Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Smoke

We stand there staring at each other. For a brief second my mind goes blank, and I can’t think of a single thing to say. Siege is suspiciously quiet.

Serena finally speaks, “I last saw you at my father’s funeral. That was four years ago.”

I feel shitty reminding her of one of the worst days of her life right off the bat. “Those were some dark days for all of us,” I murmur to cover the awkward moment.

Marge is totally oblivious, looking from me to Serena and back again, as though she can’t believe her luck. “This is a really good idea,” Marge states in a tone of firm politeness.

Serena looks momentarily confused. “What’s a good idea?”

Suddenly, my club president has all kinds of things to say. “Smoke was just telling me how snowed under with work he is these days. His firm has grown exponentially while you’ve been in San Francisco. Since you’re an attorney, he was wondering if you might be interested in lending him a hand, at least until you find yourself a stable position, now you’re back in Las Salinas.”

I take a step closer, curious to see if she’s interested in working with me. “So, you’ve returned to Las Salinas permanently?”

“I originally left to attend college. The plan was always to return so I could be near my family, but I ended up staying longer.”

Marge chimes in, “As you know from growing up here, Las Salinas is a wonderful area to settle down. We have low crime rates, low property taxes and outstanding schools. The town has recently gone above and beyond to become a mecca for new business development.”

My head slowly turns to look at my office administrator, who has somehow morphed into an outspoken advocate for our hometown. Seriously, with this new can-do attitude of hers, Marge could be doing advertisements for the local Chamber of fucking Commerce.

“Oh wow, I didn’t realize all that. Clearly, I made the right choice by returning home,” Serena states glibly. I get the distinct impression she’s as suspicious of this situation as I am. Still, I want her in my orbit if it’s at all possible.

“Yes, Las Salinas is turning into a budding little metropolis.” I say in support of Marge’s glowing endorsement. “Your brother is correct about my firm being busier than usual. We could really use another attorney if you’re interested.”

Serena flashes me a bright smile, looking ten times more attractive than I remember her being. I’ve been crushing on my club president’s little sister for as long as I can remember. The thought of having her here in my office, working side by side with me every day is an adrenaline rush.

“I’d like to give it a try,” she states politely. “How do you feel about a ninety-day temporary employment contract? Would that be enough to help you get caught up on some of your cases?”

I find myself nodding before she’s even finished making her offer. “Ninety days would be great. When would you like to start?”

“Today’s Friday. How about bright and early on Monday morning?”

I open my mouth to answer but Marge beats me to it. “Monday would be perfect. It’ll give us enough time to clear your office out and get it ready for you.”

Serena reaches out to take Marge’s hands and responds warmly, “Where in the world did Smoke find you? You’re so sweet and welcoming.”

Siege’s mouth falls open in pure shock. I don’t think anyone has ever accused Marge of being sweet. She is more of a stern taskmaster.

Marge just smiles at my longtime friend. “How I ended up working for Mr. Drake is a story of happenstance. I’ll tell you all about it one day. Meanwhile, welcome to our firm. I’ll make sure everything is in order for you come Monday morning.”

Serena’s face lights up even more. “You’re a go-getter, like me. I’m sure working with you will be amazing.”

Okay, this feels weird. These two women are getting along like a house on fire right from the start. That shouldn’t bother me, but Marge being sweet to Serena after continually snapping at me for years annoys me a bit. I’ve missed whatever else they just said but I can already tell that I’m destined to be the third person out in my own law firm. I guess that’s fine, as long as they’re happy. Happy employees are productive employees after all.

So, there is nothing left for me to do but agree with Serena’s assessment of Marge. “Of course, you’re right, Marge is a genuine treasure. Monday sounds like a great idea.”

The three of us stand around making small talk for a few more minutes, but Marge has lost all interest in the conversation. I can hear her on the phone, talking to Rigs. She’s telling him to send prospects to help sort Serena’s new office out. I’ve got to hand it to the woman. She’s been around long enough to know who to call to get things done. When Siege and his sister finally wander off, I approach Marge’s desk.

“About this plan for Serena to join our team temporarily. Are you certain, this isn’t going to be a problem for you?”

Marge glances up at me, with a confused expression on her face. “What color scheme do you think we should pick for Ms. Sommer’s office?”

I blank out for a second because it’s clear she’s not even paying attention to my words. I gesture around the reception area. “I’m thinking we should probably buy her a mahogany desk and continue the burgundy and gold theme we have going in the rest of the office.” After a brief pause, I add, “We want her to feel like she fits in, right?”

“Oh absolutely, Mr. Drake.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Marge quite this happy. My eyes narrow on her. “Want to tell me why you’re so enthusiastic about adding another attorney to our firm? Is it really about job security or do you have an ulterior motive?”

