Page 53 of Love and Order

She nodded, unable to fight his need to know she’s home safe. It was luxurious to have someone worry about her, and she couldn’t resist it. Once she was dressed in her own clothes, she let Finn hold her hand while they made their way back down to the garage. He opened her car door and drove her home, where he also got out of the car, opened her car door, and walked her to her doorstep.

“Don’t stay up all night worrying. We’re ready for tomorrow, and you will win this case,” he said with fierce conviction.

“Thank you for understanding.”

With a long, sensuous kiss, Finn imprinted himself further on her heart, something she thought had stopped working when her grandmother died.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he promised before she let herself in her apartment then watched his car pull away.

Move in with him.

They’d worked together for years but only got to really know each other over the last few weeks. How could he be so sure she wouldn’t drive him nuts or he wouldn’t get sick of her in a few more weeks? What made him think he’d even still like her next week?

The questions, instead of the biggest case of her career, plagued her well into the night.

*

The next day,Hailey couldn’t shake the feeling that something would go wrong in court. She arrived bright and early to ensure they had their case on the docket, and she knew which courtroom they would be in. She also managed to reserve a lawyer’s box for them, which was just a small room where clients could speak with the lawyers and witnesses could be staged while waiting to address the court. Dread filled her when she spotted Smith arrive at the courthouse. He was with another man who looked at least ten years older, wore an expensive suit, and had an even more smug look.

It made no sense for Smith to be here today. He didn’t have any cases in court. As a first-year rookie, he wasn’t entrusted to represent the firm in court alone yet, and at the rate he was going, she doubted he ever would progress. Smith caught her watching him and glared before heading into the courtroom. The same courtroom where her case was being tried.

“Morning. Was that Smith?” Finn asked with a gentle nudge to her elbow.

“Yes, and I think it’s safe to assume he’s not on our side.”

Before they could dwell on it, Mrs. Tovar arrived. Hailey ushered them into their client room. Most days the judge was on time but their case wasn’t the first one that morning and they could use the time to give their client a final pep talk.

“I’m really nervous, but I keep telling myself this is my business and I don’t need my ex’s permission to keep it,” Mrs. Tovar said.

“Remember, we’re expecting them to try to embarrass us, shame us, and try some desperate trick because they have no case. No proof that your ex has any legal claim to your business,” Hailey coached. “Don’t cringe, don’t hang your head, don’t react no matter what they say.”

“At this point, I’m all in, and you were right about my son. He said he wasn’t embarrassed about my work at all. He said he was proud of me.” She beamed.

The phone rang, and it was time to head to court.

Everything went as expected in the first twenty minutes. The judge blocked Mr. Tovar’s attempt to sell a company he didn’t own. Next, his attorneys attempted to make the judge and Hailey blush by talking about the types of products Pleasure Inc produced. They hammered home the assessment that the company was geared toward giving women pleasure.

“With all due respect, Your Honor, as my client has been the mastermind behind development, sales, and promotion of every single product, we are well aware of what Pleasure Inc has to offer. I think we can all agree, this company is a sophisticated adult pleasure toy manufacturer and supplier geared toward women,” Hailey said, looking from the judge to the plaintiff’s slick lawyer.

His polished demeanor flinched.

“Indeed we can, Ms. Adams.”

Having the judge rule again in her favor was sure to make the plaintiff and his attorneys more hostile, but the lead attorney painted on a smarmy grin.

“Before you attempt a rebuttal and request an example of what pleasure is, Counselor, let’s all also agree we understand this business up for dispute is just that. A successful and lucrative business, full stop,” the judge said.

Hailey couldn’t help but smile.

“Your Honor, of course we agree. Our point being in order to develop such a broad range of pleasure toys”—he let his eyes scan Hailey’s suit-clad figure up and down—“the owner of the company would need to conduct market research, testing, and toy development.”

The judge nodded. “And your point is?”

The lawyer held up a stack of papers before dropping one set on the table in front of Hailey and handing one to the bailiff, who delivered it to the judge.

“We would like to submit new evidence that proves Mr. Tovar was involved in the selection of researchers based on this email exchange.”

Hailey skimmed the first page before setting it back down.

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