Legally Addicted - By Lena Dowling Page 0,16

pulse-racing, stomach-churning responses to him in check.

She hadn’t mentioned the Walsh matter again, and neither had Brad. In any case, she had helped him out with Caro, pretending she and Brad were an item to save his weekend being turned over to social event planning. She hoped that made them even.

By far Georgia’s most pressing concern was her review of the list of assets that Douglas Walsh’s new solicitor had provided. The house in the prestigious eastern suburb of Rose Bay had been itemised, as were numerous personal investments, and a significant antique collection. Once she got into the fine detail of Douglas’s business interests, however, the profits, while not insignificant, just didn’t add up to a level that would maintain the Walsh’s lifestyle. In fact, flicking back through the mortgage documents, she calculated that Douglas’s income barely covered the loan against their multimillion dollar home. There had to be more.

She was making a mental note to search the official company register to turn up any undisclosed directorships or significant shareholdings when her phone rang.

The caller display flashed up ‘Georgia’.

Her pulse quickened. Until the firm’s telecommunications officer got around to reprogramming the phones, ‘Georgia’ meant Brad.

‘Hi Brad,’ she said, keeping her tone light and trying to sound casual and unaffected, even though the unexpected call had put her nerves on edge.

‘Georgia, have you got a few minutes to go over a file?’

‘Sure.’

She walked at a steady pace, smoothing her skirt and pulling at the cuffs of her jacket. By the time she walked into his office, he had already moved from behind his desk to a round table used for impromptu meetings and taking instructions from clients. His tie was missing. It was coiled up beside his in-basket. His shirtsleeves were rolled back revealing forearms sprinkled with dark hair that she remembered as silky soft to the touch. The brilliant gold of his watch caught and held her eye, and he followed her gaze.

‘A gift from my mother — not my taste.’

He tilted the dial to reveal diamonds studded around the circumference that would have dwarfed many women’s engagement stones.

‘My mother likes her bling.’

‘And then some,’ she said. The over the top display of wealth set Georgia’s stomach turning in the opposite direction to which it had been spinning ever since he called her into his office, tying it into a knot.

‘Well, she deserves to spend a little after everything she put up with from Dad over the years.’

‘What’d he do? Sleep with the secretary?’

‘Several, actually.’

‘Oh.’

She had meant it as a joke, and now she should probably say something sympathetic. But since the only thing springing to mind was a sarcastic: ‘How tough it must have been for you’, she said nothing.

Brad passed her a file. Recognising the client name, she seized the opportunity to change the subject.

‘Buckland? As in the Pete Buckland from Buckland’s Chance?’

‘That’s him. His wife Cherie has given instructions to start separation proceedings again.’

‘Again?’ Georgia couldn’t remember having seen anything in the papers about previous estrangements.

‘So far, he’s been discreet enough to keep it away from the paps, but it’s becoming a regular thing. He gets cosy with one of the contestants or a co-worker; then Cherie finds out. Pete spends a few nights at a hotel, promises never to do it again, and wins her back. I wouldn’t hurry to do any work on it though. Give it a few days in case the whole thing blows over.’

‘So why give it to me at all?’

If this was the quality of the matters he would be sending her way, he could keep them. This wasn’t even a real case. At best it was a potential. Nevertheless, with such a high profile couple, curiosity got the better of her and she opened the file, scanning the documents inside.

‘I’ve given it to you now so that you’ll have all the background information on the off-chance that this is the broad that breaks Buckland’s back and Cherie finally decides to take hold of her she-balls. There’s a list of assets on file from last time in there that will help, but you’ll need to check that it’s still current.

‘I can’t believe she would forgive him!’

Georgia would never understand women who let men treat them like a doormat. Her mother had been used and abused by her numerous deadbeat boyfriends, bludging off the higher social welfare benefit she was entitled to because she had a child. Extra money that should have been used to provide for Georgia, but more often