Billionaire’s Lawyer: The Bailey Brothers, #2

By Rachel Foster

Jaden loves buying clubs. With the money he inherited his goal is to buy and fix all that he can. The only thing stopping him right now? A lawyer that he's heard is a hardass. He's doing all he can to avoid her, but he can't run forever. Veronica loves being a lawyer even if she has to deal with certain jerks who keep missing the meetings. When she does finally meet MR. Elusive, it doesn't go at all to plan. Thrown together in more ways than one, will they make it to the end in one piece? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: 3rd Publishing
• Release date: Mar 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798201675479

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Billionaire’s Lawyer

Rachel Foster

Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Foster

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

Billionaire’s Lawyer

Billionaire’s Lawyer

1

Jaden

"I

don’t know how much longer you can go on putting off meeting her."

I sighed as Pete spoke, because I knew that he was right, and because I didn’t want to hear a word of it.

Because the person he was talking about, a certain Miss Veronica Mathers, was the last person I wanted to see right now. A notoriously hardass lawyer, she was the one thing standing between me and acquiring the latest club that I’d had my eye on. And I just wanted things to be easy right now. I didn’t want to have to kick up dust to get what I wanted, not when I knew that everything had been going so well in my favor.

I know, I know, I agreed. Pete, the assistant I had hired a few weeks ago, had made it pretty clear that he thought that I was just avoiding the hell out of her, but it wasn’t like he could come out and say it. He knew that I was ducking and diving to make sure that I didn’t have to go to the mat with this woman, but there was only so long I could do that before it became clear that I was just avoiding what I knew I needed to do.

Since I had arrived in San Fran, everything had run so smoothly that I had almost forgotten that they could go any other way. I knew that this was a lot to take on, moving to a new place and basically trying to buy up every single club in this city in the process, but I was making it work so far. I had practiced all over the country already, picking up failing clubs and kicking them up the ass to turn them into places people actually wanted to spend their free time. It was the perfect profession for me, really, spending my inheritance on doing up these places – I got to party and call it part of the job, and I was securing a solid future for myself and anyone else who might have come into my life in the process.

The company who owned this particular club, Lando’s, weren’t super keen on parting with it, even though I knew exactly what I would do to turn it into the hottest spot in the city. I had forgotten that people got emotionally attached to places like that sometimes, and it had been enough to throw me off my game, that was for sure. They had directed me towards their lawyer, Veronica, and everything I had heard about her since had given me damn good reason not to make that meeting set in stone. She sounded like she would take chunks out of someone like me, someone who had just moved into the industry and only liked to think they knew what they were doing.

Which was a damn shame, because that club was okay – but I knew I could turn it into something really, really great if they would just give me the chance. It might have been hard for them to wrap their heads around, but the way they were going about things was just old-fashioned. They needed someone who could kick them into the here and now, and I knew that I was the guy to do it.

So, what are you going to do? Pete asked, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows pointedly. Peter had answered the ad I’d put in the local paper looking for someone with business experience to help seal a few of these deals, and he sure as hell hadn’t let me down on that. Forthright and clever, I knew that he was going to make getting what I wanted that much easier. If I would actually listen to him, of course.

I’m going to try and make another meeting with her, I replied, knowing that it was a lie. But tonight, I’m going to see my cousin.

Right, Pete replied, and he eyed me for a moment, as though there was more he wanted to say. I raised my eyebrows at him and dared him to challenge me on this, but he thought better of it, whatever was running through his head.

I’ll see you at the office, he replied, and with that, he put his money on the table to pay up for his drink and food, and got to his feet to leave. He grabbed his impeccably-tailored jacket from where it had been hanging on the back of the seat, nodded to me, and with that, was on his way. Leaving me alone with my thoughts once more.

Which wasn’t exactly a state of affairs I was happy with it. Checking my watch, I realized that it was nearly time for me to head down to catch up with Jett and Olivia. They had invited me round for dinner that evening, doing a movie and some wine, and I was more than happy to join them. Normally, I would have been looking for any excuse to go out on the town and see what was bubbling under the surface of San Fran that evening, but I was worried that I might run into a certain redhead who I had been trying my best to avoid since – well, since it had all happened, of course.

I drove down to their place, picked up some dessert on the way, and when I got there, Olivia was already in the kitchen putting together some plates of food for us as Jett came to the door.

Hey, buddy, he greeted me with a quick hug, and he jerked his head inside the house. Come on, come in, we’re just getting set up for tonight...

I headed inside, took off my coat, and grinned as I looked around. It made me happy to see how much Jett had settled into life here, especially after the problems he’d had when he first arrived. I knew that it had been hard as hell for him, letting go of everything that had happened, but I was proud to say that he had actually done it – or at least, he had started to, which was more than a lot of people in his position could say. Olivia played a big part in that, her constant kindness and care through all of this had been enough to get his feet on the ground once more. And he deserved it, after everything he had been through. He deserved it more than any of us.

I helped pour the wine and take it over to the table, and they set up the movie that we were going to watch. As usual, we just chatted through the movie, barely paying attention to whatever blockbuster was playing on the screen in front of us. It was just an excuse for the three of us to get together and hang out, a break from work for both me and Jett. I knew that he needed the excuse to actually take a break in the same way I did, and I was glad that he was willing to provide it.

