When Antoinette Marie next had an opportunity to use the telephone, she called her younger sister, Angelina Beaudreau Broussard. Angelina had also taken the first opportunity to escape Bayou Teche and her bad marriage to a Cajun fisherman. She currently lived in New Orleans. The sisters did not look at all alike, particularly since Angelina was tall and willowy, rather than short and curvaceous. Her hair was long, a little lighter in color, and straighter than Antoinette Marie’s. She had somehow gotten eyes that were lighter than Antoinette Marie’s dark-olive eyes. They were big, beautiful eyes that were not really green, not really hazel, and not really light brown, which she enhanced with the new, popular smoky-eyed look. They had been close as girls, and Antoinette Marie had always looked out for Angelina and protected her from their more predatory relations. A few times over the years they’d had opportunities to get together out of town with Dan being none the wiser.
“Hello, baby sister. How are you?”
“I’m fine. And you?”
“Okay under the circumstances.” They switched to Creole French, the language of the bayou, and Antoinette Marie brought her up to date, including the fact that Dan had divorced her. Then she got down to the purpose of her call. She wanted Angelina to go to Fort Lauderdale and apply for the receptionist job, take a look around Dan’s office, and if possible get hired for the job. She could prepare a résumé that would seem to fit the job requirements and would make no mention of Bayou Teche and her Beaudreau connections. She could also arrange for good references to go with the résumé. Once they knew what was actually going on, they would figure out what to do next. Of course, Dan had never met any of her Cajun relatives, so Angelina would not be recognized. Since Angelina did not currently work a regular job, she was free to make the short trip south and be her big sister’s eyes and ears in Fort Lauderdale. Antoinette Marie wasn’t sure Angelina would want to take it further than that, but Angelina knew she owed her for the many times Antoinette Marie had taken the worst of it during their growing up years.
“I’ll go, Antoinette Marie, but I can’t promise to get the results you are looking for. I will be in touch.”
* * * *
Nikki Sommers’s townhouse, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Tuesday evening, April 7, 2015
After a quick stop at Chuck’s Steakhouse for an early dinner, Nikki and Dan returned to her townhouse. Nikki led Dan out to her vintage brick patio. It was starting to get dark when she handed him a beer and poured a Diet Coke for herself. She planned to let Dan make the moves tonight. She knew he had felt a little out of his depth at the club last week, and she didn’t want sex with her to be equated with a stressful situation. When they had both stretched out on comfortable cushioned chaise lounges with their drinks, she leaned back, gave a sigh, and relaxed. “It was a long day. This feels good.”
“I like your yard. It’s bigger than I expected and the common areas are very natural-looking. The old oak trees are enormous.”
“Yes, this project was constructed around the original Colee Hammock. The way the units are built to surround their patios kind of reminds me of New Orleans.” She smiled. Riley had made himself at home in Dan’s lap, and he seemed to be enjoying the pudgy little guy’s attentions. She knew that their family dog had accompanied his kids to California. They had needed something familiar given that the rest of their world had been torn apart. She felt so bad for all of them, but it was time to get back on the horse and ride—and she thought they were all doing that, so good for them. “I’ll tell you that I’m worried about the Young case, and I could seriously use a mental health day. I think I might sleep in tomorrow.”
“Speaking of sleep, do you think I can coax you upstairs to not sleep?”
“I definitely think you could.”
He stood up, took her hand, and led her up to the loft bedroom overlooking the spacious great room. When they were standing next to her king-size bed, he slowly began to unbutton her silk shirt and unzip and remove her pencil skirt. She stepped out of her bikini panties and pumps and unhooked the front clasp of her lacy push-up bra. Apparently nervous chatter was unnecessary.
She sat on the edge of the bed and watched him shed his jacket, vest, shirt, and the tie he had loosened out on the patio. He kicked off his loafers and socks and stepped out of his briefs. Nikki enjoyed the scenery. Dan was a mature man with a tan, toned, well-muscled body, wide shoulders, and long muscular legs that attested to his biking hobby. Except for the touch of gray at his temples, he looked younger than his forty-five years. His chest was sprinkled with a little well-placed black hair that tapered down to a well-endowed package. He was one very good-looking man. He pulled her up into his arms, and his mouth came down on hers with authority while his long-fingered hands coasted over her breasts, down her back, and over her ass. He certainly didn’t seem insecure or uncertain of himself in a more vanilla setting. He would just have to gain his confidence in the BDSM arena.
