Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 89820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
And I’m ready. I’ve been preparing for this all day. If they want me to plead my case, fine. I’ve been amassing all my wins. All my assets. Everything I bring to the table. I have running list in my head, and it’s impressive.
Brooks can bring it, but I’m going to slaughter him. I’m going to fight, and fight, and fight, beating my opponent until he’s just a bloody spot on the ground. There’s no way he’s beating me.
“I called this meeting because first and foremost, I want to convey our deep appreciation for your ongoing dedication to the success of this firm.” Her gaze lands on Brooks, and she smiles. “Brooks, your skills in the courtroom are second to none. You have a way of swinging everyone present to your way of thinking, almost effortlessly. I’ve never seen anything like it. You’re a natural.”
He nods his thanks, but this is nothing he doesn’t already know. Vomit gurgles in the back of my throat, but I swallow it back as her gaze shifts to me. She doesn’t offer me the same warmth.
“Tenley, your skills at researching and picking apart the opposing counsel’s arguments have helped our clients win many cases, especially in the last year,” she says.
I wait for more. I, too, am skilled in the courtroom. I make things happen. I persuade. I’m a bulldog. I play hard ball. What about the number of times I’ve gotten a client’s child support payouts doubled, even tripled? What about the many ex-husbands I’ve sent home from divorce proceedings cursing my name? One of them even cried, which I have to say, was the highlight of my career thus far because he was one of the worst kinds of people. It was beautiful—he’d come into the courtroom all swagger, not unlike Brooks—and left a shell of a man.
But she seems to be waiting for me.
“Thank you,” I respond.
“Anyway,” she says, opening a folder. “A complicated case just landed on my desk. You’ve heard of James and Courtney Perry, right?”
I nod. But Brooks speaks first. “Yeah, the Perrys own Periwinkle’s, don’t they?”
“That’s right. The concept restaurant that’s impossible to get into. And they have over 1.3 million followers on their social media feed. At least, they did. They’re in the midst of a divorce, a very public, nasty, high-profile divorce, and Courtney Perry has hired us to be their counsel.”
I blink. This is news. But I suppose it makes sense. While the Perrys had painted themselves as the All-American perfect family on social media, the husband was caught red-handed having sex with his head chef in the alley behind the restaurant. After that, they’d gone suspiciously radio silent. I don’t follow them religiously, but the last time I checked, they hadn’t posted since the bomb dropped. Couldn’t blame them. No one likes to fall from grace and there’s not really a way to do it elegantly when the circumstances are so devastating.
“Good for her,” I say, under my breath. I’m already itching to tear James Perry a new one. And that’s just what I need—a case I can really get behind—to show my stuff. “I’ll take that case.”
They both look at me.
“Not so fast,” Lisa says. “That’s why I brought you both here. I want you two to tackle it, together.”
That vomit that was gurgling in the back of my throat before nearly spews out my mouth. I have to swallow it back first. “What?”
Brooks says nothing. He just sits there, a smug smile on his face, clearly enjoying that I’ve been caught unaware.
Unlike him. He knew this. Lisa already told him.
I imagine the partners sitting around a table in a closed-door meeting, Lisa advocating for Brooks. Disappointment floods through me as the unswerving role model I once idolized is reduced to just-another-attention-starved-woman-in-the-office falling under Brooks’s spell.
“Well, don’t you see?” Lisa says brightly, her eyes volleying between us. “You two complement each other so well. Brooks is so likable; he always wins over the judge. And you…”
She pauses just long enough to let me fill in the blanks. No one really likes you, but you’re great at being behind the scenes. You’ll make him look good, which makes our firm look good, so it’s win-win for everyone.
Like hell.
“I’m sorry,” I say, “but is it really necessary to put your two best attorneys on a single case? I can certainly handle this case on my own. And—”
“—The Fosters and I have agreed that a case this complicated and high-profile would be best managed by a team,” Lisa says, speaking over me and putting up her hands to indicate this isn’t up for debate.
I stare at her, then at Brooks, wondering how he could be okay with this. He must like the idea of torturing me… because that’s exactly what this case is going to be.