Legal Heat

Chapter Four


Crap.

He should have known Steele, the quintessential misogynist, wouldn’t respond well to being challenged by a woman. The situation was about to go from bad to disastrous.

Mark gritted his teeth. Ethically his hands were tied. He had to act in his client’s best interests, even if they conflicted with his own, and his client clearly wanted to break opposing counsel.

“If everyone doesn’t mind, I need a quick break to rest my hands. Fifteen minutes should be enough.” Tim’s voice cut through the tension in the room. He turned off the recorder with a firm click. In a legal proceeding where one word could cost a company billions of dollars, the accuracy of a transcript overrode all other concerns. If the reporter needed a break, no one would protest.

Mark breathed in a sigh of relief. Time for some damage control. With his usual tact, Tim had just given him a chance to diffuse Steele’s explosive temper and Katy the opportunity to cool down.

Katy collected her files from the table and headed for the door with her client and Tim in tow. Mark stared after her. Damned fine lawyer. And what a show. No wonder they called her the Wildcat. He wouldn’t want to be on the wrong end of those claws.

While Steele checked his phone messages, Mark sent a quick text to James, letting him know he had found his mystery woman. The slew of exclamation marks after James’s responding message told Mark he would be spending the evening being interrogated at the bar—Hunter style.

“That little kitty needs to be tamed.” Steele tucked his phone into his pocket. “What do you know about her?”

Mark shrugged, feigning disinterest. If Steele found out she had been at Carpe Noctem, he wouldn’t hesitate to use that information against her, even if her visit had been perfectly innocent. Or, at least, had started out that way.

“She’s new to the case.”

“Find out everything you can about her. Hire an investigator. I want to know all her secrets. Then run the case into the ground. I want it off my desk by the end of the month.”

Mark frowned. Although his firm needed the business, he wasn’t prepared to sacrifice his career to get it. “I can’t do it. Investigating opposing counsel would be considered professional misconduct.”

Steele snorted his disgust. “Sometimes you have to take a risk. Break the rules. That’s how you get what you really want.”

“That’s not why you hired me.” Mark tried and failed to hide his disdain. “If you want to break the rules, you have Gordon.”

Steele needed Mark’s by-the-book approach to legal practice to keep Hi-Tech clear of the regulators. For everything else, he had Gordon Stanton, Hi-Tech’s in-house counsel and resident bully who had no qualms about straying from the right side of the law.

“You’re too uptight,” Steele scoffed. “You need to relax. Let go. Get your head out of the law books and spice up your life. You haven’t been to one of my parties in years.”

Mark gritted his teeth and bit back his resentment in the name of client relations. “Thanks for the advice.”

As usual, Steele didn’t take the hint. “You need a woman, Mark. It’s been years since your girlfriend died. You need to move on. Find someone new.”

Mark bristled at the oblique reference to Claire. Steele had some nerve mentioning her. He knew Claire only from the few occasions Mark had let her accompany him to Steele’s extravagant parties. Not well enough to even begin to understand the depth of Mark’s guilt over her death.

Steele pulled out his cell phone and flipped to a picture of a doe-eyed blonde. “Melody. We’ve been together for over a year now.”

Mark nodded at the picture. “Pretty.”

“She reminds me of her…Claire.”

Mark couldn’t stifle his grunt of irritation. He tapped his pen on the table and willed the break to end.

“Melody’s my longest relationship,” Steele said. “Too long, actually. Men aren’t designed to be monogamous. That’s why kitty caught my eye. I couldn’t hold out the way you do.”

“I don’t have time to even look after myself, much less put in the time to build a relationship.” Nor did he have the inclination to open himself up again. His heart had been rubbed raw once before and he had no intention of repeating the experience.

Steele’s gaze drifted across the table to Katy’s jacket hanging on her seat. “She’s a pretty little kitty, probably a wildcat in bed, but she needs to be tamed by someone with the “steel” to handle her.” He laughed at his own joke.

Mine.

A wave of possessiveness surged through Mark’s body. Unexpected. Unwanted. Undeniable. He balled his hands into fists and concentrated on keeping them down by his sides.

Although Steele didn’t know it yet, for the first time ever, he wasn’t going to get what he wanted.

And unless Mark could resolve the potential conflict, neither would he.





“You were amazing.” Martha hugged herself as they walked down the hallway. “I’ve never heard anyone speak to him like that. He’s Darkon Steele. He has ministers and regulators eating out of his hand and women falling at his feet. Boy was Jimmy right when he recommended your firm.”

Katy cringed. She just wanted to erase the last stressful hour from her memory. How could Fate be so cruel? If she’d had any thoughts about seeing Mark again, she could just lay them to rest. No way would she risk her career on a legal conflict. Especially with a man who had so easily broken down her defenses.

