Page 85 of Already At Risk
“Mr. Bryant,” Korey’s lawyer said in return, giving me a tight smile as I unbuttoned my suit jacket and sat across from them at the conference room table, mimicking the way we’d been on Monday with Natalie. Also like Monday, a camera sat between us but faced the opposite way this time, trained on Korey.
I caught him staring at me with a furrowed brow.
“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met before.” He leaned forward with interest, and I couldn’t help but note that familiar tone in his voice, the one I’d heard before with other men like him. It was an overly polite cadence that felt forced and fake, a schmoozing quality to it that told me he thought he could win anyone over with a flash of his grin. “Who are you?”
I wanted to laugh in his face. Who the fuck did he think I was?
“Cameron Bryant,” I answered. “I’m Dr. London’s lawyer.”
Korey Abrams was a white man with a sharp jawline, a strong nose that wasn’ttoostrong, sullen gray eyes, and a full head of brown hair that would have looked better if it weren’t slicked back and exposing his slightly receding hairline. And at the moment, all his features were warping, pulling together in a scrutinizing way. A flash of irritation broke through a carefully curated mask as he flicked his eyes up and down, wandering over me. Assessing me.
“Right,” he said, trying to cover up the fact that he was everconfused in the first place. “It’s too bad that Jacobs retired and she had to start over again with a new lawyer. How very…disappointing for her.”
And how very interesting for him to pretend to care about how the change in legal counsel might affect Natalie. Especially when I suspected he was the only one disappointed with this new arrangement.
Natalie’s former lawyer had done a fine job with her previous custody case, but he’d also been a sixty-something man who’d probably do well playing Santa Claus at malls on the weekends if he wanted, and I had a hunch that Korey Abrams would much prefer Natalie to be working with someone like that than with me. I was just self-aware and cocky enough about how I presented to people to know exactly what was going through Korey’s head right now.
“Dr. London and I have made quick work of getting to know each other,” I said, clearing my throat.
“How nice,” Natalie’s ex replied, his entire body rigid.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
I’d managed to piss him off, and I hadn’t even started questioning him yet.
“Can we begin?” he asked, tapping his finger on the table and mimicking boredom. His attitude had already turned from when I first walked in. “I’ve got a meeting scheduled this afternoon that I need to make.”
“Of course.” I opened the folder I’d brought with me, flattening it on the table. “We have a lot of ground to cover today, but we’ll see what we can do.”
Korey scowled at me. He was trying not to; I could tell. But he couldn’t quite control his expression, making it harder for me to control my reaction, too. Getting under this asshole’s skin was already so goddamn satisfying.
The court reporter entered the room a second later, on cue. He swore Korey in, and then it was time to get to work.
“Mr. Abrams, who is the primary caretaker for your daughter, Chloe?” I asked.
Korey folded his hands in front of him diplomatically. “Due to the terms of our original custody agreement, Natalie is.”
“And you obtain custody of your daughter two weekends per month and a full week during summer and winter break, correct?” He nodded, so I added, “You need to give a verbal response so our court reporter can record your answer.”
Korey gave me a stony “Yes.”
“Have you evernottaken Chloe during one of those designated times?”
He shrugged, like the question wasn’t a big deal. “I was traveling over Christmas this past year, so Chloe stayed with her mother.”
I knew that already, of course, but I raised a brow for dramatic effect. “For the full week?”
“Yes,” he answered, but he sounded a lot less sure of himself that time.
“Any other times that you did not abide by the custody agreement?”
“Just once or twice.”
“Which one? Was it once or twice?”
He cleared his throat. “Twice. There were unavoidable work trips.”
“Over a weekend?”
