The Lawyer (The Dalton Brothers 1)

Dominick

“If you brought me in here to yell at me, then save your breath,” Daisy said from the other side of the conference room table, her stare bouncing from Brett’s to mine.

Kendall and I had returned from Bimini last night after the studio approved the counteroffer I’d made on their settlement. Now that we were back, I had loads of work to catch up on.

Handling Daisy was at the top of my list.

A meeting Kendall had no idea was taking place.

“There won’t be any yelling,” I said, reminding her it worked both ways. “We asked you to come in because we have a deal for you.” I decided to cut right to the chase. The less time I spent with this cunt, the better. “But you know how these things work. I do something for you; you do something for me.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she took a drink of her coffee, glaring at the lid once she set it down, as though the contents disappointed her. “You really think you know me, don’t you, Dominick?”

I laughed.

I couldn’t help myself.

There was so much bullshit sitting across from me that I could fucking smell it.

I ground my teeth together. “We both know there’s only one reason you’re here, Daisy.”

“What do you want?” Her eyes left me to move to Brett, her arms crossing over her chest. “And if it’s to offer me a role on Glitzy Girls, I’m not interested.”

The studio hadn’t released the news yet that Kendall was resigning from the show, but I wasn’t shocked to hear that Daisy knew. When it came to Daisy’s sister, there seemed to be no secrets.

But before I got down to business, I had to see if there was anything living, breathing inside that chest of hers or if it was just pure fucking evil. “Do you have any remorse at all?”

She was quiet for several moments, taking a few deep breaths. “It’s a shame what happened.”

“But it’s not your fault,” I said.

“Like I told Kendall, I didn’t seek this man out. I didn’t put a plug in his ear. I didn’t tell him to release those photos—I didn’t even know there were inappropriate photos. I simply told him how upset I was with my sister, and he took matters into his own hands.”

As she sighed, I processed what she had said. There was a hell of a lot more than just photos in that editing room, there was actual footage of us fucking, but it didn’t sound like Daisy knew that. Maybe there was some truth to her story.

“Do I wish it happened?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t. But if you must know, I’m happy she’s leaving television. Not because of the reason you think—although, yes, I’m happy to no longer share the screen with her.” She twisted her coffee over the table as though it were the stem of a wineglass. “She’s just not as tough as me; she doesn’t have thick skin. The rejection and criticism are obviously too much for her, and over time, it will only get worse. Believe it or not, I don’t want that for her.”

This was the first time I had ever heard any empathy or humanity from her.

Finally, I was getting somewhere.

“Why don’t you tell her that?”

Her hand paused, her lips opening, no words coming out.

“I understand vulnerability is hard for you, Daisy.” I shifted tones and positions, playing on a new angle. “It’s hard for most people, but she’s your sister, and she cares about you more than anything.”

Her eyes bored through me. “I didn’t come here for a therapy session.”

I leaned on the table, getting as close to her as I ever would. “I just want to make sure you hear me.”

“Loud and clear.”

I pushed a folder toward her, and she opened it, reading the details I’d outlined.

“But Balmy Hard Seltzer fired me weeks ago.” She closed the folder. “Is this some sort of joke?”

Brett and I had gone out on a goddamn limb to secure this contract for Daisy. Since they had offered the role to Kendall but she was no longer taking any endorsements, we had gone back to the company to negotiate a deal on Daisy’s behalf.

One that involved many promises.

“Here’s the situation,” I said to her. “Balmy Hard Seltzer is willing to work with you again under a few conditions.”

“What?”

“You go onto the set, and you do what they say. You keep your lips shut, and you don’t mouth off or give their staff any shit. I’m talking a full attitude adjustment. They’re not going to tolerate any nonsense. They’re not going to give you a second chance, so you have one shot to get this right.”

She opened the folder again, reading the contents. “This offer is higher than what they were paying me before.”

“I know.”

And it had taken a fucking miracle to get that amount.

A contract that had been one of the accolades of my career, considering they hadn’t even wanted to hear me mention Daisy’s name when I first got them on the phone.

She glanced up at me. “What’s the stipulation?”

“I want you to do the right thing.”

Her brows rose. “As in?”

It pained me how fucking self-centered she was.

“Let me spell this out for you …” I moved the second folder to the side of me and clenched my hands together, the anger in my body causing them to twitch. “There are people in your life who would do anything for you, love you unconditionally, who would never in a million fucking years hurt you. Kendall is one of those people.” I paused, letting some of the emotion calm before I fucking exploded.

“I have two brothers; both are lawyers. Was I pissed when they enrolled in law school, worried they were going to take away my clients? Hell no. I was thrilled that I would get to share this experience with them, that I would have a team I could trust because there’s no one I can count on more than family. But you didn’t look at Kendall that way. You looked at her like she was a goddamn vulture. I don’t understand it. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that you saw her as competition and not someone you could share this ride with. Someone who could make you even more money because the media loves to see siblings together.” I exhaled, rubbing my fingers together.

“But instead, you shit on her, you hurt her, you jeopardized her career, and you changed the way the world now views her.” I swallowed, letting that sink in. “And when she needed you the most, where were you? You weren’t blowing up her phone or stopping by her apartment to be there to catch her fucking tears. But had roles been reversed, we know she would have been there for you.”

“What do you want from me, Dominick?” she asked after a long pause. “An apology? For me to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness?”

I nodded toward the door, letting her know this meeting was over. “I’m not going to force you; I’m not going to hold this contract over your head. As someone who went out of his way to get this contract back for you—and at twenty-five percent higher than before—I’m just asking you to do the right fucking thing.”