“What did you want to tell me earlier?” She stopped beside a glass barrier overlooking the open atrium. Sunshine sparkled in the windows overhead and danced off the leaves on the trees scattered in the foyer below.

“I wanted to tell you about this note.” Martha reached into her purse and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

Katy smoothed the page and skimmed over a list of names and phone numbers, none of which were familiar.

“It’s from Martin Kowalski. He was a senior researcher at Hi-Tech. He was like a mentor to me, although we didn’t work in the same lab. He didn’t agree with some things they were doing so he quit. When I told him I had gone to the regulators, he gave me this list and said it would help prove my allegations. He asked me not to tell them where I got it.”

Katy turned the paper over. “Did you show this to your previous lawyer?”

Martha shook her head. “He was too busy to even meet with me and I didn’t really trust him. I got the feeling he saw this as another routine dismissal case. But you seem more interested and…aggressive.”

Katy gave her a wry smile. “Assertive maybe, but not usually aggressive.”

She knew when to pull back. Except today. What the hell had happened in there? She had faced down the best and brightest of the corporate world but something about Steele turned her knees to jelly. She sensed in him the same streak of cruelty Steven hid so well beneath his cloak of respectability.

Unlike Mark. She barely knew him, but he had already shown her he had limits…and compassion.

Martha sighed. “The regulators weren’t interested in the list. They had already decided my claim had no merit.”

Katy tucked the paper into her folder. “Who are the men on the list?”

Martha shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t recognize their names. I had a friend at Hi-Tech search through the employee database for me. None of the names turned up. Martin wouldn’t say anything else about it. I think he’s scared.”

A class of law students approached, talking in hushed whispers about a trial they’d just watched. Katy put a finger to her lips, silencing her client, until they were out of earshot.

“Scared of what?”

“Scared of the company, but mostly of Mr. Steele.” She squeezed Katy’s hand. “You did great in there. Mr. Steele is the most intimidating person I’ve ever met. Usually when I’m near him, my heart pounds.”

Mark stepped out into the hallway and caught Katy’s gaze. Her heart skipped a beat and she drew in a ragged breath.

“I know what you mean.”





“Objection.”

Katy gave an exasperated sigh. She had long passed the point of hiding her frustration. Mark seemed determined to stop her from getting any evidence from Steele, no matter how trivial. As a result, she had been unable to confirm Martha’s story and the day was almost over.

“What is it this time?” She let sarcasm drip from every word, enjoying the small pleasure of hearing his slight grunt of irritation.

“Your question isn’t relevant to the pleaded case. You know better.”

Katy raised her eyebrows. “I know better?”

Steele smirked. She hadn’t realized his lips could do anything but frown.

Knowing she was about to lose her cool, she turned to Tim. “Off the record please if Mr. Richards doesn’t object to that.”

She folded her arms and glared at her adversary across the table. She had conducted hundreds of examinations for discovery and dozens of trials. She had dealt with difficult counsel and stubborn witnesses. But Mark wound her up more than anyone ever had and damned if she could figure out why. He seemed to have a sixth sense about which objections would irritate her the most.

“No objection.” His cool tone added fuel to her fire and her body heated in anger. Or was it something else?

Tim turned off the recorder and sat back to watch the show.

“You were saying, Ms. Sinclair?” Mark raised a questioning eyebrow.

Katy gritted her teeth at his apparent indifference. She would get a response out of his client if it killed her. But first she had to deal with his disrespectful behavior.

“We need a word in private.”

Mark pushed back his chair. “Good idea. I don’t think our clients are interested in the legal posturing that threatens to overshadow the real reason we’re here.”

Katy’s mouth dropped open at his clipped tone. Aha. She had ruffled his feathers. Maybe he was not as imperturbable as she had thought.

He stood and walked over to the door. “Twenty-minute break?”

“Agreed.” Katy dropped her file down on the table and waited until Martha and Tim left before following Mark into the hallway.

“I think we should go somewhere we can’t be overheard. There’s an alcove down this way.” He didn’t wait for her to answer but disappeared around the corner.

Arrogant. Intractable. Condescending.

She considered a few less flattering words to use in the tongue-lashing she intended to give him. He had no reason for making the discovery such a total nightmare unless he was hiding something. But that would be against the rules, and it wouldn’t work with her.

Katy followed him to a small alcove hidden at the end of the unused hallway and peered inside. Big, dark and dusty. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of old books. “I’m not going in there,” she snapped. “The hallway is fine.”

“Then you might want to lower your voice.”

Katy snorted. “As I’m sure you’ve picked up today, I don’t like being told what to do.”

