Page 86 of Heist

Jax laughed. “If you say so. You got a few minutes?”

Austin nodded. “Come on in.”

“Thanks. I’m here to talk about Patrick. He said you might have some police reports and stuff I could look at.”

“I do. I probably shouldn’t give it to you here though. The file got taken away from me—long story,” she said when he raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m not supposed to have copies, but I do.”

Jax laughed. “I’m not asking questions then. What can you tell me about the situation? Are there people I should talk to?”

Austin pulled out a notepad and wrote down a list of people she knew to be involved in the investigation. “This is where I would start. I’m going to do some digging on my own. I’m not sure how much I’ll have to do with his defense though. My bosses want me on another project right now, but I’m here for anything you need that might help him.”

Jax thanked her and said he would call her if he needed anything else. “You and Patrick a thing now? I saw your little performance at the club this weekend.”

Austin felt her face heat. “Shh. We’re mostly keeping it a secret. As far as the members are concerned, I’m just a house submissive who volunteered for a demo.”

Laughter shook Jax. Good luck convincing anyone of that, sweetheart. There a reason you’re keeping it quiet.”

Austin shrugged, unsure of how much she should tell him about the e-mail she got. “Ask Patrick. He’ll give you the details if he wants to,” she said.

The tall cowboy shrugged. “Don’t make no never mind to me.”

Austin stared at him. What did that even mean? He was southern to the core and she found it charming, but sometimes he said things that just made her scratch her head.

He stood to leave and tipped his cowboy hat. “Talk soon,” he drawled.

Austin spent the rest of the morning reading up on her new case.

A stern knock on her door made her jump. “Come in.”

The door opened and a folder landed on her desk. “I guess I’m taking the Rosaline Nash case,” Jack said, irritation clear on his face. “Here’s your damn file back.”

Austin stared at him. For someone who didn’t think the firm needed this case, he sure was grumpy about giving it back to her.

She feigned surprise. “What happened?”

“David Eastman called and threatened to pull his business from the firm if we didn’t put you back in charge of the case.

The feigned surprise became genuine. Damn rich people and their meddling. It was worth it though to see Jack so worked up.

Keeping the glee from her face was hard, but she managed to shrug and say, “I’m a familiar face. That’s all, Jack. I’m the one who brought the Eastman account into the firm, and I brought Patrick in as well. They know me. If you were facing prison, you would want someone you were familiar with too.”

Jack turned to stalk out of the room.

“Wait!” she called after him.

When he poked his head back in, she handed him the Nash folder. “Don’t you want your case file?”

He snatched it from her and stormed out again.

With a grin stretched across her face, she pulled her phone out to text Patrick.

Thank you for that.

His response was nearly instant.

You can thank me in person.

With your mouth

---