Powerless

Lauren Cooper

Description

"More. I needed more. I never anticipated how much that need would change my life. I'd pushed my law firm into this merger to get more. My entire life, I'd battled the odds stacked against me, never once letting anyone tell me I couldn't do something, and I wouldn't start now. I didn't need anything, but I wanted it. I craved it, and in the end, I craved him. I make my money from defending people in a court room. I make a living from other people's crimes. So why can't I bring the one person accountable for crimes against me to justice? The truth? I'm powerless." Mia Bellucci is a head-strong business woman. Her company is at a standstill and her only solution is in the hands of Liam Hadleigh. What she doesn't realise is that a lot more than her company is at stake. After throwing caution to the wind, and giving this new merger her all, Mia finds herself handing over more than just her business. Her attention is completely on him and making the money she so desperately craves for peace of mind. So much so that she doesn't see her past slithering through the cracks.

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 août 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528962681
• Langue: English

Extrait

Powerless
Lauren Cooper
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-08-30
Powerless About the Author About the Cover Dedication Copyright Information © Prologue Six Months Ago Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Fuck. Everything Hurts Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Author Note
About the Author
Lauren Cooper is a Welsh author, who lives just outside the Welsh Capital with her husband, son and Spotty Monster. Lauren started writing when she was just a teenager but since the birth of her little boy has decided to pursue her own dreams as a way of showing him he can too.
After graduating from university with an upper second-class honours degree, Lauren decided that she was going to dedicate any spare time she had to writing and getting her characters out into the world!
Contemporary romance and erotica novels are something that Lauren reads on a daily basis. She also has a blog that you can follow where she posts reviews, updates and recommendations on her latest reads.
The Power series is the first work that Lauren has published, and she hopes that you love both Liam and Amelia just as much as she did!
About the Cover
Lauren Cooper is a Welsh author, who lives just outside the Welsh Capital with her husband, son and Spotty Monster. Lauren started writing when she was just a teenager but since the birth of her little boy has decided to pursue her own dreams as a way of showing him he can too.
After graduating from university with an upper second-class honours degree, Lauren decided that she was going to dedicate any spare time she had to writing and getting her characters out into the world!
Contemporary romance and erotica novels are something that Lauren reads on a daily basis. She also has a blog that you can follow where she posts reviews, updates and recommendations on her latest reads.
The Power series is the first work that Lauren has published, and she hopes that you love both Liam and Amelia just as much as she did!
Dedication
For my husband.
Thank you for all your encouragement and support. For reading and re-reading my work.
For loving me.
Copyright Information ©
Lauren Cooper (2019)
The right of Lauren Cooper to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528962681 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Prologue

