White Collared Part Four: Passion Read Online Free PDF Page A

to keep her mind occupied or she’d soon go crazy with boredom.
    Lisa chewed on her lower lip. “Well . . . I am late for an appointment. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
    She waved her hand. “Not at all.”
    The secretary dropped the stack on Kate’s desk. “Thanks. I was supposed to have these filed last week, but with all the press scheduling I ended up doing for you both, I never got around to it. Would you mind not telling him?”
    Lisa looked so nervous, Kate felt a bit sorry for her. Nick did have a way of intimidating those who didn’t know him. Hell, she considered him a close friend and he still intimidated her sometimes.
    Kate made a motion like she was zipping her lips. “I won’t say a word. Don’t worry. I’ll do it right now and he’ll never know.”
    Lisa huffed out a sigh and relaxed her shoulders. “Thanks. Because I’ve waited three months for this appointment and I’d hate to have to cancel.”
    She shooed her out of the office. “Go. I got this.”
    “Thanks. I owe you one.” Lisa smiled shyly and closed the door on the way out.
    Kate picked up the top file and flipped it open. She’d grown tired of thinking about nothing but Jaxon for the last few days. How could she help it when every interview was about his wife’s murder and how hard she and Nick had worked to prove his innocence? Thank goodness her undercover work as a submissive remained secret. They were able to circumvent certain questions by using the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine as an excuse and simply left out the details of how they got the information that led them to Joseph’s computer and the knife in his desk.
    With several hours to kill, she figured she may as well read through his caseload. That way, when he assigned her some of them, she’d already be familiar with the facts and where they were in the legal process.
    As she studied them, she discovered Nick had taken most on contingency and at least a quarter of them pro bono . Why hadn’t he told her? It was rare for a high-profile attorney to take so many free cases. Usually, they went to the lowest-ranked lawyers in the firm and only for appearance’s sake. Nick hadn’t even publicized it.
    Of course, based on the 30 percent he’d make on his successful contingency cases, he’d still earn plenty of money both for himself and the firm.
    The last few days she’d wavered on whether she wanted to pursue a career at a large law firm or not, but seeing this side of Nick cemented her conviction that she’d made the right decision when she’d chosen her path all those years ago. Like him, she could have it all. She didn’t have to turn her back on the people who couldn’t afford to pay an attorney. She’d get the chance to help those who really needed her.
    Taking a sip of her bottled water, she checked the clock and realized Nick would be back in the office soon. If she didn’t want to get Lisa in trouble, she’d better finish the filing. She hadn’t had the opportunity to go through all the cases, but at least she had gotten a better picture of what her life could be like in ten years if she stayed at Joseph and Long.
    Not that it would be called that for much longer. She couldn’t imagine the remaining partners wanted the name Joseph associated with the firm after the scandal. It wouldn’t surprise her if they voted it to become Trenton and Long. Nick’s name would bring it the recognition they wanted, especially when there was talk of him going into politics.
    She could see him someday as a member of the Senate or even as President of the United States. He had that suave, confident demeanor and all-American good looks like some of the more modern politicians. She couldn’t imagine herself as the wife of a politician. It wasn’t solely because of her background, but the fact was, it wasn’t a life she’d want for herself. She wanted to be free to speak her mind and not worry about the repercussions. Ironic since