I waved to my assistant as I headed to my office, ready to remain behind closed doors for the rest of the day.
“Ms. Devereaux.”
I hadn’t realized anyone had followed me inside. Hearing my boss’ voice, I inwardly groaned. His sudden appearance usually meant he needed a favor.
“Mr. Bernat. Happy Friday. What can I do for you?” I set my briefcase down, trying to plaster on a smile. As far as district attorneys went, he was usually fair and backed his people anytime there was criticism, but when he asked you to do something like jump, you were supposed to respond how high.
That didn’t bode well with my personality.
However, he was well aware I was vying for his position someday. That meant watching my p’s and q’s and being a team player.
I noticed he had a file in his hand, which meant it had yet to be input into the computer. We were a busy office, cost-cutting preventing us from hiring the administrative staff we needed, so date entry was last on the list of fulfilled needs.
“I’m sorry to catch you just coming in.” He had a way of chastising you without doing so, but I just wasn’t capable of apologizing today.
“Is there something you need?”
He walked closer, tossing the file on my desk. “I know this is last minute, but I had a court date moved up unexpectedly. I’m going to need you to handle this for me today. Now, it is a very high-profile case, but I feel assured you can handle it.”
When he started to walk from the room, I almost lunged forward. “Mr. Bernat. I don’t understand. What case? You’retalking about today? I don’t even know the case you’re working on. Plus, I have several that I’m juggling right now.”
He backed me off by planting his hand on my desk and leaning over. “Relax, Ms. Devereaux. This is merely a bail hearing. Plus, you have until just after lunch to review the case, which should be fairly straightforward. The man is guilty as sin and it’s our job to put him behind bars for the rest of his miserable life.”
I was shocked at his embellishment, something frowned upon. Even though we were on the prosecuting side of the law, it was our job to prove guilt while still assuming innocence. Maybe the case was personal for him. That didn’t bode well for my participation either. We were supposed to recuse ourselves if we had a personal relationship with either the defendant or any witness.
“Sir, you know how I like to do my best and there must be someone else who can get a jumpstart and?—”
My boss threw up his hand to stop me from talking. “Catherine. I’m not asking you to handle this case for me. I’m telling you that you are. This will test your mettle as a prosecutor and help me determine who the rising stars in this office are. I suggest you use your morning wisely.”
The weight of his words was clear.
Goddamn the man.
With a knowing smile on his face, he walked out of my office with full confidence I wouldn’t let him down.
Why was it that I’d sighed more that morning than I had for the entire week? I flopped down in my chair, leaning back as Isnagged the file and dragged it closer. Just why was this case so special?
After taking a few deep breaths, I flipped the folder open, reading both the paragraph on the man and the charges. Then I turned to the page showing his booking photograph.
Instantly, my blood pressure began to rise. Not because the man in question was perhaps the most ruthless man in all of New Orleans. Certainly not because he and his family owned half of New Orleans or that he had a full team of lawyers working for him. Or even that I could be torn to shreds if I didn’t carry my weight.
My body’s reaction was all based on the photograph of man whose livelihood would be temporarily placed in my hands.
Alexander Prince.
Stunning good looks with raven black hair and blue eyes like the ocean on a stormy night. With a carved strong jaw tickled by coarse black stubble and deep rose lips so full I could imagine how delicious they’d taste, the picture alone drew my breath.
Yet there was a coldness in his expression, a knowing look that added a dangerous quality while keeping a subtle yet provocative tone of seduction. He was the kind of man who could make you look differently at right and wrong while wrecking your bed and your heart.
“Fuck.”
One hard body, muscular and sinfully defined.
A sun-kissed complexion with dark, soulful eyes brimming with promises of depravity.
And the man I’d run into on the street, the same man who’d saved me from a very bad man, and the one my body had reacted to without hesitation or reservation. The man who’d also been the object of a few vivid, highly provocative fantasies.
Fantastic.
