normally operate. Going over those takes the better part of two hours. I let her know, “We received a copy of the California law license you sent, as well as your college transcripts. They’ll be kept in your personnel file here at the office. Just so you know, I had to send a copy of your license to the courthouse to verify your eligibility to take cases.”

Her face lights up, “What kind of cases am I taking on?”

“I signed you up for six cases. They’re all indigents, in need of a good lawyer.”

“I believe everyone should get a fair trial and good legal representation. No matter what they were accused of, I’ll do my best to ensure they get proper representation.”

I unlock my desk and pull out six manilla files. “Three are domestic violence cases, one is a teen charged with drunk driving, one is an elderly man being charged with drunk and disorderedly conduct and the final one is a child custody case. The cases are spread over the next month, but they aren’t the only cases you’ll be assigned. Therefore, I advise you to familiarize yourself with the cases, make initial contact with each client and let me know if you need any investigative legwork done. We don’t do that ourselves. Our club has a security firm, and a member of their properly credentialed security team conducts impartial investigations and will testify in court about their findings.”

“I’ll get right on the cases and let you know what I find,” she says eagerly.

“Great. The first time you go to the courthouse and county jail, I’ll accompany you, introduce you to all my contacts and familiarize you with their processes.”

“I’ve never worked as a public defender, so I’m eager to sink my teeth into these cases.”

“These cases might not make us rich, but the county does a minimum of twelve billable hours for each case. If any of the cases turn out to be complicated, the hours can be adjusted upwards.”

“Alright. That’s a framework I can operate in.”

“Come to me if you need anything at all or just need someone to bounce ideas off of, okay?”

She nods, looking far happier than when she first arrived at the office this morning.

Watching her walk out of my office, I think again of how proud I am of the woman Serena grew up to be. Her father would be proud as well if he could see her now. Claw didn’t have favorites among his children, but I watched him nurture their individual interests. My most vivid memories of Serena were of her as a perky, curios tween. She eventually grew into the typical bratty teen. It wasn’t until she came of age that I allowed myself to think of her as a woman.

Then coming back for her father’s funeral, she left me reeling. She was older, wiser, more confident, and unfortunately mired in grief. Seeing Serena’s tears had torn a hole in my heart. I would have done anything to ease her pain, but she hadn’t looked to me for comfort. In fact, her eyes rolled right past me. It had been understandable but it was a crushing blow to my ego none the less.

Thankfully, she had her brother to lean on. That was before their other sister, Nicole had died, and before Cleo came into his life. Back then it was just the three siblings Siege, Nicole, and Serena. Nicole did have the twins with her, but they were just babies at the time.

Our entire club had been devastated by the loss of Claw. Being the founder and mentor for most of us, he was more like a father than anything else. Also, we were enraged at the time because we thought he’d been killed by the Hellfire Hounds MC. After his funeral, we’d retaliated, only to discover that his death had been an inside job. One of our trusted brothers had arranged his death in order to take his place as club president. It took months to lure the turncoats out into the open where we could take them down.

The fact that we couldn’t save Claw makes it all the more important that we protect his loved ones. It’s a sacred duty that I intend to fulfill.