Six Months Ago
It’s not enough. Pushing away from my desk and throwing my glasses down on top of the numbers for the past quarter, I resist the urge to scream.
“This isn’t good enough, Bec,” I manage to keep my voice low, contradictory to the rage that’s growing inside me.
“I know this isn’t what you wanted to see, Mia, but we are trying.”
“Not hard enough,” I huff, pinching the bridge of my nose in silent frustration.
“I need it to be bigger than this. What ideas have you come up with?”
I pray to God that she has something good. I need this firm to be more than just a high-street pit stop for divorcing couples. I want more. Granted those divorcing couples are always worth a fair few million, they aren’t anywhere near what I envision for Bellucci Law. I can hear the other law firms in London laughing at me, and I hate it. I’m done being laughed at. I want that top spot.
Clasping her hands together in her lap, and clearing her throat before starting, Becca has the answer that could change my life forever.
“Well, do you remember a few months ago we had an offer from Hadleigh Solicitors to buy Bellucci?” I narrow my eyes at her. If she’s even thinking that I’m giving up here, she can leave.
“I’m not selling!” I hiss through clenched teeth. It’s the last thing I want for Becca to leave. I need her, more than I let on sometimes.
“Is that what you want me to do? Give up? If that’s true, then you know where the door is,” I point towards it, in the off chance she missed it on her way in here.
“Mia. Don’t start being all bitchy on me. Hear me out!” she snaps. Becca knows full well she’s the only person who can get away with talking to me like that, anyone else and I would have fired them on the spot.
I bite my tongue to stop the snarky come back I know is itching to escape. I’m far from finished with this company, and it’s my baby. Imagine this being your new-born and you might just understand how important it is for me. I created it, I nurtured it, and now I’m pushing it to become better than I ever thought it could be.
“Fine,” I reply on an inhale.
“Well, I know Hadleigh Solicitors are still looking to expand, I took the liberty of calling them.”
“And?”
“David Hadleigh, the CEO is retiring in the next few months, and his son Liam is taking over. I pitched the idea of a merger to them.”
Merge? As in make the two companies one? Before my wayward thoughts can muster up reasons why this isn’t a good idea, Becca continues.
“I’ve put together some of their files for you to look at. The numbers look good, if not great. Some of the clients they have are big spenders, Mia. David liked the new departments we have here, and by combining the two companies, we set to become a multi-staffed all round law firm. They specialise in Corporate and Business Law, and by combining our Criminal, Family and Media departments with theirs, I honestly think it could be truly amazing,” she finishes with a slanted smile and hope-filled forest green eyes.
“I’d be working with the son then?”
“Yes, I haven’t met him, but his reputation is firm in the industry. I haven’t heard any complaints about his work.”
I poke my tongue into my cheek, crossing my arms as I think. There’s always a catch somewhere, always a ruse. I can’t yet put my finger on this one, but it’s bound to slap me in the face. I never wanted this; I wanted to make Bellucci successful on my own; I hate the idea of having to partner with someone else to achieve it.
“Stop it, Mia,” Becca admonishes me from her seat. I raise a questioning eyebrow at her, and she huffs before coming to her feet.
“Look, I know this isn’t what you initially wanted. I get it. But listen to me when I say, this is a once in a lifetime chance to finally make your place in this world. How much longer are you going to look over your shoulder, Mia? How much longer are you going to live in fear and panic that one day she’ll turn up again? If you do this,” she points her finger to the ground, showing authority, “then you get to have security like you’ve never had before.”
I take a few minutes, gazing out of the floor to ceiling windows of my office. The world is dark, the jet-black sky shrouded by thunderous clouds. Lightning lights up the sky with thick flashes every few seconds, as rain pounds down on the window in sorrowful little droplets. Do I have another choice? If I want to take back what was wrongly taken from me all those years ago, I don’t see any other way. Becca’s words swirl around my head like a whirlpool in the middle of the sea, making me slightly nauseous. London busies itself below my feet, and I wonder if she’s here, hidden beneath one of the domes of the hundreds of umbrellas on the street. The one person no who longer exists in my life. The figure who gave me breath, the poisoned air into my lungs, the pounding heart beneath my once shattered ribs. Does she think of me as I think of her? Does she wonder if I still care for her as any loving daughter should? Only I’m not a loving daughter. I turn around and look at my office, it’s not bad in comparison, but it could be better. It has to be better. I realise then that my mother will never witness any of my success. Why? Because I said so. She is a woman—no. Not a woman, a person, so undeserving of the life of luxury after what she put me through. I will never let her break me again. Not if I have anything to do with it.
“Let me see those files.”
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Chapter One
Staring up at my new office building I let out a sigh, my warm breath forming a cloud around me in the freezing London air. This is a good thing, or so I keep telling myself. In the back of my mind, I know this merger is beneficial to both Bellucci Law and Hadleigh Solicitors, but something is holding me back from jumping around with excitement. That something is Liam Hadleigh.
I worked my damn arse off to get Bellucci Law where it is today, and I sure as hell am not going to let some pompous daddy’s boy ruin it for me. The merger was agreed months ago, beneficial to both individual companies for financial and economic reasons. Bellucci was at a standstill, even after the development of the new Media Law department and I had wanted to push it further. While idiotic millionaire and billionaire divorcees plus the occasional criminal agree to pay the above average hourly rate we charge, it still wasn’t enough to give me the security I so damn need. And that brings me to now. Last night I’d stayed up reading o