Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable #6) - Heather Long Page 0,77
today,” Wittaker informed me as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes were tired, and the lines around them deepened as he studied me. “He and I will be conferencing this week to find out what Ms. Curtis’ goals are, but with that in mind, do you want to be present for that meeting?”
I’d sooner drill my own teeth. Except… “Will she be there?”
“There is a solid chance, yes.” Wittaker folded his hands together. “The trick here is we have the temporary emancipation order. They are down to less than a week to file their contest.”
A week? Really?
“So it’s a natural game to push it to the last minute. There will likely be threats and intimidation. You have the information and the evidence in your corner, enough that a judge granted you the temporary order while we waited out the filing.” The confidence in his voice comforted me. Archie reached over and slid his fingers through mine, and I squeezed his hand in response. “But the fact that she has retained a lawyer says she wants negotiation or, quite possibly, she wants something else from you to not fight the emancipation.”
Oh.
“That fits,” Archie said, grinding his teeth.
“Maddy tried to see me the other day… I sent you the texts.”
He nodded. “Yes and I want to assure you that even though I do handle a great deal of Standish business, on this matter, I am your attorney and there will be no conflict of interest.”
“At all?” Why had Maddy seemed so certain?
Wittaker favored Archie with a look, then opened a folder on his desk and removed two sheets of paper. He slid both across to me. Archie and I both leaned forward. They were waivers releasing him from a conflict of interest—one was signed by Grandpa Ted and my eyebrows climbed. I hadn’t even been aware that he would do that, but the second one floored me.
“Edward signed a release?” Archie stared at Wittaker.
“He did, and I am not at liberty to discuss any of the details of it, other than he released me from any conflict with Standish in representing Frankie, here. I can also tell you the attorney Ms. Curtis has retained is not one retained by Standish typically. As the retainer young Mr. Standish here paid me to represent you was not taken from corporate funds, it relieves us of certain burdens with regard to the family.”
“Huh,” Archie grunted, then set the page back down with the release from his grandfather.
“This doesn’t feel like a good thing, but it is a good thing, right?” So why was my stomach in knots?
“It is neither a negative or a positive,” Wittaker assured me. “It’s merely crossing a t and dotting an i. However, it does remove one threat from her arsenal, and I’m not going to speculate on whether she was aware of the release or not.”
“When did he sign it?” Archie asked, running his thumb over the heel of my hand as though he was trying to smooth away some of the tension cording every muscle in my body.
“Late on Friday…”
Archie snorted. “So after Maddy’s threat.” He cut a look at me, his jaded smile softening some. “Sorry, babe.”
“It’s—it is what it is,” I managed without trying to make light of it. I had no idea why Mr. Standish would make that call or if he had done so in spite of Maddy’s demands or… I blew out a breath. “When is the conference?”
“Wednesday.”
I had my internship at Standish then, and when I told Wittaker, he nodded and then checked something on his laptop screen.
“If you want to be there, I’ll reschedule it to Thursday.”
Did I want to be there? Not really. However… “What would you advise?”
Leaning back in his seat, Wittaker studied us both. “As your attorney, I can represent you in this conference with no issues. It will likely be their issuance of expectations and possibly announcing their intention to file. Then we’ll have time after they file to counter it. Arguably, we can just run the clock out on this until your birthday.”
“But you don’t think that’s what I should do.”
Archie squeezed my hand, but I kept my focus on Wittaker. The older man shook his head slowly. “No, I think this is very much Ms. Curtis’ way, via her attorney, of getting you both in the same room. Clearly, she has things she wants to say to you.”
I snorted, but I didn’t disagree. “Convenient,” was my only comment.