mom had given her those bracelets when Maddie was only ten years old. They’d belonged to Hope’s grandmother...or Maddie’s step-great-grandmother. Hope hadn’t been married to Maddie’s father at the time, but she’d already become an important part of the family. She’d helped Maddie cope after the death of her birth mother and those bracelets meant more to Maddie than anything. Three silver rings, one for each of the three of them—Maddie, her mama, as she used to call Zoe, and Hope, her mom. Her bracelets held memories...and a magical bond. They were a reminder that life went on, and their soft, bell-like music always gave her courage.
She’d make it through this meeting with her boss, the toughest of the partners at Levy, Hatterson & Palomas. She’d presented her work to the senior lawyers before and had survived any criticism thrown her way, but the memo requesting that Patrick be there, too, had her a little rattled. What did presenting her case research have to do with him?
She smoothed her brown tweed pencil skirt and matching blazer, grabbed her pile of folders and headed toward the conference room, this time careful not to catch her heel on an uneven floorboard.
“Good morning, Mr. Levy.” Maddie aimed for pleasantness, without the smile. Being serious, both in expression and looks, was part of her strategy for climbing the ranks. She’d noticed early on that if a guy smiled around here, he was being congenial, but if a woman did, it somehow diluted her brainpower and made her flirty. If she had to play borderline cold, she would.
This office was a man’s world, and Maddie was desperate to move on from being a junior lawyer. The position was synonymous with grunt worker, and a year into the job, the grunt was already getting old. While the seniors got to spend their evenings dining clients at four-star restaurants, she and the other glorified minions in the office burned the midnight oil researching cases, or making sure dates and other details were in order. Being a junior lawyer was beginning to make her wonder why she’d gone to law school to begin with. No hearings. No appearing before judges. No showing what she was made of.
Showing her family—particularly her father—what she was made of was why she’d worked so hard. She wanted to prove she could be strong and successful on her own. And after all those years in law school, here she was getting bossed around and doing work for others. For stern, older men just like her military dad. She scratched her wrist below her bracelets as her boss shuffled through papers.
“Good morning.” Mr. Levy hit Send on what she assumed was a text, then set his smartphone on the polished cherrywood conference table. “Have a seat. Where’s Patrick?”
“I saw him at the fax. I’m sure he’ll be in any minute. Oh, here are the files on the Clear Lake housing developments you needed.” She set the pile—all but her laptop—next to him, then went to the opposite end of the table to sit. “It includes signed affidavits from tenants who’ve been discriminated against, as well as some who’ve tried contracting new builds. Incident specifics are there, as well, including emails and text messages between defendants and the builder.”
“Excellent.” Mr. Levy began scanning pages. “Good work. Ah, Patrick,” he said, as Patrick waltzed in. He stuck out his hand, which Mr. Levy didn’t hesitate to shake. “Have a seat.”
The brownnoser sat in a chair right next to Levy, without greeting Maddie. Maddie fiddled with her bracelets under the table. Man’s world, much? She’d known coming into this practice—which was a huge honor in and of itself—that competition for senior partnership years down the road would be high, but the subtle animosity and jealous streaks among the juniors was worse than she’d expected. Downright ugly, in her opinion. This place redefined competitive.
You grew up surrounded by brothers and a hard-nosed dad. Remember, Patrick is nothing but a twerp, and your boss is a teddy bear in disguise—on some plane of existence.
“I called you both in here to discuss the next two months. Ms. Corallis, we spoke briefly about you helping out temporarily at our office in Nairobi.”
Patrick scooted his chair closer to the table and scratched the side of his neck. A junior lawyer being sent to an exotic locale was a pretty big deal, although Kenya wasn’t exactly exotic to her. At least not in the way it was for those who’d never lived there. Eight years of her childhood, plus regular visits since she began college in the US, made Kenya a second home to her. Not a vacation spot. Plus, traveling overseas and coming back a week later would be exhausting. She’d get jet lag whiplash. And since this was a work trip, she’d barely have time to see her family.
However, the color creeping up the back of Patrick’s neck did remind her of a sunrise over the Serengeti, or better yet, the vibrant red dress of a warrior in the Masai Mara. She tipped her chin up ever so slightly.
“Yes, sir. The Native Watch Global case.” The one she had yet to be fully briefed on. The one that, incidentally, had nothing to do with Patrick. Maybe he was being sent to their London office for something related?
“I had Helen book your tickets. I’m assuming you’ll be able to stay with your family while there.” Mr. Levy passed an envelope down to her via Patrick. “We need you to leave on Wednesday. I trust that all works for you?”
About a week sooner than expected, but did she have a choice?
“Of course,” Maddie said as she opened the envelope. That wouldn’t give her enough time to check on her grandparents a few hours west of Philadelphia. She’d call them. She also needed to drop by the store and get a slow-release vacation feeder for her Betta fish. She pulled the ticket out of the envelope.
“Patrick,” Mr. Levy continued, “I’ll need you to take over this Clear Lake discrimination case in her absence.”
Everything registered in the same second. The dates on the ticket. Mr. Levy turning her stack of blood, sweat and tears over to the enemy. Maddie’s feet went cold.
“Sir. I think there’s a mistake with the tickets. These have me gone a month. I was only supposed to be in Nairobi for a week. I think I’ve given you everything you need for now on the Clear Lake case, but I’ll have my computer with me if you need anything else.”
It had better be a mistake. She didn’t care if she sounded territorial; she couldn’t lose that discrimination case to Patrick. It had high-profile written all over it. If she helped propel her seniors to victory on it, it would build their confidence in her and, in turn, increase her chances of eventually making partner. Handing all her work over to the twerp was worse than a slap in the face. The corner of Patrick’s mouth curved up as he flipped through her files.
“I’m afraid we need you overseas longer than we previously thought,” Mr. Levy said. “Patrick, I’d like you to familiarize yourself with that paperwork, then return it to me after lunch. Today. I want you on the same track we’ve been on with it. This won’t add too much to your workload, given the Kline-versus-Boone case is over. I must say, I love a victory.”
“Absolutely, sir. I won’t disappoint with this one, either.”
You won’t disappoint because I did all the work.
She wanted to scream. She folded her hands on the table in as poised a manner as possible, crossed her legs and let her dangling foot buzz back and forth like a hovering hornet, itching to sting someone. Patrick sat back, all smug, in his chair.
“Feel free to get started on that right now, Mr. Cole.” Mr. Levy gave him a raised brow. Patrick jumped up and gathered his—no, her—assignment.
“Of course. Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Levy. I’ll