He lowered her to the bed and came down on top of her. His lips found her nipples and began to suck. Her nipples seemed to be connected to her clit by a sizzling thread, and as he continued to play with her, she felt her pulse quicken and her pussy clench. Oh, he was very good at this. He worked his way down her body until his lips were over her clit, and then he blew a soft, hot breath across her pussy, a rush of heat suffused her, and her head started to spin. He raised his head to look directly into her eyes, and her pussy rose off the bed to follow him. The look in his eyes made her nipples bead tighter. She wanted his hard cock pounding deep in her pussy. After playing a little longer, he slowly parted her quivering folds and thrust into her hot center. He let her adjust to his possession before he began to stroke long and slow. The friction from his hot, steely cock was driving her mad. She wanted more, she wanted it all. She rose to meet every stroke as desire clawed at her reason, but she couldn’t hurry him. Her legs were wrapped around his hips as the rippling walls of her pussy clenched around his cock, and she urged him to move faster, harder. The bundle of nerves between her legs was throbbing with her heartbeat as she shot over the edge in a hot, sweaty, panting orgasm that rocked her to her core. She was beyond rational thought. This was the strongest orgasm she had ever had, and the aftereffects continued to tingle from the top of her head, down her spine, to the tips of her toes.
* * * *
Dan followed Nikki over the edge as his own completion blasted through his system. The feelings were so intense he thought he might have blacked out for a couple of seconds. When he began to resurface, he looked at Nikki and a feeling of possessiveness overtook him. This is mine. He didn’t know where these feelings were coming from, but he couldn’t deny them. However, he knew it was much too soon to be feeling this way. They needed to slow down. He couldn’t afford to make another mistake. He had been so sure of Anne Marie, and she had turned out to be nothing like what he thought she was.
* * * *
Offices of McGrath & Temple, LLP, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Monday afternoon, April 13, 2015
The following Monday afternoon, Nikki walked through the reception area to the McGrath & Temple side of the office carrying a hot cup of coffee. She ducked into Dan’s office as she passed. Despite being in the same office, she didn’t see him as frequently as she would have liked. And that gave her a strange, empty feeling. She gave him a quick kiss and sat down across from his desk. “I haven’t seen you much lately. Are you very busy?”
“Yes. Several more of the warehouse sites are coming up for closing, and there are some title problems to be cleared. How are you, beautiful?”
“I’m good. Swamped actually. What’s the status of the receptionist search? Amy is really too busy to sit at the front desk. You were right about that.”
“We have several candidates, but two stand out. One is a woman from New Orleans, Angelina Broussard, who is multilingual—English, French, Spanish—which would be very valuable. She doesn’t have any law firm experience, but she has worked the front desk at a busy brokerage firm. My other
favorite, Eileen Dennis, worked as the receptionist at another big law firm before they broke up. She doesn’t speak Spanish or French, but she knows the workings of a law firm. Do you want to meet with them both?”
“That sounds good. Have Nola set something up with Amy.” Nikki was very interested in the two receptionist possibilities, but she was more interested in why Dan seemed to have started to hang back a bit. Was it the usual male “come on strong at the beginning and then take a powder” scenario which was so common, or was something more going on with him? They’d had a great night of regular vanilla sex last Tuesday, but then he seemed to have cooled his jets. He was no longer looking for excuses to visit her office or catch her alone in the coffee room. She hadn’t heard from him outside the office since he had been to her townhouse. She really didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t want to push him. Her best guess was that their vanilla encounter might have reminded him of his years with Anne Marie. Maybe she should back off herself. She didn’t need to set herself up for heartbreak if he wasn’t ready for a relationship. The problem was—she was pretty sure it might already be too late, on her part anyway.
* * * *
On Tuesday, Nikki interviewed Angelina Broussard and Eileen Dennis. Although Eileen had the stronger résumé, she wasn’t multilingual. She was also a bit older than everyone else in the office, and Nikki thought that the upbeat Angelina Broussard would be a better fit with the existing personalities. She also didn’t have a family or boyfriend who would object to her working late occasionally. While Angelina waited in the conference room, Nikki walked back to Dan’s office. “Of the two, I think I prefer Angelina. She would be a better fit here. Do you or J.J. want to talk to her again?”
“No. If you like her, I’m okay with it. Did Mark do background searches on both women? Were they clear?”
“He said nothing stood out. Angelina didn’t have much in her background to check. Apparently she was married and divorced and had a couple of jobs in New Orleans. She has no criminal record, and her credit score is not fabulous, but it’s not terrible either. Shall I make her an offer?”
“Go ahead. Keep the salary down. Give her a ninety-day trial period with a raise and benefits at the end of ninety days if she works out. I’ll leave that to you.”
Nikki turned to leave. “Is everything okay with you? You haven’t had much to say this past week.”
“I’m fine. Just a little overwhelmed with work right now.” He looked back down at the papers on his desk. Apparently she had been dismissed. What the fuck? Hot one minute, cold the next. I really don’t need this. Mr. McGrath would have to make the next move.
She went back to the conference room and concluded her business with Angelina Broussard, who agreed to start the next day. At least Amy and the other girls would be happy that they wouldn’t have to spend so much time at the front desk, just take turns covering for lunches and breaks.
