Hollywood's Baddest (3 page)

She walked into his office and quietly closed the door behind her. Anderson was seated behind his desk, looking at his computer. He glanced up at her and gave her a nod. “Good morning, Alexis. Please, come have a seat.”

He was tall and had a stocky build. He was the sort of man who emanated refinement; from his thick white hair down to his hand crafted leather shoes. His suits were tailor made, his body was kept fit with a personal trainer, and his demeanor was so cool and collected that it might have been upper crust British.

She sat in one of the luxuriously cushioned chairs across from him, watching him, and waiting expectantly to hear what it was that he wanted to talk with her about.

He finished what he was working on and then turned toward her and folded his hands on the desk in front of him, looking at her with a stoic expression that did not yield one modicum of insight into the thoughts going on in his mind.

She waited patiently, making herself appear much calmer than she felt. He spoke with a steady voice, as if he were talking about any commonplace thing; from the furniture to the weather.

“I presume that you’ve heard the news about Lucas Ryan this morning.” His eyes held hers as he asked.

She was suddenly profoundly grateful that her sister had blown her phone up that morning trying to reach her. She made a mental note to thank Abby later.

“Yes, of course. Who hasn’t heard of it?” she asked with a hint of a smile. She wouldn’t have known or cared one bit, and she’d been caught off guard with her boss while she was trying for a promotion, if it hadn’t been for her celebrity loving sister. She knew she was going to owe Abby for it, though Abby had no way of knowing that.

“Just so.” He said, pressing his lips together tightly and giving his head a shake. “Everyone knows. There is probably not a higher profile legal situation going on in this state right now. This trumps even the governor getting caught in his extramarital affair, and that was a scandal that I thought might be a pinnacle.”

He lifted a few of his fingers off of the desk in a sort of wave. “I digress, though.” He looked intently at Alexis again. “Mr. Ryan is obviously in need of some extraordinary legal counsel. His manager, Warren Paul, contacted me this morning and after a brief discussion, Mr. Paul specifically requested you for the case.”

Alexis stared at him and blinked in surprise. “He…. He requested me?” she asked, dumbfounded. She had done very well in her time at the Nolan law firm, and she’d begun to make a name for herself in the legal community, and in the city of Los Angeles.
But not enough,
she thought,
that anyone needing legal representation for the highest profile case in the state might specifically ask for her.

Anderson gave her a nod. “Yes, well… he didn’t know who you were right away. He called and we talked about the attorneys here who might be… best suited for Mr. Paul’s representation, and after I discussed a few of your colleagues and you with him, he chose you. He decided that you fit their need best.”

His answer seemed to make more sense to her, but she was still bewildered. He seemed not to notice, or if he did, he didn’t say anything to her about it. He continued on with what he was saying. It became evident to her that it was not a conversation, it was a directive.

“You’ll take this case and make it your first priority; everything falls in line behind this one.” His voice was firm, and she knew that it was without a doubt, about to become her biggest case. Something about it didn’t sit right with her. She didn’t care about Lucas Ryan. She didn’t want a high profile case.

She lowered one brow slightly as she looked at Anderson Nolan sitting across from her in his dark suit and his bold power tie. She lifted her chin and took a big breath. “Mr. Nolan, I’m flattered that you thought of me for this case, and even more so that Mr. Paul requested me after you told him about me, but I feel as though I have a duty to you both to let you know that I don’t think I’m the best attorney for the case.”

He remained unruffled, but she saw a spark of surprise in his eyes, and she knew she had caught him a little off guard. “This is a truly high profile case, as you mentioned, and I feel that there are other counselors here who would be a better fit for it. I’m working diligently on several other cases right now; cases that I feel are more aligned with my expertise and ability… cases that I feel warrant my devotion, my hard work, attention, and time.

Cases, which I know I can win, and win well. I feel as though I could be much more effective  with those than with this one, and it seems to me that perhaps Mr. Paul didn’t realize that when he asked for me to do this case.”

She had always felt that honesty really was the best policy, and she had no qualms about letting Anderson Nolan know just how she felt about it. He stared at her with just a hint of surprise in his expression.

“Miss Harper,” he said using her last name, “this is one of the biggest cases that you’d ever  be likely to land. This is a case of paramount importance.” He pressed the vitality of it and she tried to bite her tongue.

It wasn’t a case of paramount importance. It was just another Hollywood big shot who had gotten so wrapped up in his life that he’d been caught with drugs at his house and gotten himself arrested. There was nothing big about it, except that he was one of the most celebrated actors in the global industry. He was at the top of the A list.

It was a high profile case
, she thought to herself,
not a high priority case.
The environmental case sitting on her desk two floors down, in which a city’s water supply had been contaminated by an indifferent corporation; that was a high priority case to her. Lucas Paul getting busted for drugs and needing a lawyer to get him off the hook was not, and she knew full well that her talents would be put to better use on just about anything else.

Anderson Nolan narrowed his eyes just a fraction as he gazed at her. “This is one of the biggest cases at this firm right now. It is of the utmost importance, Miss Harper.” She didn’t like that he had used her last name twice. Somewhere in the back of her mind, where it should have mattered most, a little warning bell had begun to go off, and she knew she should be listening to it, but her heart led her onward.

“I realize that, but I feel that my efforts would be better applied elsewhere,” she told him again in a calm voice, hoping that he would see the truth of that statement.

He leaned forward a little and met her gaze directly. “You have an opportunity here to show that you are more diverse in your ability than just doing the work that you have been doing since you began here. You are up for a promotion soon, and you are in some pretty tight competition for that promotion. I am not offering you a choice on this case. I am telling you that you will take it. You were specifically requested, and it will be you who defends Mr. Ryan.