He took a step forward, closing the distance between them. His broad shoulders and imposing height almost entirely blocked her view of the hallway beyond. “Actually, I picked that up on Friday night.” His lips curved into a suggestive smile.

Desire spiked through her body with such intensity she forgot to breathe.

Totally inappropriate.

Inappropriately thrilling.

Her face flushed and she looked away. She had thought, even hoped, he wouldn’t bring up her indiscretion at the club. But, after spending a day with him in the discovery, she should have known he would give her no quarter, personally or professionally.

“Not here,” she muttered.

He ran the back of his finger lightly over her cheek. “I couldn’t believe it when I first saw you this morning. I thought I’d never see you again.”

Hot, searing flames of need licked over her body. The world narrowed to the secluded alcove, the scent of sandalwood, and the dark, sensual male towering over her.

Fiercely arousing.

Strictly forbidden.

She drew in a ragged breath. “Well, now you’ll get your fill. We’ll be stuck in this case for at least two years and I’m sure we’ll see each other every few weeks in court.”

He shook his head and took a step closer. “It won’t be enough.”

His scent, spicy, exotic and achingly familiar, engulfed her, teasing her with memories of the wine cellar and the sensual caress of his hands over her body.

“What do you mean?” The inane question squeaked through her lips. There could be nothing between them while they opposed each other on the same case. She pressed her hands against his crisp, white shirt, intending to push him away.

Mistake. Her fingers instinctively fanned out over the cool, smooth cotton covering the rock-hard expanse of his chest. Mark hissed in a breath. She fought the fierce urge to slide her hands around his body and pull him close.

His lips quirked into a smile. “I won’t let you run away again.”

“I didn’t run away. I made a reasoned decision to leave and I’m about to do it again.” Her hands tingled as she forced her fingers to lift away, one by painful one.

Once she had detached herself, she stepped back and took a deep breath. “Didn’t we come out here to discuss something? I believe it had to do with your lack of respect. I suppose we’d also better address the potential conflict.”

Even to her ears it sounded ridiculous. How could she expect respect after their encounter in the wine cellar? And yet, she did. The courtroom and the club were totally different worlds.

He studied her for a long moment. “You play it very close to the line with my client, and you make it extremely difficult to concentrate. But I may have overcompensated and been a tad harsh.”

Katy’s eyes widened. “A tad harsh? You toss out objections like sweets in a parade.”

“If I had known you thought they were sweet, I’d have thrown out a few more.”

A small smile curved her mouth. “I don’t like sweets.”

“Such a shame.” He tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m particularly fond of sugar.”

Liquid fire shot to her core. She forced herself backward, step by step, until she reached the brightly lit corridor. “What about the potential conflict?”

“We’ve only had one encounter, and a brief one at that. I doubt the Law Society would consider that worthy of sanction.”

“But…you…touched me.” The words came out in a harsh whisper.

“Yes. And you touched me.”

His words charged the already electric air between them. Desire, barely controlled, burned in his eyes. For a long moment neither of them moved.

Finally Mark drew in a ragged breath and broke the connection. “Do you think it will impair your ability to run the case?”

Katy narrowed her eyes. “Of course not. But, obviously, I can’t see you again outside the courthouse.”

A smile ghosted his lips and she caught the hint of a challenge in his deep, brown eyes. “What if you have to come back to the club?”

“I don’t.”

“What if Valerie didn’t sign the statement and you had to ask for an adjournment of the hearing to find her?”

Katy narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about that?”

“Wild guess.”

“Trixie told you.” She had called the club on Monday and talked to the helpful receptionist after Valerie failed to show up at her office.

“I never divulge my sources,” he rumbled.

“Why would I come back to the club? I’ll just have her come to my office.”

Mark shook his head. “She won’t go to your office. She’s afraid of anything to do with the law—including lawyers. She had a rough start in life. That’s why she didn’t show up. If you want your statement signed, you’ll have to go to her. She’s working on Friday. Seven to two.”

A shot of adrenaline streamed into Katy’s veins, and for a moment she forgot to breathe.

“Will you be there?” Her heart thudded in her chest.

He gave her a slow, sensual smile. “Do you want me to be there, sugar?”

She put her hands on her hips to hide her trembling fingers. “If you are there, you have to promise to behave.”

“Do you promise to sheathe those claws, little wildcat? Will you stop provoking my client?”

“Never.” Her temper flared, warming her blood.

“I didn’t think so,” he chuckled. “And I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

He brushed past her and stepped into the hallway. Katy spun around, reeling at the electric jolt his brief touch had sent through her body.

“Looks like we’re in for a fun afternoon.” He looked back over his shoulder and winked.

“You’re a dangerous man,” she muttered, never thinking he would hear.

His eyes darkened, almost to black. “Sugar, you have no idea.”