Legally Addicted Read Free Page A

She had long ago perfected the art of the blank stare; masking her true feelings. In reality she was awash with excitement. Even though there had been plenty of time to come to terms with the idea of being brought into the partnership, it was still a thrill to finally be attending a partners’ meeting and to be involved in decisions that determined the direction and running of the firm.
    She scanned the agenda. It covered mostly routine administrative matters, a few new legal precedents and legislative changes. She was about to put the agenda down, when an italicised entry part way down the page caught her eye.
    B Spencer to join the meeting.
    ‘Who is joining the meeting?’
    She tried hard not to sound overly interested, but despite her rational brain pointing out that there could be any number of B Spencers in Sydney, her heart cycled up in speed.
    An anxious look passed between Dayton and Llewellyn.
    ‘Perhaps we should deal with the merger first?’ Llewellyn queried his colleague.
    Merger? Georgia felt as if she had been hit with an illegal windpipe-high tackle, and now lay struggling for breath on the ground. What was going on?
    ‘What merger?’
    Georgia looked from one of her colleagues to the other, both squirming in their seats, neither in any hurry to answer.
    In the end, John Dayton cleared his throat.
    ‘Some months ago, Roger and I approached Bradley Spencer with a merger proposal. At the time we received no response and assumed the offer had been rejected. Recently, however, Spencer made contact to resume negotiations, and yesterday, to our great surprise and delight, he accepted our offer.’
    ‘Well, if he accepted yesterday, it can’t be valid. That offer was made by Dayton Llewellyn — a partnership that no longer exists, having been superseded by the new one which came into being when I joined as partner,’ Georgia said, relieved to have spotted a legal argument to make against the arrangement.
    ‘Georgia, this is business, and Spencer will bring in a lot more of it. The more profit the firm generates, the better it is for all of us; but for you especially, surely you can see that?’ Roger Llewellyn said.
    Georgia didn’t need Llewellyn to remind her that her equity stake was minuscule, with the balance to be paid off over a period that would be determined by how profitable the firm was. It was, therefore, in her interests to agree to the merger. With the other partner’s significant equity shares, even if she didn’t agree it wouldn’t get her very far. Dayton and Llewellyn effectively controlled the partnership, and so called the shots.
    Georgia was still trying to process what she had learned when the meeting room door opened. Dayton and Llewellyn’s attention jerked upwards, and the men half rose from their chairs.
    ‘Welcome, Bradley, we were just bringing Georgia up to speed with the joining of our respective firms.’
    Brad took a seat opposite her, placing his briefcase on the conference table. Snapping open the clasps, he pulled out a copy of an agenda identical to hers. Georgia forced a neutral expression, nodding in his direction, hoping to project professionalism and self-possession, but however determined she might have been to maintain her composure, once she met the same intoxicating charcoal grey eyes she had stared into the night before, her body refused to play ball. Brad’s arrival had somehow coincided with a failure of the building’s aircon system, the temperature rising in the room by several degrees. All too vivid memories sent sweat leaching out of her body until her clothing clung limp around her, including her thighs, which in turn had the effect of reminding her that she was still commando under her skirt.
    And exactly why that was the case.
    This couldn’t be happening. The last time she was with Brad, they had been buck naked, and now they were going to be working together? Somehow, the wind had changed making Murphy’s Law the only legal code operating in