Slow Hands

by Faye Avalon

  ‘You’ve said enough,’ Logan warned, leaving April’s side to move towards Veronica. ‘This meeting is terminated.’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m going. And there’s no way I’m dropping this. In fact, I’m going to let everyone know about her dodgy little business, and about how she sells sub-standard products.’ She stabbed a threatening finger at April. ‘I’m going to sue the pants off you.’

  She waltzed out through the door, leaving a deafening silence in her wake.

  April stared at the door as Logan closed it. He came to stand in front of her, raised his hands as if he was about to reach out, but shoved them into his pockets instead.

  ‘I didn’t want you to hear all that.’

  ‘Evidently. Why would you? Considering there’s obviously things going on behind the scenes that concern me and yet I’m not a party to.’

  ‘Sit down. Let me explain.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me you knew Veronica,’ April said, ignoring his request. ‘And you certainly didn’t tell me that you were offering her any compensation. How was that supposed to work, anyway?’

  With the way her heart was banging, April couldn’t believe how flat her voice was. How reasonable she sounded.

  ‘There was no reason to tell you that I knew her. I wasn’t planning on representing you, and even when I did decide to do that my knowing her had no bearing on the manner in which I’d act on your behalf.’

  April shook her head. ‘How much compensation did you offer her?’

  ‘That’s not the issue right now.’

  April was surprised she could actually find it in her to laugh right then, but the man really was an impossible bastard.

  ‘It’s not the issue?’ she repeated as nausea began to churn in her stomach. ‘I’ll have to remember that when I file for bankruptcy.’

  God, she had to move, make her frozen legs work. She walked to his desk, then back to the door, noticing how he seemed to stand guard there, as if he intended to stop her if she tried to leave.

  Well, he could bloody well try. With the mood she was in, the fury that ran through her veins, she doubted anyone could currently stop her doing anything she wanted.

  ‘How long have you been considering offering her compensation? And who the hell is this Haydon guy who hired you to do his bidding?’

  ‘He didn’t hire me. It’s not—’

  ‘How was it supposed to work? You pretend to offer me advice, throw me some soothing messages about Veronica not really having a case, tell me that there’s no real evidence, how it will all blow over with some freebies and an apology? Did this Haydon then up the ante?’

  April had hardly got the last words out before Logan shot across the room, grabbed up a visitor’s chair, and placed it behind where April stood seething.

  ‘For God’s sake, just sit.’

  She was a shamble of feelings right then. It seemed every emotion she’d ever experienced battled for supremacy. The anger had abated a little, leaving in its wake a hollow feeling that spread through her torso and down her legs. She really wanted to hear the excuses he was about to offer, so she sank into the chair, but kept her spine straight and her shoulders back.

  Logan brought another chair from the visitors’ area and placed it opposite her, then sat. He leaned forward, clasping his hands between his thighs.

  ‘Haydon and I go back a long way. He knew you’d come to me for advice, and he asked me to pass you over to someone else so that I could represent Veronica instead. When I refused, and actually took you on as my client, he wanted me to make sure that Veronica was appeased in some way...offered compensation.’

  Anger shimmered around the edges of the hurt, and April was glad of it. She’d rather feel fury than wretchedness. ‘Her receiving compensation would mean acknowledging I was at fault.’

  Logan raised his eyebrows. ‘Not necessarily.’

  April glared across the space separating them. ‘Are you serious? Why did you even agree to help me in the first place? If you knew it would cause problems, a conflict of interest, why didn’t you just send me on my way? You wouldn’t have been the first lawyer to do that.’

  ‘I owed a favour to someone and he called it in. Asked me to see if I could help you.’

  Miles. Lizzie’s other half.

  ‘Until you mentioned Veronica’s name I had no idea she was involved. I knew she was Haydon’s current lover, but I didn’t know if it was serious or even if he was still in a relationship with her.’

  April tried to think back to that first meeting, although it was difficult to sift through her harried thoughts and feelings. ‘When you did know, you didn’t think to tell me?’

  ‘Yeah, I did think to tell you, but there was no point worrying you over something that I wasn’t going to let be an issue.’

  Because he’d thought he could pull the wool over her eyes, April thought, as old wounds seared open. He’d thought she was too stupid to join all the dots and know she was being taken for a ride. Well, she knew now, and the bastard was going to face her wrath.

  ‘You’ve been playing me from day one. Going behind my back. Making deals with the lover of the woman who has made my life a living hell.’

  ‘I’ve made no deals with Haydon.’

  ‘Oh, please. You make bloody deals in your sleep. Unfortunately, none of them seem to have been in my favour. And exactly how much money did you offer Veronica in compensation? I have a right to know, considering I’m the one who’ll need to file for bankruptcy in order to pay it.’

  His shoulders went back. ‘That’s never going to happen.’

  ‘Because she turned you down? No doubt she’ll be coming back for more. And when she does you can tell her to go to hell. I’m your client. You’re my lawyer. There has to be some rule that says you have to act in my best interests.’

  ‘Name one time I’ve not acted in your best interests.’