Hey, if you want to stick around, we’re going to call Eli in a little while, Jett suggested to me. Eli, another one of our cousins, was down in Miami right now, and I had hardly heard anything from him since he had arrived there. But I missed him the same way I missed all of my family, and I would be glad to get the chance to talk with him for a little while. I nodded at once.

Yeah, that sounds good, I agreed, and Olivia waved me over to the computer.

Can you help me get him set up, then? She asked, pulling a face. I’ve never been too good with this technology stuff...

And with that, I helped her out and got the call all ready to go. It didn’t take long till Eli’s face popped up on the screen in front of us, a little fuzzy because of the pixel resolution, but otherwise good. He grinned widely as soon as he saw the three of us there, and I couldn’t help but do the same.

Hey, everyone, he greeted us. What’s going on in the city?

We caught up for a little while, filling Eli in on everything that had been happening since he had been away – he was younger than Jett and I, and I knew that he was a little more restless, too, always looking for whatever it was that the world could gift to him. It seemed like an exhausting way to live, but it seemed to work for him, and I certainly wasn’t going to go acting like I had any right to claim what he should or shouldn’t be doing with his life. I was the one avoiding a meeting that I knew I should have taken right now. I was hardly a bastion of responsibility.

Thanks for visiting tonight, man, Jett told me at the door, and I nodded. He put his arm around Olivia, who beamed at me.

And you know you’re always welcome, right? She fussed. I nodded.

I know, I laughed. I should hope so, considering I helped move you into this place, right?

Yeah, yeah, Olivia giggled, and she swatted her hand at me as though getting rid of a fly. Now, get on your way, before you get too comfortable.

I headed back to my place. It was an apartment I had started renting so I had a place to call my own as long as I was out here. As soon as I stepped through the door, I was hit by just how damn quiet it was in here.

Which was what I wanted tonight, really. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. I was taking a weekend off from the clubs, because I needed to get my head out of that side of things for a hot minute. And, well, because I knew that if I kept going back then I was going to run into a certain redhead that I had been trying to avoid.

I lay there in bed after I had showered, tossing and turning and feeling like there were ants crawling all over my body. I had com to San Francisco to change my life, but it felt like the place was crushing in on me in that moment. Too quiet, it was too damn quiet for my liking. I needed something bigger, better, bolder. I needed to go out and feel the excitement of being surrounded by people, being filled with the sound and the liquor and the taste of that thrill on my tongue...

I eventually managed to fall asleep, but I was tossing and turning all night long and felt like I didn’t get a decent rest at all. By the time the rising sun woke me the next morning, I was already reaching for my phone to text Pete and tell him not to bother coming into the office that morning because I needed to take a few days off and forget about all this for a while.

But then, I sat up in bed and shook my head. No. I wasn’t going to flake out on this. I had made a commitment coming down here, a commitment that I wasn’t going to forget about anytime soon. And that was the end of it. No arguments. I was going to go to work today just the same way I did every day, and I was going to do whatever it required of me to make sure that I landed everything that I wanted. You didn’t get where you needed to be without making a few sacrifices, right? Well, I would consider this night’s sleep a sacrifice to the Gods in return for making everything right. I had a job to do. And I wasn’t going to flake out on it for want of a little more rest.

2

Veronica

I

checked myself in the mirror, twisting back and forth and hoping that I didn’t look too bad – shit, I could have used Josie around to tell me whether or not I was about to make a fool of myself. She was always the one who assured me that I was looking hot, or coaxed me into something a little more flattering.

But tonight, she was already at the club, and I certainly wasn’t going to call her up and get in her way. Because tonight was the very night that she was going to be making her debut as a DJ. I could hardly wait to see her – shit, it was hard to believe that this was actually happening, that this girl that I loved so much who had worked so hard for so long was finally going to be getting what had been coming to her this whole time.

And I was being sent out to the club on a business mission, anyway – that's what I could tell myself, to justify heading out late into the night when I knew that I had work the next day. America and Rafe, they had asked me to head out here to see how Lando’s was doing, told me that I was in the age range that would take one look and just know how it was handling itself. I didn’t exactly hit the clubs too much these days, but I wasn’t going to turn down the chance to go see Josie play for the first time live, even if it meant having to report back to work on what it was looking like out there as a result.

I had chosen this dark green sparkly minidress, one that I hadn’t put on since college, when I had been more likely to actually wear shit like it on the regular. It was Josie who had talked me into buying it even then, telling me that it would look so good when I let down my red hair. Green and red, she told me, go together so well, you’re going to look so good...

And if she thought it looked nice, then she was probably right and it probably did. I tried to soothe myself, to stop myself from getting too up in my own head, but it was too late. It had been a stressful week as it was, and the last thing I needed was for some of that stress to leak over into what was meant to be a night of fun for me and everyone else involved.

Jaden. Jaden Bailey. He had been the one to make this week such a pain in my ass, and I doubted that he had even thought about me since he had made our first