“I have a case with Rosalie,” he says smoothly.
Jaqueline’s eyes narrow, and she looks at me. “I see. We’re here for a meeting.”
I sit back and look at the women. “Do we have a conflict of interest?”
“No,” Jaqueline says, taking a step to the side. “Cage, if you’ll excuse us.”
“Very well.” He walks by them, condescending irritation in his wake.
Jaqueline shuts the door. “The firm does represent Blythe, but she’s a witness in the case we’ve given you, so I wanted to be here while you interview her.”
This is weird and probably inappropriate. “If there’s an issue with Mrs. Fairfax’s testimony, she should seek outside counsel, since we’re representing Alexei,” I say calmly.
Blythe is a beautiful woman, and I can see what Alexei saw in her. Today she’s wearing a light-gray suit with spectacular gold jewelry, and her hair curls around her lovely face. She lifts one eyebrow. “It’s Alexei, is it, instead of Mr. Sokolov?”
Considering I carry his bite marks on several places of my body, yes. “Mrs. Fairfax, would you like to sit down?” I gesture to the chairs on the other side of my desk. She smiles, even as her eyes narrow and she takes a seat. Jaqueline sits next to her.
“Like I was saying,”—I can’t believe I have to explain this to my senior partner—“if there’s any issue with Mrs. Fairfax’s testimony that could get her into trouble, or if there’s a possibility she committed a crime, we need to obtain outside counsel for her.”
“I don’t want outside counsel,” Blythe snaps. “Jaqueline’s been my attorney for years.”
“Well then,” I say. “I’ll have to advise Mr. Sokolov to obtain outside counsel.”
Blythe’s gaze rakes me from the top of my head to my chest and then back up. “Somehow, I don’t think he’ll agree. He’s hell in bed, isn’t he?”
I keep my expression stoic. “I wouldn’t know.”
She laughs, the sound, tinkly. “Oh, honey, believe me, you know.”
Jaqueline crosses her arms. “Rosalie, you’ve slept with a client?”
I face her directly. “Of course not.” Apparently, I have no trouble lying to my boss. I’m not under oath, and if she finds out it’s true, she’ll fire me anyway.
I’ve known Alexei Sokolov for less than a week, and I’m already lying to people and changing my morals. I need to get him out of my life, and the sooner the better. “I think it would probably be best if we recommend that Mr. Sokolov retain outside counsel.”
Blythe chuckles. “I have a feeling he’ll decline that invitation. You’re quite beautiful and probably the perfect woman to have on his arm to look respectable.”
“Finding him alternate representation isn’t his choice,” I murmur.
“Ha. You have to know him better than that already.” She crosses her legs, hitching her gray skirt up higher on her toned thigh.
Jaqueline sighs. “If they agree, we can continue representing them both. It was a blow to the firm when we lost his case.”
I look from one to the other. “Did we represent Mrs. Fairfax at that time?”
“No,” Jaqueline says. “We’ve actually only represented Mrs. Fairfax for three years.”
Relief fills me. That would definitely have been a breach of ethics if the firm had represented the widow, most likely the estate, and the accused. I’m tired of these games. I look at Blythe. “How long did you and Mr. Sokolov see each other?”
“About three months. Like I said, he was hell in bed. Told me he was in love with me, that I was the only woman for him.” She smiles. “Has he told you that yet?”
I ignore her. “Who do you think killed your husband?”
Her eyes widen. “I think Alexei killed my husband. All of the evidence pointed to him.”
“I understand that,” I say. “But we have fairly good evidence that the judge and the prosecuting attorney were bribed, and the security disc from your home of the day in question is corrupt. Can you explain that?”
“Yes,” she says smoothly. “Alexei had access to the security system. He messed with it often, so my husband wouldn’t know he was there with me.”