  April gave an exasperated laugh. ‘That’s the point. I don’t know. You go off and act as you see fit, without even telling me. How can I know, or trust that you’ve done the best for me?’

  He kept his gaze squarely on hers. ‘Because I say so.’

  ‘You thought I was gullible,’ April said, ignoring him. ‘You thought I was stupidly naïve and easily manipulated.’ She had to take a breath as all her old fears came flooding to the surface. ‘Well, here’s the thing, Logan. Maybe I was—and, believe me, I could kick myself for it. But if you think I don’t see through you now, then maybe you’re the one who is gullible and naïve.’

  Something raw shot into his eyes. ‘I’d never do anything to hurt you, April.’

  Her throat tightened and she had to swallow. Over and over. Only when she knew her voice wouldn’t betray her did she respond. ‘Don’t you think you already have? After I told you I had issues with decisions being made without my knowledge, you still went behind my back—like I’m not capable of making my own decisions. And now you’re making it worse by trying to insinuate I’ve got the wrong end of the stick, that I’ve misunderstood your motives.’

  ‘I had no intention of agreeing to Haydon’s demands.’

  Maybe not at first, but that had obviously changed. After all the time they’d spent together, after all they’d done, he still didn’t think her smart enough for them to sit down together and agree to a plan to deal with Veronica.

  Her head felt as if it would explode as everything crowded in on her. She knew she needed space—somewhere she could think all this through without the overpowering presence of Logan around.

  She shot out of the chair and headed to the door. ‘Well, it’s over now, Logan. We both know where we stand. Let’s just say it’s past time for both of us to move on.’

  ‘For fuck’s sake, April. Will you just wait a goddamn minute?’

  She turned, not surprised to find Logan up close and personal. She coul
dn’t stand it. Couldn’t deal with any more right then.

  ‘In the interests of full disclosure, and to make sure it’s crystal-clear, it’s only fair to inform you that I’m no longer in need of your services. Not only do I intend on fighting this case against me with everything I have, I’ll also take the opportunity to throw the bloody book at you.’

  She marched out through the door before he could respond, heading to where his PA sat at her desk, looking uncomfortable. The woman gave a nervous smile as she handed April’s case to her. April wasn’t aware of much else as she hurried to the elevator and out of Logan’s life.

  * * *

  Logan stared at the closed door. Everything inside him screamed to go after her, but his legs wouldn’t work. She’d shaken him to the core. She’d ended it. Was walking out of his life. Just like that.

  He couldn’t blame her for ripping into him. Maybe he should have told her from the start, but he’d thought he could handle it without worrying her more than she was already.

  April had been determined not to listen, not even to try and understand his position. He’d worked the situation as best he could and tried to be fair to all parties. Keep everyone happy. Look where it had got him. He’d upset the one person he’d never want to hurt in a million years. He was a bloody fool.

  The meeting with Veronica had been his latest attempt to get her to drop the case. An earlier call from Haydon had alerted Logan to the fact that upon realising there was no real evidence with which to pursue her complaint, Veronica was planning to contact the tabloids and offer them a nice juicy story.

  Haydon had tried to placate her, and Logan sensed his mentor was growing tired of the woman’s continued vendetta as much as he was. Not wanting the unwelcome spotlight placed on his own connection with Veronica, Haydon had warned his lover to drop the whole thing and had given Logan his blessing to carry out his plan.

  But, despite the incentive Logan had offered, he’d soon realised that Veronica had no intention of letting things drop.

  At first there’d been a flare of interest in her eyes—until she’d found flaws in his offer. Frustrated, Logan had been tempted to offer her more—maybe money out of his own pocket—just to make the witch go away. April needed closure, so she could move on without the threat of litigation hanging over her.

  She’d been right, of course. Financial compensation would be an admission of guilt on her part, and she didn’t deserve that. She’d done nothing wrong.

  He’d grown so aggravated by Veronica’s flat-out refusal to see sense that he’d told her he was growing bored with the whole thing, that he had better things to do than be subjected to her games and he wanted it over with. Done.

  He’d never anticipated that April would overhear him saying all that.

  Shit. He’d royally cocked everything up. And he had a freaking ache in his chest and a giant-sized knot in his gut to show for it.

  But why the fuck should he care?

  She’d left without even giving him a chance to explain. Hadn’t hung around long enough to try and work things out. At the first sign of a serious issue between them she’d just walked away.

  He went to the cabinet in the corner of his office and poured himself a generous slug of whisky. He downed it in one. Poured another.

  He should think himself lucky, being let off the hook this way. He didn’t need all this angst.

  She’d told him his services were no longer required.

  Well, that’s great sweetheart. Now we can all move on.

  So why was he considering marching over to April’s place and demanding to be heard?

  She’d likely tell him to go to hell.

  The thing was, without April in his life, hell was likely the place he’d be going anyway...

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  APRIL HAD THOUGHT walking away from Logan just over a week ago was the worst tear to her heart, but coming a close second was the tabloid headline she’d just seen outside the tube station.

  Reality star victim of malfunctioning sex toy!

