Read An Affair of the Heart for Free Online Page B

lean, firm body. But above all, she was rock hard and
colder than liquid nitrogen.
    “Yes,” Alex
said. “I’m sure.” He stopped pacing and turned to face Helen. He
was now level with the side of her desk, and could see her clearly
behind it, lounging in that big leather chair. His eyes drifted to
her legs. She was wearing a black business suit, and the skirt was
short. Her legs looked most attractive, clad no doubt in black
stockings, he thought, not tights. His eyes moved slowly up to her
face, and he stared into her eyes. She stared coldly back.
    “Had a good
look?” she asked him, her eyes unwavering.
    Alex turned his
back on her. “I had a good look before I met you, Miss Worthington,
when I chose you and this firm,” he said, his voice as cold as
hers. “I didn’t choose you then because you were the best. I chose
you because you were the best for this job. You see, I needed
someone who was totally without conscience, someone who didn’t care
one tiny little bit about the consequences of what we’re doing. I
needed someone who would only care about winning this case.”
    Alex turned
around to face her once more. He stepped forward and leaned on her
desk, staring back into her eyes again. “You fit the part
perfectly, Miss Worthington,” he continued in the same cold tones.
“Because you’re like me. Totally heartless. But together we’re
going to put that right, aren’t we?”
    Helen
Worthington smiled. It was a beautiful vision. “When you brought
your account to me last week, I wondered why you had chosen us,”
she said in that silky voice. “I knew that your wife had recently
been killed, but I had no idea that you were contemplating such a
remarkable case. You’re right, of course. If we win, that Carter
girl could die. But if I win...Well, with the publicity this case
is going to attract, my reputation would be enhanced on an
international scale. In my mind there’s no contest. If I had to,
I’d shoot her with a gun.”
    Alex grunted.
He went back to sit in one of the easy chairs positioned opposite
her large desk for visiting clients. “So what does this mean?” he
asked her, holding up the letter that she had handed him
earlier.
    “Now that I’m
sure of your intent, it means nothing.”
    “They’re
fighting a joint case and you tell me that it means nothing?”
    “Then I’ll just
have to separate them, won’t I? The hospital will soon see the
benefit of dropping the Carter woman and her daughter. They know
it’s the heart we want, so I’ll just give them an easy way out, and
they’ll take it. The Carter’s survive on social security, so
without the hospital to back them up anymore, they’ll soon end up
with some overworked, underpowered legal aid solicitor. They’ll be
easy meat, and I’ll smash them.”
    “And the other
hospital? The MRI?”
    “They’ll
settle. It’s only money you want out of them. They know they’re at
fault, so for them, it’s just about containing the damage.”
    Helen paused,
looking closely at Alex Williams. He looked rather thin and gaunt.
Haggard, even. He obviously wasn’t eating or sleeping too well. In
fact he looked like he had slept in his suit. “Actually, I think
you might be the weak point in our case, Mr Williams,” she said to
him.
    “You think so?”
he replied, eyebrows raised. “And why is that?”
    “Because you’re
going to be the ogre in this story. The newspapers and the media
are going to camp outside your house. They’re going to paint you as
an evil, uncaring and bitter man.” Her voice took on a more mocking
tone. “You’re the man trying to tear the heart out of some poor,
innocent, young girl. People are going to boo and hiss at you in
the street. They’ll throw things at you. By the way you look, I
don’t think you can take the pressure.”
    Alex paused for
a moment before replying. “They mutilated my dead wife,” he said in
a low voice. “My Sarah. They took out parts of her, and then
hastily put