Chapter 4: A Hypnotic Gaze

"Excuse me," a man in a pair of green overalls said gruffly to Lily as he brushed past her with a large box in his hand. Still shaken by her reaction to the dark stranger, Lily noted a swarm of activity in the hallway in front of her office. Movers were bringing furniture into the spacious and newly-renovated offices at the far end of the building.

"Looks like today is moving day," Tara said as Lily came through the doors. She was a petite young woman with a quick smile and warm personality, perfect traits for her job as a receptionist at Flannery Law. Even Barbara's demanding style didn't faze her. According to her, she'd worked for worse. Lily found that hard to believe, especially after today.

"It'll be nice to have other people on the floor," Lily said. "It was kind of creepy with one whole end of the building deserted."

"Did you check out the furniture going in that place?" Mathew, a slender young lawyer with skin the color of melted milk chocolate in a three-piece suit, said as he sidled up to the front desk. "One couch alone looks like it costs more than my car. Someone's not messing around."

"Leave it to you to notice," Tara laughed, following his gaze through the glass doors of the office and into the hallways.

"You know I can't resist the finer things in life," Mathew said, his dimples and high fade, high top hairstyle giving him a mischievous air when he smiled. "That's why I appreciate you two so much."

"Give it a rest," Lily moaned.

"Neither of us is falling for your charms," Tara chimed in.

"You can't blame a guy for trying," Mathew joked.

"Seriously, do you practice flirting in the bathroom mirror every morning?" Tara teased.

A tall woman in a fitted gray skirt and blonde hair strode purposefully out of the elevator and down the hallway. Lily, Tara, and Mathew watched her through the office's glass doors.

"Now that's more like it," Mathew said. "She's an improvement over those crusty old accountants that used to work there."

The woman turned and gave Mathew a long, lingering look.

His cool shattered, a crimson tide swept up his neck.

"I think someone has a crush," Tara teased.

"Put your tongue back in your head," Barbara hissed at Mathew as she reappeared in a completely different outfit. "We don't fraternize with the enemy." She leveled a chastising gaze at Lily. "You've been granted a reprieve. The Petersons called, and they can't make it until after lunch. I take it you'll be able to pull yourself together by then?"

"Absolutely," Lily promised, showing Barbara the file. "I’m one hundred percent prepared."

Barbara looked unimpressed.

"But why is that woman the enemy?" Tara asked, changing the subject. Lily flashed her a grateful look.

"She works for SanguinX Pharmaceuticals," Barbara explained. "They're taking over that whole end of the building and not with the blessings of the old tenants who got two weeks to vacate. It's all very clandestine.

"How does that threaten us?" Tara asked.

"It doesn't," Barbara said. "But Bill Hanson is representing one of our clients in a personal injury case against them. A little girl with a brain tumor went blind after using one of their chemotherapy medications. Bill has been litigating the case for six months now, and even he didn't know until this morning that they were moving into the building.

"That sounds like a tough one to prove," Mathew said. "How do we know she went blind from the drug and not cancer?"

"We don't," Barbara said curtly. "But history shows that their legal team prefers to settle rather than fight in most cases. I can't say I understand the strategy, but there must be a method to their madness. From our point of view, it's a win either way, but we need to keep our cards close to our chest. Since we don't have irrefutable proof, it's probably going to boil down to a battle of wills."

"But why would they settle if there isn't solid proof that the drug caused her blindness?" Mathew asked. "Doesn't that leave them vulnerable to baseless lawsuits once word gets around that they're easy pickings?"

"Not our problem," Barbara said, shrugging. "From what I hear, with billions in earnings each year, they can afford it. Maybe they need the tax write-off."

"SanguinX…" Tara repeated the name to herself as though searching her memory. "Didn't I hear they own hundreds of acres upstate? In Monticello, if I'm not mistaken. They've got state-of-the-art laboratories that specialize in DNA research too."

"Monticello?” Lily asked. "That's over two hours away. Inconvenient, isn't it?"

