My uncle narrows his eyes. “How?”
I outline what I found out about Trident Security, Andrew filling in as needed. The incredulous look on my uncle’s face is more than enough for me to know that he doesn’t believe me. But he does have to take Andrew’s word. I can see he’s not happy about it. I pull out the subpoena I prepared before we left. “You can use this to get the back-up.”
“Or,” Andrew says, “Just have Timothy call Trident. As one of their most valued clients, I’m sure they would send over the information right away.” I can hear the smile in his voice. He’s enjoying this just a little too much.
My uncle—his entire body rigid with anger—turns and waves over Mr. Sterling.
Andrew doesn’t let my uncle lead the conversation. As soon as Mr. Sterling joins us, Andrew asks him, “Timothy, when the police checked the security logs from Trident, did they check every back-up?”
Mr. Sterling puts his hands in his pockets. “They told me they did.”
“Including the one kept by the board exclusively for your diamond membership?”
“Well, I would have thought…maybe not,” Timothy says, mulling it over. “I guess they wouldn’t have known to look there.”
I can’t help smiling. “Call them. If they can give you a copy of the data without us having to use a subpoena it will be faster, and if it shows you leaving your house when you said you did, it proves that Robert Greene is lying and casts reasonable doubt on your status as a suspect.”
It looks like Mr. Sterling lights up from within, and he practically runs away and out of the courthouse to use his cellphone.
My uncle turns back to us, his whole face a portrait of disgust. “Well played.”
“This isn’t a game,” I say. “It isn’t some sort of play to make you look bad.”
“And I’m supposed to take your word on that after you went and fucked the very man I told you was trying to take my company? I was going to fire you, but I suppose I’ll have to let you stay after this. We’ll see if you can earn your keep with more than a fluke discovery.”
I grind my teeth together, suddenly sick to death of everything he’s put me through. “That’s very generous of you.”
“Actually,” Andrew interjects, “you don’t have to stay at Grayson & Wates.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
Andrew lets go of my hand and steps forward. “Roger, you may consider this my notice. I will stay on for the remainder of the trial, but as soon as it’s completed my resignation will be in effect immediately. I want no part of a firm that treats people the way you do your own family, so I’ve decided to start my own. And you’ll release me from my non-compete clause, because if you don’t, I’ll tell our clients how you treat people who are beneath you. If you think you’ll have any clients left after that, you’d be mistaken.”
My uncle sputters, but can’t seem to find words.
Andrew turns to me then and adds, “And I’d love it if you’d be my first new hire at the firm.”
Now it’s my turn to gasp. “Really?”
Softly, so my uncle can’t hear, he says, “I told you that I would make sure you were okay. I want to be with you, and I want to do it in a place where kissing you isn’t going to get me a dagger in the back.”
“You can’t hire her,” my uncle interrupts. “She’s agreed to work for me for an entire year.”
I ignore him, and for the first time it’s easy to do it. His words bounce off me like I’m wearing armor. In a way, I suppose that I am. I close the distance between Andrew and myself, and I kiss him. It’s not the kind of kiss that’s meant to be in public, but right now I don’t particularly care. Andrew’s arms wrap around me and I feel safe. When I pull away from him, lipstick is covering his mouth and he’s grinning like a fool.
I look over at my uncle and smile. “You’re a lawyer. Next time get it in writing.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
I put down a box in my new kitchen, and glance around. I’m in love with the new apartment. Even under the sea of Andrew’s boxes and mine it’s gorgeous. All hardwood floors and tall windows, stainless steel and granite. Even better, it has a room that’s going to be just for me and my music. I can’t wait to dive back in. This week is my last week working at Finch & Howell, a young firm that’s done amazingly well for its first six months. That’s Andrew for you, he’s so charismatic that a lot of his old clients followed him, and a lot of new ones showed up. He finally threatened to fire me if I didn’t quit to work on music again. It turns out there’s a surprisingly large music community here in Florida…