Client Confidentiality

(2) Elijah

"Tell me why we're here again," Zach throws his head back in boredom and groans out. 

"Because you, brother, cause enough problems in the business for us to need a litigation specialist on retainer," Callum explains, making me chuckle. 

We're sat in a conference room which overlooks London from its high up position with floor-to-ceiling windows. We take up one side of the table, facing the door so we can see when someone enters. 

I tune out my brothers, used to their constant bickering. Despite working together well, they still argue about most things, no matter how small they actually are. 

Luckily, they silence themselves at the sound of the door opening. Our heads snap to it, watching as a petite blonde woman files in, with determination and calmness on her face. She's followed by a largely built man with short dark hair and a smug grin on his face. 

I already want to slap it off him. 

They both take a seat opposite us and I watch the body language between them. She sits gracefully with her legs crossed under the glass boardroom table, her black pencil skirt perfectly showcasing her hips. Her body is slightly angled away from the man, not enough for the untrained eye to notice, but a clear indicator to me that she doesn't like him. 

He pushes back his shoulders, looking between my brothers and I with a cocky look on his face, as if trying to take authority in the room. 

That's not how this works. 

"Good Afternoon to you all," she speaks first, her voice sweet and alluring, "I'm Carlie Knight, and this is Liam Hendrick." 

Zach clears his throat next to me, letting me know he likes her. I see Callum sit up in his seat slightly, the sound of her voice obviously having an effect on him too. 

"Good afternoon, Miss Knight and Mr Hendrick. Please call us by our first names. I'm Elijah," I introduce myself. 

"I'm Zach," he gives Carlie his charming smile that has me internally rolling my eyes. 

We can't take him fucking anywhere. 

"I'm Callum," Cal grumbles out.

"Well in that case, please call me Carlie," she nods, smiling at us. 

"And you can call me Liam," Mr Hendrick adds in, trying to replicate her captivating smile but failing miserably. 

"Let's start off with what services you are requiring from us today," she takes the lead again, making me smirk a little at her confidence to take authority. 

With a devious smile, Zach opens his mouth to answer her but I interrupt him before he can say something sexual, "We need to outsource our legal help in both corporate matters and litigation." 

They both nod, writing something down on their respective notebooks. She looks up first and our eyes meet, her blue orbs meeting my grey ones. She breaks away at the sound of Liam's voice. 

"Shall we discuss fees?" Liam asks, clearly having his eye on the money. Callum frowns from the other side of me, clearly not impressed with his attitude. 

"What Liam means to say is we should discuss our hourly legal fees before we proceed so we don't waste any of your valuable time," Carlie clarifies his question, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She clears her throat and settles, continuing with more authority in her voice, "My hourly rate is usually £400 but if you are to keep us on retainer, I could reduce it to £380." 

"£400 is fine," Callum says quickly, making her jump with the sound of his gruff voice. 

"My hourly rate is £500," Liam adds, giving no indication of any shift in his rate. I nod once, accepting his fee without acknowledging it. 

The less I speak to this guy, the better. 

Luckily, it'll be Callum dealing with him more than me, with Callum being in charge of our sales and acquisitions. 

"From the corporate side, it will be myself conducting matters on your case. My working hours are 9-5 Monday to Friday, but if you need anything else you can contact one of my team who will let me know," Liam says, smiling too widely. 

"In terms of litigation, I'm aware things can happen at any time, whether in business hours or not. My working hours are 9-7 Monday to Friday, but I often work weekends and will give you my mobile so you can contact me any time," she says, contrasting her co-worker, "In terms of carrying out the work, I have a well put-together team that I will oversee, with myself being the main point of contact and main fee-earner."

How come she works weekends too?

Zach smirks next to me, probably drawing parallels between mine and her work-life balances. 

At least it will be helpful to know she will be working when I am. 

"That's good to know," I nod, keeping my face serious despite being impressed by her work ethic.

We spend the next hour going over our business needs and explaining the structure of our company for them. By the time Zach and I have finished speaking, both lawyers have multiple pages of notes written. 

"We will no doubt speak soon," I stand and shake both their hands, giving a sideways warning glance to Zach. My brothers shake their hands too and we are shown out by an assistant of the firm. 

The three of us don't speak until we are all situated in the back of our black rolls-royce. Our driver pulls away from the offices and heads to ours which is about 15 minutes away. 

"That guy is going to get on my nerves," Cal sighs, rubbing his temples with his hand. Zach and I chuckle, knowing it will be a bumpy pairing between those two. 

A smug, arrogant lawyer and... well... Callum. 

"That woman, though," he whistles out, his eyes lighting up with excitement. 

"Zach this is the whole reason we need someone on board to sort out disagreements in the firm," I explain with exasperation, "You can't go hassle the person who's job it is."

"Why not? It's fun," he shrugs, completely unbothered by the possible ramifications if he were to try it on with her. 

"For fucks sake, Zach," Cal mutters under his breath, sitting back in disbelief. 

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