Page 19 of A Billionaire Dom

Davin

Mattias Condeand I had known each other since we were kids. He was six or seven years older than me and was a third-generation lawyer. His grandfather had represented Grandad when the business first started, and he was getting ready to take over for his dad, who’d be retiring within the next year or two.

While he took an extra case here and there, Holden Enterprises was Conde & Sons’ primary client, which meant we’d spent a lot of time together. We weren’t close, exactly, but we were more friends than acquaintances.

Either way, he was the person I needed to call after my visit from the cops. While I didn’t think I needed a lawyer, I did think it was a good idea to let one know what’d happened. That was why Mattias was on his way up right now.

While I waited, I found myself wondering what Linsey had said to the detectives. I’d been trying to not think of her since they left and writing down my account of what’d happened as Mattias had suggested had helped. Now that I was done, however, she was on my mind again.

I’d left my door open, and Mattias came in without knocking.

“I have to admit, you were the last Holden I would’ve thought I’d need to have a lawyer-client meeting with about something other than business matters.” He grinned at me.

I was pretty sure there were times when my dad wished Mattias was his kid instead of me. I mean, besides being a lawyer, he married his high school sweetheart, and they had three kids. Dad was still waiting for weddings and grandkids. Then I remembered that Deklin was engaged to a woman with a son. Instant grandkid.

It’d been a weird few months.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think I’d be in this position either,” I said.

“Did you write everything down like I told you?” Mattias asked as he set his briefcase on the chair.

“I did. And made three copies like you asked.” I handed him a stack of papers. “Are you going to tell me why?”

Mattias took the papers and signed all three, putting the date and time on each. “If the detectives want an official statement, this will be it. We want the story to be the same every single time.”

“It’s not like I have anything to hide.” I leaned against my desk. “It was self-defense on Linsey’s part and me protecting her.”

“With those mitigating factors and the fact that you only punched one of them one time, it shouldn’t be difficult to get anything criminal dropped if that should happen.” Mattias’s smile was gone, and he was all business now. “And we want to get charges dropped as soon as they’re filed because the longer this stretches out, the worse it will be for your family’s reputation and for the company.”

I frowned. “I saved a woman from being attacked. How could that be bad for the company or my family?”

“You know as well as I do that a good PR firm can turn anything on its head.”

Shit. He was right.

“You think they’re going to sue me?”

“I think they’ll use the threat of pressing charges to force you to settle,” Mattias said matter-of-factly. “Because your only other option will be to fight it at a trial. At the trial, a defense attorney who wants a chance to take down a wealthy family will make it sound like you’re a privileged white man who hit a young man driven to a life of crime because he was poor.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”

“And you having a black attorney, even one as fine as me, won’t win you any points.”

I sighed. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

It was the truth, but I knew the truth didn’t always mean that the good guys won. I wasn’t a great guy, but I was agoodguy. And being a good guy could cost my family far too much.

If I had to, I’d settle instead of insisting on a trial to make sure the truth was known. For my family. They came first. Always.

“…took her home, right?”

I gave myself a mental shake as I realized Mattias was still talking to me. “Sorry. My thoughts got away with me for a moment. What were you saying?”

“This Linsey you helped, you said you took her home, right?”

I nodded, trying not to think about what had happened after I’d taken her home. That would distract me even more.

“My advice is to go to her. Let her know what might be coming.”

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