Chapter 5 The Man Himself

Cayden POV

I listened as the man on the other end of the phone call droned on and on, walking to the boardroom as I went. I was in the process of a meeting, but I couldn’t avoid this call.

I owed him more than I could say.

“Please just tell me that you’ll think about it,” Gerard said again. “I could really use your help, but I won’t press you into this.”

He knew that if he did, I would agree to help him in a moment. It was always like that with us. But he also knew how busy I was, and this was something that might get more than a little complicated.

The case he wanted me to look into might also end up helping my own case, too.

“It’s a corruption case,” Gerard said again. “Corporate. It could be huge, both in court and the court of public opinion. We’re talking about a big scandal here. I can’t give the name of the person being investigated though. You would need to be officially on the case to get that.”

“Gerard,” I told him again. “I have to head into a meeting quickly. But send me the important details, so I can look over it properly before I give you an answer.”

Gerard agreed, and promised that I would have the required documents by the evening. I then hung up.

I turned back to the boardroom where Rose Kinkaid was still waiting for me. I had excused myself not too long ago to take this call. It was urgent, and I had already put him off before. I couldn’t do that any longer.

But I also hated that I had to cut Rose’s interview like that. Normally, this was a process that wasn’t interrupted. I sighed, there had been nothing that I could do about it. I put my phone back in my pocket, and went back into the room.

“I apologize about that,” I told Rose as I took up my seat again. “It was an urgent call and I couldn’t drop my friend again.”

“It’s not a problem,” Rose said, her voice sounding sincere. “I understand that you’re a busy man. Thank you for taking this interview at all.”

“You’ve earned it,” I assured her. “Now,” I told her, keeping my eyes firmly on her face. “Do you have any other questions for me?”

I wasn’t swayed by beautiful women often. And I was swayed even less by intelligent ones. I crossed them every day in my life, in my line of work. Sometimes across the table like this, sometimes in the court room.

But I had never been tempted like this before. There was something about her, and it wasn’t her brains and beauty. There was something else, something more. It was like an undercurrent that ran under her skin, like a beat of electricity that was keeping her charged up.

I wasn’t sure how, but I could feel it. There was a strength to her that shone through everything. Ordinarily, lawyers were people that loved to follow rules, we were people that didn’t get into fights, or arguments. We were used to arguing only when there were defined rules of combat, only when there was a judge present. It was a standard mold that most lawyers fit into.

But not her.

I could tell from everything about her, she just wasn’t the kind of woman that fit into that mold. She had a fighter’s spirit. She fought back and pushed the envelope and she did it hard.

I wondered what had made her choose law. I’m sure there were so many other things that she could have chosen. And yet, she chose this.

“Actually,” Rose said, dropping her eyes to her lap for a moment, then back up. “There is something that I was wondering about.”

I tilted my head but kept quiet. This was her chance to speak. I would give it to her. When she didn’t say anything, I gestured with my hand for her to continue.

And completely unbidden, a thought flashed through my head. What would it be like to touch her? Not lightly, not in passing, but properly touch her with purpose.

I closed my eyes briefly and opened them again.

“Why was I chosen?” she asked me, staring at my face again. “Out of everyone, why was I given this interview?”

I heard the uncertainty in her voice. She didn’t believe that she deserved this. She was looking for a reason and an answer to everything. She wanted either confirmation that this wasn’t meant for her, or that she was the right one. Or maybe both.

I had been working long enough to know that it was a father wound. Or there was a chance for it, at the very least.

But I would answer honestly either way.

“Because you were the only one brave enough to take it,” I told her simply. “This interview isn’t based on your resume, since we don’t even have it. I didn’t look at your grades. I didn’t get any letter recommending you.”

I saw shock cross her face. She must have assumed that we got her resume from the fair, then. But we hadn’t. The truth was that I didn’t know if she had even graduated, other than the fact that she had been at the fair and that the entry invitation only went out to graduates.

“Then how,” she began again. “How am I here?”

“Because you called us,” I told her. “The number that is given out at the fair, the one printed on the back of the card, is simple. It’s a burner phone with a number that is only active for twenty-four hours. It’s part of a tradition here.”

A tradition that my father started in his time, and one that I was more than honored to continue.

