“My Happy Pills stash,” Kelly answered in a low tone as if what she just told her was a naughty secret. Margie looked annoyed, probably thinking about the inconvenience she had to go through so Kelly could get her fix. “I had it in my purse, in a small bottle. It must have rolled away when Harry wanted me to take off my panties on his desk. You know how tricky Harry is.”
“I understand, I—”
“One time, he wanted me to use his toothbrush—”
“Miss Evers!” Margie looked very uncomfortable. “I’ll be at my desk when you’re finished.”
“Sure, sure,” Kelly agreed. “It won’t be long. Hey, did I ever tell you a funny story about when Harry and I had a group org—”
Margie vanished from sight. Kelly could hear the personal assistant’s frantic steps down the hallway, wanting to get away as fast as possible. Kelly wanted to laugh. Guess who was the prude now? Maybe Margie knew what kind of man she’d worked for all these years and felt that she didn’t need to hear all her boss’s dirty details.
Kelly crawled on the carpet near Strickland’s desk, pretending she was looking for her Happy Pills bottle. She knew Strickland had installed a surveillance camera in his office, therefore she must act natural so Strickland wouldn’t suspect a thing. He would know that Kelly had been in his office after hours—Nicolla had told her that Strickland paid attention to his visitors’ log.
When she reached to where Strickland had his server, Kelly fished an AI stick drive from her cleavage and plugged it into the server’s data jack. She then crept away while activating the drive via a mini remote that she’d also stowed in her brassiere.
Kelly scrambled up and sighed theatrically, acting as if she couldn’t find what she was looking for. In the meantime, the hacker AI she had programmed to infiltrate Strickland’s data vault was doing its job. It would take less than a minute for the Trojan horse programme to attach to Strickland’s mainframe. When it had finished, Kelly would be able to infiltrate Strickland’s data vault through her home computer.
She padded to the sofa and pretended she was inspecting its nooks and crannies to see if her Happy Pills bottle had fallen between the sofa cushions. The mini remote inside her bra vibrated, telling her the hacker AI had finished its job. Kelly acted as if she was frustrated and went back to crawling around to retrieve the drive stick. As soon as it was secured, nestled between her breasts, she yelled as if she’d found what she was looking for.
The ruckus attracted Margie’s attention. “Did you find it?” The PA poked her head through the door.
“Hell fucking yeah.” Kelly gave a wide grin. She’d got the hang of Nicolla’s foul mouth habit. “I’m a happy girl.”
“Good for you, Miss Evers.” From her tone, Kelly knew Margie couldn’t care less. The PA just wanted her to get the hell out of Strickland’s office as fast as possible.
“Well, thank you for your help, Margie dearie.” Kelly strutted to where Margie was. “You’re a doll.” She could hear Margie’s response as she walked away. It was more like a grumble.
“You’re welcome, Miss Evers.”
Hank Zachary Durbo watched with his mouth wide-open when Kelly barged into his office without an appointment. It seemed that Durbo recognised who Nicolla Evers was, Romana’s glamorous porn star. Kelly made herself comfortable on one of the sofas while Durbo’s secretary apologised to her boss for Kelly’s intrusion.
“That’s okay, Miss Cole.” Durbo gestured for his secretary to go away. “I’ll handle this one.” The secretary stabbed Kelly with a poisonous glare and stalked out of Durbo’s office. “I don’t believe we’ve met before, Miss…” Durbo took a seat next to Kelly, his eyes flickering a bit too long on her thighs. This morning, as part of her deception as Nicolla, Kelly was wearing a micro-skirt and a matching racy top, leaving nothing to the imagination.
“Evers. Nicolla Evers. No, I don’t believe we have.” Kelly proffered her hand. Durbo shook it with great enthusiasm. “I need legal representation and my friend recommended your name, Mr Durbo. She told me you’re the best lawyer money could buy.”
Durbo let out a sympathetic smile. Kelly hated it when he did that. He was so full of it. “I do have the most win-case ratio in the country.”
Oh, brother. Kelly gave an inward sigh. Durbo was good because he was a devious, cutthroat bastard. And in this case, to help her win against Strickland, Kelly needed a lawyer with a devious but brilliant mind who wasn’t afraid to do anything to win the case. She needed a black-hearted devil in a litigation lawyer’s skin, and Durbo was the incarnation of the Prince of Darkness himself, in the legal field. “Yeah, Kelly said you’d be able to give me the best defence possible.”
The smile on Durbo’s face evaporated. “Kelly?”
“Yeah, Kelly White.” She gave a broad grin, enjoying this mental torture. “I was originally going to hire her, but she was too occupied with her health problem right now.”
Durbo looked incredulous. “Kelly White recommended my services to you?”
“Hello? I wouldn’t be here if Kelly didn’t tell me to come.” Kelly rolled her eyes. She rummaged inside her purse and took out a holo-cube. “Do you know Harry Strickland, Mr Durbo?”
“I believe I’ve read some articles about him in the magazines. He made his fortune in the entertainment industry.”
“He’s a fucking smut peddler. A sleazy, corrupt, asswipe son of a bitch who’s cheated everybody who’s ever worked for him.”
Durbo looked surprised by the profanities. “Well, I didn’t know you had such strong feelings—”
“Let’s cut the crap and jump directly into the chase, shall we? What I want from you is to get me out of Strickland’s contract.” Kelly shoved the holo-cube into Durbo’s hand. He took it with hesitance. “The digital copy of my contract is on page three.”
Durbo straightened in his seat and plugged the holo-cube into a media reader he took from his pocket. A white and blue holographic projection popped out from the reader’s lens. Silence stretched between them as Durbo scrutinised the legal document that bound Nicolla as Strickland’s slave. Durbo read it several times. His face filled with awe, then amusement when he finally finished. “I’ve never seen such a well written contract like this before, Ms Evers. To be honest, there’s not much I can do in this matter. Have you consulted an entertainment lawyer? My field of expertise is in cor—”
“Corporate litigation,” Kelly finished off for him. “Yeah, yeah, I know. What if I tell you I know some of Strickland’s secrets, and let’s say if we get a hold of his cards, it will force him to cancel my contract?”