If you win the case, you may very well achieve that promotion that you are working so hard to attain. If you decline to take the case… well… you are welcome to find a position with another law firm. You will take this case, and you will win it, or you will no longer be employed here.”

His words hit her like a massive stone, crushing her as they landed on her. She was being ordered to take the case. If she didn’t, her only alternative was to lose her job. He had made that much crystal clear to her. Anger burned in her stomach and she swallowed the defiant words that rose up and culminated in her mouth. She could not say that it was ridiculous to give the case to her, and that anyone else could have taken it.

She could not say that he was an arrogant, irresponsible man who had just been caught breaking the law and probably deserved to not only be put behind bars, but to stay there. She could not say that every other case she was working on at that moment was significantly more important to her.

He wasn’t going to listen to any of that. All he wanted from her was a yes. All he wanted to know was if she was going to take the case or give up her job at his law firm. Bitterness tangled itself in her and she clenched the back of her jaw for a moment, relaxing it right away so as not to give away her surging emotion to the man before her.

“Well.” She replied quietly. “It looks as if I will be taking the case.” She tried to rein in the angry thought that he had left her with no choice. There was no way she would ever leave this firm of her own accord. She wanted to be there too much, and she wasn’t about to let something like a drug addict movie star who got himself into trouble, take that away from her.

Anderson leaned back slightly then and gave her a nod. “Good. I gave Mr. Paul your phone number. He’ll be contacting you soon to meet with you about it.”

She managed somehow to maintain an air of professionalism, and did not let a single glimpse of her true emotions show through. Instead, she rose up from her chair and gave him a nod. “Thank you, Mr. Nolan.” She was feeling anything but thankful.

“Good luck with it.” He told her sincerely, and she gave him a nod once more and turned to leave his office.

Anger coursed through every vein in her body, and the anticipation she had felt on her way up to see him a short while before was completely gone. There was no doubt in her mind that her time and talents could not have been more wasted than they would be on Lucas Ryan; Hollywood’s favorite bad boy, and newest big name drug bust.

She stalked down the hallway to her office and Bea looked up at her with a smile that faded as fast as morning mist when she saw the expression on Alexis’ face. Alexis didn’t stop to speak to her at all, but instead went straight into her office, closing the door behind her forcefully.

A lump had formed in her throat and tears began to burn at her eyes as she sat down behind her desk. She buried her face in her hands and tried to breathe in deeply to calm herself. She couldn’t imagine how any part of what she was being forced to do could go well for her, but she knew she was going to have to face the music, because there was no way out of it for her.

Anderson Nolan had given her no choice at all, and it was infuriating to think that she was being made to defend a man who had no regard for the law, no moral decency, and no grounded connection with the real world. Her time and her work was far more valuable than what he would require. All Lucas Ryan needed was a lawyer who would get him probation and a slap on the wrist. He deserved more than that, but he wouldn’t get more than that.

Then the whole thing would blow over in a few months, and the only people who would ever bring it back up again would be the fish wrapper newspapers that sensationalized everything that celebrities did. The news rags would go back to his story from time to time, whenever they felt it was necessary, and that would be it.

She wanted no part of that. She wouldn’t be doing anything useful or good for the city or the state by defending him. She’d be cleaning up a mess he had made, and she didn’t care to do that. She wanted no part of it whatsoever, but she had no choice in the matter. Not if she wished to achieve the promotion she was so set on getting. She was going to have to just force herself to take on his case and get it resolved as well and as fast as she could, and be rid of him with haste, so that she could go back to her real work.

She picked up her phone and sent a fast text to her sister, asking Abby to meet her for drinks that evening, and a few minutes later, Abby answered her back, agreeing to it. Alexis sighed and put her phone into the inside pocket of her jacket. She’d had a seamstress sew inside pockets into all of her suit jackets, specifically to carry her phone, so that she would always have it without having to put it in different places, and  and hidden from sight. It was perfect for getting around the city safely with it, not losing it, and for keeping it handy in the courtroom, without having it out in the open.

Alexis did her best to focus on all of her other work that day, but the impending call from Warren Paul finally came, and the black cloud that had been hanging over her all day doused her in disappointing reality.

“Miss Harper, this is Warren Paul. I represent Lucas Ryan,” he said coolly, as if saying that one line was enough to get him anything he wanted. It annoyed her.

“Hello Mr. Paul.”

He waited, hesitating a moment, apparently expecting a much more enthusiastic response to the introduction he’d given her, but when he realized that no such thing was going to be forthcoming, he continued, sounding slightly surprised.

“I wonder if Anderson Nolan has mentioned that I would be contacting you.” He sounded as if he wasn’t quite certain where to go with his conversation from that point, and he was trying to figure it out.

“Yes, he did. What is it that I can help you with today?” she asked with a short but professional tone.

She heard him stammer for a moment. “Well, I guess you’ve heard about the unfortunate incident that happened to Lucas Ryan last night after his Oscar win for Best Actor.”

The fact that he was touting his client’s most recent success in the face of his most recent, and unquestionably biggest failure, was enough to turn Alexis’ stomach.

“Yes, I am aware of it. As it seems that I’ll be defending Mr. Ryan, it would be best if he could come in to the office to see me as soon as possible. Has he been released from jail yet?” she asked curiously, picking up her pen to make notes on the yellow legal pad before her.

Warren sighed. “Yes, he was just released on bail. Listen, I know we need to come in and see you, but he is extremely busy. It’s going to be tricky to find the time to do it. Is this something that we could handle over the phone?”