Page 51 of Indiscretion

Not what I expected, but okay. I put on a friendly smile. “Please have a seat. Dawson is just finishing up a call. He won’t be too long. Can I get you a coffee or something in the meantime?”

“Black.”

Man of few words… “Of course. I’ll be right back.”

On my way to the break room, I popped my head into Dawson’s office. He was shirtless, the top of his pants was open, and his belt was unbuckled. My eyes snagged on the happy trail that ran from his belly button into the waistband of his underwear.

Dawson smirked. “Good to know.”

“Good to know what?”

He shook out a folded undershirt and pulled it over his head. Tucking it into his pants, he zipped up. “That your date didn’t go the distance last night.”

“What are you talking about?”

He pulled on the dress shirt and started to button. “If you were full, you wouldn’t look hungry.”

My nose wrinkled. “You’re really an ass, you know that?”

“So I’ve heard a few times.”

“More than that, I’m sure.” I rolled my eyes. “Mr. Fanning is here. I’m bringing him coffee now.”

“Thank you. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Mr. Fanning chugged the hot, black coffee like it was a water bottle and he’d just run a marathon, then handed me back the empty cup. “Thanks.”

I didn’t really have anything to do today, so I figured I’d stick around to see how things turned out. After I delivered the man of few words to Dawson’s office, I took a seat at my desk and worked on a petition I hadn’t had time to finish before I left yesterday. One paragraph in, the yelling started. I couldn’t help but overhear.

“You told me I had a good chance of getting off!”

“And you told me you had no assets other than the ones the feds had frozen.”

“That’s money from an inheritance!”

“Why is it in an offshore account?”

“Because I’m on my second wife. I’ve learned my lesson on sharing all the things I’ve worked for.”

“I take it that means you didn’t list the bank account on the financial disclosure you would’ve filed during your divorce proceedings with your first wife?”

“No.”

“So your intent wasn’t to defraud the government when you were asked if you had other assets, it was to defraud your ex-wife?”

“That’s right.”

“Can you provide a paper trail of how you came into possession of this money? A copy of the will, a settlement filing from the estate of the deceased?”

“I was just given the money. There was no will.”

“How? Via check?”

“Cash.”

“By whom?”

“An uncle.”

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