Hearsay (9 page)

Roman Bradford was a renowned defense attorney with fifteen years of trial experience under his belt. He rarely lost a case, and Derrick was already salivating just from thinking about how much he could learn from him.

Not to mention, he would never refuse to spend time with the man, and he wasn't above using his friend's very serious legal situation as an excuse. He knew it would be better for Tyler if Derrick bowed out and let Roman get a criminal defense associate that was familiar with sexual molestation charges to second chair him. But this was a golden opportunity that would allow Derrick to be around the man he wanted, and he'd be damned if he passed on it.

"He hasn't been indicted yet," Roman commented after perusing the intake sheet. "Has Mr. Coleman talked to the police investigator or representatives from any child protection agencies again?"

"I advised him not to."

"Any new developments I'm not aware of?"

"He's received a couple of phone calls from a reporter."

"That means someone close to Mr. Coleman has been talking or the DA's office has tipped the reporter off." Roman added that information to the intake sheet. "General public hysteria will promptly ensue the moment the allegations are made public." Roman closed the folder and wrote a few notes down on his pad. "The usual time frame between the first accusation and arrest is three to six months. It's only been five weeks since Mr. Coleman was first questioned, but it won't be long before he gets charged."

Derrick frowned. "Do you think DA Lovett has taken a personal interest in the case?"

"Yes."

"We need to be prepared for that."

"We need to defeat the allegations before the case officially starts." Roman corrected him, and damn if the confidence in his voice didn't get Derrick half hard. "We will if we start off with a level playing field."

Derrick almost sighed.

It would be torture being around Roman. Only for a little while, though. If Derrick played his cards right, it wouldn't be long before they started having the wild monkey sex he'd been dreaming of for so long.

"I need the names and contact information for the police investigator, the ACS representative, and the witness," Roman continued. "I'll also need a list of all the people that have worked at the Coleman Safe House in the past five years. Get me their employment status and last known addresses for those who are no longer employed. Have Mr. Coleman come tomorrow and make sure my assistant gets everything I asked for before five o'clock today."

"I will."
 

"And I want you both in my conference room at ten o'clock, sharp."

His conference room, his office, the elevator, the damn bathroom… It didn't matter where Roman wanted him. It could be a damn alley, and he'd be there naked and with a bucket of lube.

Too bad his boss didn't mean it like
that
, though.

"Yes, sir."

Roman gathered his belongings and got up from his chair. Derrick followed suit and waited for him by the door, forcing his boss to stand closer than if Derrick had not stood in his way… so much closer that he could clearly see the black rim around his boss's pretty green eyes.

Roman hesitated for a moment, but after taking a deep breath he extended his hand for Derrick to shake. "Good to see you again, Derrick."

"You could've seen me whenever you wanted to," he told his boss with a trembling voice. "Certainly you knew that, right?"

Roman glanced at their hands together and shook his head. His half-smile was sad, and his eyes shone with longing when he looked up. "Lack of wanting was never the issue."

Derrick was struck speechless by Roman's whispered parting words.

If he didn't figure out what the hell the deal was with his boss, Derrick would end up going bonkers by the end of the month.

Chapter Six

Roman listened carefully to Tyler Coleman's account of the events that led to the accusations against him, making occasional notations on a notepad without looking away from him.

Now that they had signed a retainer agreement, he was contractually bound to represent Mr. Coleman zealously and to the best of his ability. In turn, Mr. Coleman had the responsibility to be cooperative and truthful with him. Whether or not he would be remained to be seen. Roman always gave his new clients the benefit of the doubt, but after fifteen years of defending people charged with felony offenses, he knew better than to believe everything they said. Some people were excellent liars when their futures were on the line. They would say and do whatever they had to in order to stay out of jail. That was a game Roman wasn't willing to play. He refused to get blindsided by prosecutors in a courtroom and have the jury come back with a guilty verdict because he'd been a gullible fool.

