THE HOT lawyer's

Part 40

Lisa

"If you brought me in here to yell at me, then save your breath," Irene said from the other side of the conference room table, her stare bouncing from Bobby's to mine.

Jennie 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 Irene was at the top of my list.

A meeting Jennie 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, Lisa?"

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, Irene."

"What do you want?" Her eyes left me to move to Bobby, 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 Jennie was resigning from the show, but I wasn't shocked to hear that Irene knew. When it came to Irene'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 Jennie, 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 Irene 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, Irene." 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."