* * * *
Dan had seen the confusion in Nikki’s expression. She wasn’t used to getting the cold shoulder, and he felt guilty about that. He didn’t want to be unfair to Nikki. He knew he could fall for her in a big way, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. This was such a weird situation. For some unknown reason, he still felt a connection to Anne Marie. As illogical as it might be, he felt like he was cheating on his wife. He didn’t like that feeling. He’d never done it in twenty years of marriage. It wouldn’t be fair to raise Nikki’s expectations of a relationship he wasn’t sure he could or should pursue right now. He knew he should talk to her about it, but he felt like a fool. What kind of man didn’t know his own mind? He hated feeling out of control of the situation. He’d always been a man who knew what he wanted and did what he had to do to get it. Now he was waffling back and forth, and that just wasn’t him.
He just didn’t know which end was up right now, and he needed to focus on work and his kids. Thank goodness his parents lived in California on the other side of the country, and he’d had somewhere far away to send them. When he’d spoken with Michelle Marie and Danny the previous night, they both seemed to be settling into their new schools. So far no one had made the connection to their mother, and the scandal had not followed them. Whenever he looked at Michelle Marie, he thought he saw himself in her eyes, and Danny was his spitting image—himself at sixteen. He hoped they made wiser choices than their mother—that they hadn’t inherited any of her lack of personal morals or evil streak. That thought disturbed him, but they were half him and unfortunately half her.
Why did he feel like he had been cheating on Anne Marie? There was no Anne Marie—only Antoinette Marie rotting in a jail cell as punishment for unspeakable crimes against children. He hated Antoinette Marie, but he couldn’t rid his mind and memory of what he’d had with Anne Marie. He had to work this out in his head. He knew he was going to miss Nikki. They’d had so much in common, and the sex was certainly outstanding. Maybe in a month or two he’d be ready to give it another try. By then he’d surely be horny as hell. What the fuck was he thinking? He didn’t like that train of thought and didn’t see himself as an asshole who used women for a quick hookup. He definitely needed to think this through before he moved forward again.
* * * *
On Wednesday morning Angelina Beaudreau Broussard reported for her first day of work promptly at eight thirty. She sat down at the desk, and Amy Banks, Nikki’s paralegal, showed her how to operate the telephone system, gave her a code for the copy machine, and showed her how to open files for both offices. She had her settled in by ten thirty. Angelina was good at reading people, and she got the definite feeling that Amy didn’t like or trust her. She would have to keep an eye on her and try to win her confidence. Maybe it was only territoriality and not true distrust. She hoped so because the second would make her little operation here that much harder to accomplish.
She had called Antoinette Marie at the prison and let her know that she had gotten the job and would begin looking around and keeping her eyes open. Everyone else including the investigator, Mark Levine, had been very welcoming. Of course, men were always welcoming. She knew how she looked and how men’s eyes followed her wherever she went. She had grown up with that power over the male of the species, and she had become adept at using it to her advantage.
Chapter Seven
Offices of Nicollette Sommers & Associates, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Wednesday morning, April 22, 2015
Angelina had come in a half hour early and as a cover was making a pot of coffee in the kitchenette of the suite. She had also put out a plate of cookies. She checked all the offices carefully to make sure no one else had come in early before she opened the door and went into Dan McGrath’s office, closing it carefully behind her. The cleaning people had left the door closed as they always did when they were finished with an office. She started with the drawers in the credenza and worked her way methodically through until she got to the big drawer on the right side of his desk. Pay dirt!
She picked up the file called McGrath versus McGrath – Divorce. She quickly skimmed the divorce settlement agreement and the trust agreement establishing a trust for Antoinette Marie and the investment account that went with it. If anything happened to Antoinette Marie, the kids got it all. And here was the retainer agreement where he had engaged Nicollette Sommers & Associates to represent Antoinette Marie right up to and including trial. Merde! Big sister’s husband had been more than generous. She had to wonder if he still had feelings for Antoinette Marie, or if he was just suffering the pangs of guilt. In any event, when Antoinette Marie got out of prison she wouldn’t have anything to worry about.
Next she pulled the folder marked “Sale of Idlewyld House,” and it was interesting reading. Merde again! She glanced through the photographs of the interior and exterior. The place was a fucking mansion and right on the Intracoastal. Antoinette Marie had lived very well for twenty years. She skimmed quickly and then jotted down the name of the real estate agency and the asking price—wow—five point five f
ucking million dollars. Antoinette Marie would be interested to hear that. And…she had already signed the divorce settlement agreement, signed over her interest in all the properties, and the divorce was final. She didn’t think there was anything Big Sister could do about this. She was going to be pissed. Additionally, over the last week Angelina had noticed a little bit of a strain between Nicollette Sommers and Daniel McGrath. They seemed to avoid each other. There was something going on there. She would keep her eye on them. Angelina carefully straightened the top of the desk and put the files back where she had found them.
* * * *
Nikki picked up the phone and called Gabriella Delaveccia, her friend at the State’s Attorney’s office. She had two reasons. First, she wanted to talk about Dan with someone else who was in a new BDSM relationship, and second, she wanted to feel Gabby out about the Young case. “Hey, girlfriend. I need a lunch. Are you free today?”
“You don’t sound so great, Nikki. I’ll make myself free. What time?”
Nicollette's Defense Page 6