  April snatched up a copy of the paper, assuring herself it was a bizarre coincidence, but a glance at the accompanying photo of Veronica shattered her hopes that everything seemed to have died down on that front.

  Leaning against the wall, she read down past the jumble of words to the part that said Veronica Lebeck had suffered ‘immense emotional distress’. That the faulty toy had compromised her love life and ruined her relationship with Haydon Peterson.

  But it was the next part that hit April like a bullet.

  Pursuing a claim against the company’s owner, Lebeck is being represented by Logan Fitzpatrick, a high-profile lawyer with a stellar success rate both nationally and internationally.

  She couldn’t seem to breathe. Air locked inside her chest, squeezing against her ribcage so painfully she thought she might actually pass out. She struggled to remember her yoga breathing—in through the nose, long, slow breaths out through the mouth.

  Steadier, she read the rest of the article.

  Apparently, Veronica was grateful for the support of her lawyer.

  Well, they bloody well deserved each other, April thought, refusing to deal with her feelings right then. She had to focus on the implications of the article.

  When she’d read it again, one thing stood out by its omission. Nowhere had it actually named April or her company.

  That knowledge allowed her to take her first full breath since seeing the newspaper, although she was still outraged by the injustice of it all. Logan had barely allowed the dust to settle before he’d agreed to do Veronica’s bidding. Before he’d been happy to swap sides. What was he planning to do now? Screw April for all she was worth? Destroy her business? Drive her to bankruptcy?

  While she might be bloody well down, there was no way she was out. Damned if she’d allow Logan bloody Fitzpatrick to destroy her.

  He’d broken her heart, but that would mend. Please, God, let it mend. No way would she allow him to break her belief in herself, her belief in her business. She’d channel the hurt she felt into fighting. There was no way she was going to make it easy for him.

  April shoved the paper into her bag and resumed her journey to meet a potential party-plan client. On the train, she took out her tablet and, instead of reading her notes about the forthcoming meeting, jotted down notes about her situation and came up with two solid points.

  There was no concrete evidence to support Veronica’s claim.

  There was no indication of any malfunction in the toy.

  Surely those facts alone quashed any potential claim? Logan had basically said so himself. So, while he was representing Veronica, that didn’t necessarily mean he planned to make anything official. This was a volley, an attempt to get April to cave. That was all.

  Her head spun with all the conflicting thoughts.

  She was sick of this. Of lawyers. Of people trying to manipulate and control her. Surely there was some way out of this ridiculous mess without having to rely on other people for a resolution?

  After everything that had happened, couldn’t she and Veronica agree to solve this problem without the need of a third party sticking their oar in? They’d never actually sat down and had an in-depth, woman-to-woman discussion about it. Surely it was worth one last-ditch attempt to at least try for a solution?

  * * *

  Three hours later April waited in a busy wine bar near Marble Arch, her eyes never straying far from the entrance. Eventually Veronica swept through the door, her cat-like eyes zeroing in on her. While her nemesis made her way to the booth, April poured them both a large glass of wine from the bottle she’d ordered on arrival.

  ‘I trust this is still your favourite tipple?’

  Veronica slid onto the bench, shrugging out of her jacket. She gave the wine a cursory and derogatory glance. ‘My tastes run more to vintage cham
pagne these days.’ Despite her dismissal of the wine, she reached out and took a large gulp before training those peepers on April. ‘What’s this about?’

  April shrugged, as if the future of her business didn’t rely on the successful outcome of this meeting. ‘I was thinking that since we’re both probably sick to death of this whole thing we might come to some mutually beneficial arrangement.’

  Veronica sipped more wine, but there was interest in her gaze. ‘Running scared, are we?’

  ‘Not at all,’ April said, holding the woman’s gaze. ‘There was nothing wrong with that vibrator, and we both know it. Look, all I want to do is build my business, get back on my feet after...’

  April hadn’t planned to spill her personal business to Veronica, but since this was potentially her only hope of solving the problem without involving more lawyers, she took a deep breath.

  ‘Richard basically screwed me over. At a time when I needed support the most, Richard made my life hell.’

  Veronica sipped her wine. ‘Forgive me if I don’t get my hanky out. We’ve all been screwed over by a guy.’

  Beneath the swagger, Veronica looked sad and dejected, and April decided to reach out. ‘I saw the newspaper article. I’m really sorry about you and Haydon.’

  Veronica’s eyes narrowed, then she shrugged and reached for the bottle. ‘I’ll get over it,’ she said topping up her wine. ‘Fucking men.’

  ‘Yeah. You’ve got that right.’

  ‘Not sure what you’ve got to gripe about,’ Veronica said pouring more wine into April’s glass. ‘Logan-fucking-Fitzpatrick threatened me because of you. Not only did he demand I not give that newspaper interview, but he also said he’d hit me with a defamation claim if I named you or your business. Bloody cheek. I demanded Haydon do something, but he told me to do what Logan had said. The two of them are tight, but I never expected Haydon to take Logan’s side against me. Haydon was furious with me when I did the interview. Can you believe it?’