Instead of being offended by my suspiciousness, she jumps up from her seat with a smile on her face. “Sorry, I don’t have time to talk. I need to run down to the office supply store and pick up another appointment book.”

When she dashes off, I frown after her. This employee of mine is old school. I’ve known for a long time that she prefers keeping appointments on paper, when we would have both been better served if she had done it electronically. I turn and head back into my office, eager to get back to my cup of morning coffee. Unfortunately, it’s stone cold. I drink it anyhow because I’m not precious that way.

Settling down to work, I look over my list of clients. Right now, I have eighty-seven of them, including my club, Tank’s business ventures and the five estate planning clients on my books. My clients are varied. I represent a couple of criminal clients although being a trial attorney isn’t my specialty. Most of our clients are businesses. I’ll have to beef up my caseload if I’m going to take on another attorney. It would be embarrassing to hire Serena and not have enough work to keep her busy.

I call the manager for indigent legal services in our county.

“Hello, Mr. Drake. What can I do for you today?”

“It’s more a matter of what I can do for you. Are you still desperate for defense attorneys?”

“Only always. Do you have someone to recommend?”

“Our firm just hired a new attorney. I want her to gain experience in a criminal courtroom.”

His voice turns incredulous. “Whatever for? Your firm handles mostly probate and business law.”

“I think it’s important for our team to be well rounded.”

“Of course,” he responds smoothly. “How many cases can you take on?”

“Maybe six to start. How does that sound?”

“Like a gift from the gods. I’ll get you a list of our needs.”

“Thank you and have a nice weekend.”

“You too,” he says in a much happier voice than when he first answered the phone.

I spend the better part of the morning calling every client I recently turned down and making a list of new clients for Marge to add to our appointment books. I know better than to touch the appointment book she keeps on her desk for me. I can still clearly remember the first time I tried to have a look at it. She smacked my hand. Marge can be a trip sometimes, but she’s an amazing office administrator, so I tend to roll with the punches where she’s concerned.

Sitting back in my chair, I turn the situation over in my mind. I’m fairly certain Siege brought his sister to me because he wants a brother looking out for her. The man clearly has no earthly idea how much I’ve always adored her.

I remember her always bobbing around in the background, she was seven years younger than us, so in my head she was always Siege’s kid sister. I also remember the moment I saw her as more than my friend’s younger sibling, it was the year she turned seventeen. I was confused and ashamed of my attraction to a young teen whom I had always seen as a sister. I knew back then that Siege would have given me the beatdown of a lifetime for even thinking about his kid sister that way. I was also terrified of what her father might do if he became aware of my inappropriate feelings toward her. I looked up to Claw and craved his respect. Perving on his teen daughter was the shortest distance between the club life I loved and being given a dirt nap by her overprotective family members. Therefore, I shut those feelings down hard all those years ago.

When she came home for summer break after her second year of undergraduate studies, she was legal but still completely off limits to the brothers. I remember seeing her get out of her car at the clubhouse like it was yesterday. She was twenty years old and had grown into a beautiful, lively, vibrant young woman.

Serena is extremely intelligent. She has a sharp tongue and the kind of compassion one rarely sees these days. Like she told Marge earlier, she’s also a go-getter and always on the move getting things done. Somewhere along the way I developed a deep-seated admiration for her as a person that eventually turned into a full-blown romantic attraction.

As much as I would like to get to know her better, that will never happen for a couple of reasons. The biggest one is because she’s still off limits. Siege has made it perfectly clear to all the brothers that we are not to lay our hands on her. There is no doubt in my mind that her brother will put a profound hurt on me if I even think about hooking up with her. The second reason is because being her boss means we will have an unequal power dynamic. It would be borderline abusive for me to hire her and then hit on her. That’s the kind of line I’m not willing to cross, the line between being a decent human being and a degenerate asshole.

I’m not particularly surprised when later on, Marge shows up with four prospects and an armload of stuff from the office supply store up the road. She gets them started clearing out the spare office. In short order, I see them with our file cabinets loaded onto hand trucks. They move one after another into the spare room in the back and then get to work cleaning the space we’ve earmarked for Serena.

Marge walks into my office and slaps an invoice on the desk. It’s for close to five thousand dollars’ worth of office furniture. If it were for anyone other than Serena, I would have balked at spending that kind of money. As it stands, I just signed the damn invoice and watched Marge bounce away on happy feet.

This thing is really happening. I pull up an employment contract and begin modifying it for Serena. A contract isn’t required but I want everything to be perfectly clear in terms of hours, pay and responsibilities. I’m a gentleman that way.