This was the reason his gaze had been glued to Tyler Coleman for the past forty minutes.

Words were cheap, but nonverbal communication was worth its weight in gold. A person's body language revealed their real feelings and thoughts, and Roman relied heavily on his ability to read those signals during initial interviews. It was the best way of knowing if he was being misguided or flat out lied to. In fact, it was a method that rarely ever failed, and sometimes Roman wished he were mistaken in his conclusions. It wasn't often that he was, though, and that was why right now he felt like the biggest idiot of them all.

Tyler Coleman's gestures and facial expression indicated that he was telling the truth when he said he had never been alone with his fifteen-year-old accuser. Roman could see he was nervous, angry, and distressed. Genuinely worried about the future of the kids he was trying to help. Roman had no doubt whatsoever of his innocence. He concluded that Mr. Coleman was an honest man, even if his posture indicated that extremely important information had been withheld. Not by him, but by spunky Derrick Swain.

Roman ignored the tightness in his chest at the sight of the two men sitting across from him, resisted the urge to ask Derrick to leave the conference room, and forced himself to continue going over the basic questionnaire he had prepared the night before. He had to maintain a professional demeanor and do his job. This wasn't the time to confront the senior associate about his bold move.

"When's the last time you saw Robert Yates?" he asked in a clipped tone, proof that keeping his conflicted emotions under control was easier said than done.

Tyler Coleman leaned back in his chair and tugged on his right ear after hearing his question.

Derrick frowned and tilted his head to the side, studying Roman intently with his seductive, amber-colored eyes.
 

Clearly both men had picked up on his foul mood and were now wondering what had caused it, but Roman couldn't acknowledge the reason behind it, not even to himself. He had no intention of enlightening them.
 

"I think about a month and a half ago," Coleman replied cautiously, as if not wanting to rattle Roman. "Or maybe it was longer." He clutched his hands and worried his lower lip, but his eye contact was strong when he looked at Roman. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted. "I see about fifty kids every day, so…"

"Have any of your present or former sexual partners been approached by the authorities?"

"Not that I know of."

"What about personnel at the Coleman Safe House?"

"Two of the security guards," Mr. Coleman said with a wince.

Roman wrote down the answer and made a conscious effort to keep his voice low and his tone polite when he said, "I assume you keep a record of all the kids that pass through your safe house."

Coleman nodded. "We always have them fill out forms with their basic information. Everything is documented."

"Does that policy apply to the kids you turn away as well?"

"If the Coleman Safe House can't provide shelter, we refer the kid to a different agency and make a notation of the reason why the application was denied," Coleman explained. "I like to follow-up with a phone call to find out if the kid was accepted, but I don't always get the chance. There's a lot to do in the house, and most days we're understaffed."

"Why was Robert Yates denied shelter the last time you saw him?" Roman asked as he made notations, pressing the pen so hard that it almost snapped in half.

He had an enormous amount of respect for individuals so dedicated to their jobs that they never hesitated to go the extra mile, but at the moment he wanted to barf.

Perfection made Roman nauseous. He preferred to be around people that had character and physical flaws, as they felt more normal and approachable to him. But after almost an hour in Tyler Coleman's presence, Roman had yet to find something about him that wasn't compelling. He was an attractive man with a heart of gold, but he rubbed Roman the wrong way. Had he suspected he'd be defending a quasi-angel, he would've never caved to his work partners' pressure and taken this case.

"We'd had him in the house six times in the past three months," Coleman said, looking down at his hands. "Let's just say he had exhausted our resources. There was nothing we could do for him anymore."

"What Tyler is too altruistic to say is that Robbie Yates antagonized, fought with, and stole the other kids' meager possessions every time he stayed at the safe house," Derrick blurted, his gaze darting between his friend and Roman. "Instead of bonding and becoming friends with all those kids that understood his situation from their own personal experiences, Robbie chose to be a total assh—"

"Mr. Swain," Roman chastised without looking directly at him. It was a desperate attempt to hide his reaction to Derrick's outrage on behalf of his friend.