Mathew shrugged. "It's pretty isolated out there. Perfect for DNA experiments. You know, like turning people into werewolves or zombies." He made a monster face and pretended to stalk Lily.

"I take it you're due in court today, Mr. Cooper," Barbara said, her tone cool, to Mathew. "Surely your time would be better spent in preparation?"

"No,” Mathew said cockily. "It's in the bag. It looks like old man Pomeroy is ready to settle." He pulled out his cell phone and checked his messages. "I've got him by the short and curlies. He's called me five times this morning."

"Impressive language for a young professional," Barbara said thinly as Mathew strode back toward his office.

Lily always admired the way Mathew seemed immune to Barbara's sharp tongue. She guessed it was because although his carefree attitude often rubbed Barbara the wrong way, he rarely lost a case. In Barbara's firm, results were far more important than what she might think of you as a person.

Suddenly there was a scuffle in the hallway. Two security guards restrained a balding man in a suit. He was shouting, demanding entrance to the SanguinX offices. "Who's that?" Lily asked.

"George Walter," Barbara said. "It was his accounting firm that got evicted to make room for SanguinX."

"What do you think he wants?" Tara asked, sticking her foot between the glass doors so they could hear better.

Mr. Walter was in mid-tirade. "You're nothing but a bunch of blood-sucking thieves who abuse your power. I leased that office for thirty years and never missed a payment."

"He doesn't sound happy," Lily said.

"Wow, who's that?" Tara asked as a tall man with dark, chiseled features appeared, heading straight for the angry man. Lily's heart leaped when she realized it was the man from the elevator. He was even better looking from a distance.

Barbara's face blanched, but she quickly hid it. "I have a feeling that's Greer Argento," she said.

“You mean like Argento Plaza?” Tara asked, impressed.

"One and the same,” Barbara said. “His looks precede him. Lily and I shared an elevator with him this morning. Unfortunately, I was distracted by Lily's lack of professionalism and didn't recognize him. I'm quite certain we made a poor first impression."

Lily remembered the handkerchief the man gave Barbara with the initials GA embroidered on them. While Barbara might be worried about his impression of them, Lily had no such concern. Remembering his kind eyes, the indigo pools of ink rimmed with luxurious lashes, she forgot all about Barbara’s insults in the elevator.

She thought about how he smelled like sea air, and more importantly, the bolt of electricity that shot up her spine when he touched her. Tracing the outline of his abdominal muscles through his linen shirt now as he moved toward her, Lily's skin tingled. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Is he single?" Tara asked, her gaze fixed on him as he reached the distraught man and pulled him quietly aside to talk. "Please God, let him be single."

"I don't think that's any concern of yours," Barbara said sharply. "Like Mr. Cooper, the employees of SanguinX Pharmaceuticals are strictly off-limits to you, at least until the case is settled." She eyed Tara with pursed lips. "Do I make myself clear?”

Tara nodded reluctantly. "He's probably above my pay grade anyway," she mumbled. "It's not like billionaires swarm me in the streets."

"Don't say that," Lily cried. "He'd be lucky to have you."

"A man like that never settles for one woman," Barbara warned. "Why would he when he can have everything and everyone he desires?"

Lily watched in fascination as Greer spoke with Mr. Walter. Since Greer's back was to her, she couldn't see his face or hear what he said, but his effect on Mr. Walter was palpable. As his fixed, unblinking eyes focused on Greer's, his furious expression slowly softened. When Greer took an envelope from his pocket and pushed it into Mr. Walter's fist, he allowed himself to be ushered into the elevator. Lily couldn't believe it when, as the doors closed, he called cheerfully to Greer: "Good luck with your new venture."

"Wow," Tara said. "It's like he hypnotized him or something. What do you think he said that could have made that kind of difference?"

"Whatever it was, that guy didn't stand a chance," Lily said.

"Don't let your fantasies run away with you," Barbara chided her, heading back to her office. "My guess would be it was more about what was in the envelope than anything he said. Nothing soothes the savage beast like a fistful of cash."