“I talk at the conference,” I explained to her. “And then the cards are distributed. You happen to have gotten yours first. But the number only activates after I talk. I tell everyone to call me when they’re ready. But the number only works for the first twenty-four hours. After that, it redirects to our main company line. Still an access into us, but not like this.”

Even if someone called years later, they would still be given a chance here.

“Your number, the one you got through to,” I told her. “Are for those that are brave. For those who want to grab an opportunity as it comes to them. And that bravery and readiness are rewarded. And so here you are.”

And after I had taken this interview, I knew that she deserved it. She was not a lawyer yet, but when the time for it came, she was going to be something incredible.

Rose didn’t answer immediately, but there wasn’t really anything that was required of her to say. I didn’t want to end the meeting, though. I wanted to keep sitting and talking to her. Something told me that I would have as much to learn from her as she would from me.

But that was the law. It was a living thing. And there was always something new to learn about it.

And, I was sure, there would always be something new to learn about Rose Kinkaid.

“Can I ask you one more thing?” Rose asked, turning to look at the wall of diplomas behind me.

It wasn’t hard to guess where her attention was.

“Why do I have so many degrees?” I asked with a slight laugh, it was what everyone always asked. “I had the time,” I told her simply.

But Rose shook her head.

“No,” she said, pointing at the Ph.D.’s. “Why criminal and family? Why choose those two? They seem like such opposite ends.”

I was a little taken aback by her question. People generally weren’t that invested in the degrees, especially new employees. They often asked their questions to seem interested, and then just left it from there. She had actually read what the degrees were for.

She had asked an interesting question, I would answer her as she deserved.

“Are they really, though?” I asked her, prompting. “Or are they just two sides of the same coin? How many criminals are criminals because they had a rough childhood? Because their parents hadn’t been there for them, their family hadn’t cared for them. And then eventually, the family law had failed them?”

Rose looked at me with a look of surprise on her face, and then I watched as understanding dawned.

“You think that by focusing on family law,” she told me, “we could better improve the criminal aspect.”

I nodded, she was a quick study, and I would like to get the chance to mentor her.

‘No,’ I told myself firmly. ‘She is another employee, not someone to personally mentor. That path leads to madness.’

I knew I was right. She was someone that I could see myself getting far too attached to, far too quickly. She was intelligent and eager, and she seemed interested in the world around her. I could see myself losing myself. I could see myself crossing boundaries again and again.

And I couldn’t let that happen.

If I was going to make it out of this, I would have to remember that it was all she was. Another employee. And I needed to keep my distance.

There was too much of a chance to slip with her. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Not again. This time, I would have no excuse.

I had thought that part of myself was dead, erased as if it had never truly been a part of me. And I had lived like that for so long. I knew that it wasn’t like that now.

But even as I knew that, I knew that it was only then more important that I keep my distance.

“Have you thought about which part of the law you would like to specialize in yet?” I asked her, trying to keep the conversation going.

I knew what I was doing, and this wasn’t a great start.

“Family law,” she answered without a beat. “I was thinking of doing my Master’s on the relocation law.”

I blinked. She had really thought of this.

“I wrote my thesis on that,” I spoke without thinking. “If you need any help, I can guide you. I still have all my old research and my papers, obviously. I can send those over to you if you’d like.”

I cursed myself internally. I was supposed to be putting more barriers up between myself and her, not breaking walls. I needed to remedy this, somehow.

“Oh wow,” Rose said, looking up at me with clear gratitude on her face. “I would appreciate that so much. I honestly have no idea where to start.”

“I’ll have Cindy send everything over to you,” I corrected myself, though it wasn’t that much of a save. “But to be perfectly honest, if you already have a topic, then that means you are already off to a great start. I’ve known some people that start their Masters without knowing what they’re going to write about.”

Rose laughed lightly.

“That sounds like me sometimes,” she admitted a little sheepishly. “Sometimes I’m over-prepared, and sometimes I show up to the beach and have to skinny dip. Oops,” she clasped a hand over her mouth. “That was inappropriate.”

Inappropriate and very much not an image I needed in my head. Not when I was already struggling with these kinds of thoughts.

“I’ll keep it a secret,” I told her and then turned back to the wall.

I was going to have a problem here.

This was only our second conversation, and if it was doing these things to me, then I had to smother it before it became something more. I had thought that this part of me was dead and gone, I had been wrong.

But it didn’t matter. I would make sure that everything would stay buried, exactly the way it should be.