Page 57 of Baby Daddy

CHAPTER 25

Drake

Brock’s corner office was located on the twenty-fifth floor of a towering steel and glass building in the heart of Century City. It was furnished in a manner that was as sleek as he was with high-end Italian furnishings and a built-in bookshelf filled with volumes of leather-bound law tomes. On the walls, numerous awards and degrees were interspersed with abstract paintings. Windows enveloping the office offered sublime views of verdant Beverly Hills, downtown LA, and the Pacific Ocean.

Keeping things casual, Brock sat in one of the Barcelona chairs, dressed in an impeccable, custom-tailored three-piece suit, crisp white dress shirt, and a spiffy blue tie that brought out the color of his eyes. Sitting angled to him on the rather uncomfortable leather couch, I was wearing my customary jeans, T-shirt, and Nikes. His efficient secretary Stella had brought us both bottled waters.

After a few sips of water and some light conversation about our next hockey game, I cut to the chase. Brock billed his clients at $500 per hour, and I didn’t want to take up a lot of his time since he was doing me a favor.

“I need some legal advice.”

Brock’s brows jumped up. “Dude, you’re in some kind of trouble?”

I cleared my throat. “No, it’s more about Dee.”

“Don’t tell me, bro, you knocked her up.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “That wouldn’t be possible. I haven’t even banged her.”

“Man, what are you waiting for?”

“It’s complicated. Not counting the fact that she works for me.”

“She’s your temp, right?”

“Yeah…but I’m feeling something long-term with her.”

“Oh, so you’re wondering how you should deal with your regular secretary who’s on leave so she won’t hit you up with a wrongful termination lawsuit.”

“Not at all. It’s nothing like that.” I took another swig of my water. “It has to do with Dee. She’s married.”

Brock looked surprised. I surmised that her sister hadn’t shared this with him for whatever reason.

“And it gets worse. The asshole was incarcerated.”

“What did he do?”

“He assaulted her when she was pregnant. Almost caused her to lose her kid.”

“Jesus.”

“Why didn’t she divorce him while he was in prison?”

“She tried, but he hired a clever lawyer who found a loophole.”

“Do you know his name?”

I closed my eyes, searching my memory. Damn my inability to remember names. “I think it was Luis Romero.”

“Ramirez?”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s it”.

Brock’s face hardened. “I know him. He’s a fucking scumbag. Plays dirty and uses Mob connections to payoff law enforcement agencies, judges, and other court officials up in Fresno.”

“Well, I guess he had enough connections to get Dee’s husband, Kyle McDermott, paroled. And now he’s in LA. He broke into Dee’s apartment last week, demanding to see their daughter.”

Brock listened intently as I continued.

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