Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,134

for.”

“Please, Mr Dunn, don’t worry about it. I’ve forgotten about it now and I understand that you were just having a rough day – happens to all of us.” Elise answered, still not really sure where this conversation was going. Mr Dunn had already apologised to her and that was the end of that as far as she was concerned.

“The thing is, Miss Grayson,” he continued, “My son-in-law, he’s one of these lawyers, you know, the ones off the television, and he thinks that I may have grounds to sue your boyfriend for using unreasonable force.” He coughed, as if in embarrassment and then hurriedly continued, “It’s not my style normally you understand but I am in a lot of financial difficulty and, well, we just thought that if we put a case forward......” he trailed off and there was a silence on the end of the line.

Elise sat at her desk unmoving, shock running through her every pore as she tried to process the last couple of sentences. Her palms were starting to sweat and her fist that wasn’t occupied with the phone was starting to clench. Who the hell did this man think he was? He had been drunk, he had come onto her, he had made inappropriate suggestions and yes, perhaps Vaughn did go a bit over the top, but seriously? This man really thought that he could get some money by suing Vaughn for defending her? He was deluded.

Slowly she inhaled and then just as slowly exhaled. When she spoke again, it was with a calmness that she was far from feeling.

“Mr Dunn. Firstly I need to clarify that the man with whom you had the...altercation is not my boyfriend. Secondly, as you are well aware, you were making exceedingly inappropriate suggestions to me and my colleague was merely defending me from someone who was drunk and not at all in control of their actions. If you really believe that you have grounds for suing then you go ahead but I can assure you that I will pull no punches if this ever comes to court. You may think that you have told your family the truth but have you really?” Elise was tempted to hang up but was stopped by a small sigh from the other end of the line.

“I’m sorry Miss Grayson, I don’t want this to get nasty - really I don’t - but I have lost everything and there is just no way out. I was hoping that you could talk to your...colleague, and maybe agree a settlement with him and that way, no one has to go to court. We can all get on with our lives as if nothing happened.” Edwin Dunn put the suggestion forward as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. They could have even been chatting about the weather.

“Mr Dunn, over my dead body will you get a settlement. It is neither mine nor my colleague’s fault that you have lost everything and, need I remind you, that if you hadn’t decided to get drunk and make advances towards me, then none of this would have happened. There will be NO settlement and I am thoroughly disgusted that you have the temerity to even suggest it.” Elise’s blood was boiling now and she was struggling to keep her cool. Vaguely she became aware of Stephen having finished his telephone conversation and tuning in, but she kept her gaze trained on her computer monitor. If she moved, she was fairly certain that she would explode.

Mr Dunn had not finished and was definitely not interested in taking a hint.

“Miss Grayson, I didn’t want to have to do this but believe me, if I have to, I will. There are things that I know, things that I saw, things that happened in the ballroom after dinner. You thought you were being discreet but I knew. I saw it all – why else do you think I thought you were fair game?” His voice had taken on a nasty edge, the respectability of his tone being replaced by something much darker. “If you won’t consider a settlement then let’s just say that you won’t be the only one not pulling any punches. You have until Friday to make your decision; otherwise a court date will be arranged. I will call you again.” And the line abruptly went dead.

Elise sat shaking, staring at the phone for a long while before carefully replacing the receiver. She couldn’t believe what