He hated seeing how protective Derrick was of Tyler Coleman, but it was in his best interest not to let his employee discover that particular detail. Not after their brief encounter the previous day. Not after realizing Derrick was still attracted to him and feeling stupidly happy as a result. Not after practically admitting to Derrick that he had never stopped wanting him.

Roman assumed it was his own body language that had given Derrick the courage to bridge the gap he had kept between them and demand an explanation for his actions. He wouldn't offer one, and it was his responsibility to ensure Derrick didn't try to broach the subject again. He had to stay out of the younger man's way and allow him to pursue his lifelong dream of a marrying his soul mate and adopting a couple of kids.

"Robbie Yates is bad news," Derrick stated, leaning forward in his seat and planting his hands on the table, and abstaining from using another epithet. "We can't go easy on him."

Roman's attention was captured by Derrick's hands. They were strong and soft-looking. His fingers were long and his nails freshly manicured, and he couldn't think of a single thing he wanted more than feeling them scratching his back as he drove Derrick out of his mind with passion.

"While I don't appreciate Robbie's false accusation, I can't forget he's just a kid going through a rough time," Coleman said, snapping Roman out of his inappropriate thoughts.
 

Derrick glared at his friend. "This isn't the time to protect that little prick."

"I'm not trying to protect him," Coleman refuted, smiling fondly at Derrick.

Derrick shook his head and looked at Roman. "The last time Robbie Yates caused trouble in the safe house he was escorted out by security," he told Roman. "He stood on the sidewalk yelling insults until the police showed up. He even said he was going to burn the place down." He squeezed Tyler's arm in a reassuring manner, and, for Christ's sake, had he just
winked
at the guy? "We have to be forthcoming with information. I know that event will tip the scale in our favor."
 

Roman was one hundred percent in agreement with Derrick's assessment, but he resented the way in which that particular detail had been presented. Derrick shouldn't have been the one telling him, and he certainly shouldn't have been touching their client when they discussed the case.

"Fine," Coleman said in a low voice, looking Derrick straight in the eye. "I'll do whatever you say. You know I trust you implicitly when it comes to this."

Coleman's almost-whisper was probably only meant for Derrick's ears. Roman heard it anyway.

If professionalism wasn't so important to Roman, he would've kicked Derrick out of the room right then without a second thought. It would serve the senior associate right for attempting to pull one over on him by denying his involvement with Tyler Coleman.

He leaned back in his chair and took in the exchange of trust and support happening in front of him.
 

The conference room table the senior partners shared had forty chairs, yet Coleman had chosen one right next to Derrick's. Their elbows had rubbed a few times. They were sitting so close that Coleman might as well be sitting on Derrick's lap. But even more telling was the fact that, whenever he needed reassurance, Coleman would bite his lip and leaned toward the man who'd been willing to represent him even though he didn't know squat about criminal defense law.

Like he was doing now…

Exactly
like he was doing now.

An image of Coleman's tongue exploring the perfection that was Derrick's smooth, caramel-colored skin almost knocked Roman on his ass, and all of a sudden he caught himself wondering what Tyler Coleman's cock looked like. Was it
pretty
? Was he the man Derrick had made plans to see the previous night?
 

Roman closed his eyes briefly in an attempt to force away the distressing visuals that had taken a hold of him. He couldn't react to thoughts of Derrick being intimate with another man. Nothing had changed. He couldn't afford to feel this way.

He hunched over the table and shuffled through the documents Derrick had delivered to Roman's assistant. "Did the Coleman Safe House or you personally ever file a police report against Robbie Yates?" he asked, looking through the papers again. He was having the hardest time concentrating on the matter at hand. "I didn't see one last night."

"It's with the documents I just gave you." Derrick pointed to the manila envelope he'd handed Roman when he escorted Coleman to their intake interview. "Tyler only remembered earlier today."