“Can I take a look?”
We both gaped as Sarah stepped up, in all her severe, power-suited glory.
“Who are you, little lady?’ Ivanov asked, in a way that made me want to slug him myself.
“Sarah Waters, Esquire. I am Mr. Jones’s personal attorney,” she said, holding out a hand for him to shake.
“The fuck is this?” Ivanov demanded.
“My right as a free American citizen,” I smirked, handing the envelope to Sarah.
“We will review the documents and be in touch,” Sarah said, all, the very picture of professionalism.
“I can’t believe you called in a layer,” Ivanov whined.
“Just a bit of insurance against scum-fucks like you. Now kindly vacate the premises before I call the police.”
“Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary,” Aden said, emerging from the break room like a giant through the mists of Avalon.
“Sweet mother of mercy!” Ivanov exclaimed, taking an entire step back.
“Not even close,” Aden said, cracking his knuckles in a way that would make Mike Tyson wet himself.
I was reasonably sure I could see a vapor trail as Ivanov disappeared. The entire office seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
“You okay, honey?” Aden asked, going to Camilla.
“Yeah, just a bit shook up.”
The best-laid plans were easily broken. It had been my idea to suggest a trip to the trampoline park that beautiful, sunny day. Part of the reason why I figured I would need my sunglasses. It would be juvenile and quirky and fun. Well in keeping with Sarah’s stated desire for something a bit different. We all needed to be a little silly sometimes. Especially with such a serious job as hers. One that was about to come in very handy.
Instead of leaving for the silly fun of the trampoline park, we went to the office boardroom, Sarah taking the papers with her. It was weird seeing her in work mode. She was usually pretty serious, except when I helped her relax. I never really questioned her abilities before, but she really knew what she was doing. It was actually kind of sexy.
I could tell it was bad, Sarah’s expression shifting in a dismaying way as she filtered through the legalese.
“Bad news?”
“Very. He is suing you for the firm’s first year of profits because you ended his contract and no one else will work with him because of the statements you made. In addition to claiming. Breach of contract, he is saying you intentionally kept him out of work.”
“Does it say why no one will work with him?” I asked, trying to hold my rage in check.
“No, it doesn’t. Please, tell me.”
“I found out that he has links to the mob. Launching money through his shoddy casinos. He wanted us, me specifically, to run a series of ads to reinvent his image. I agreed, not knowing that Ivanov’s image was well deserved. When I found out about the mob connections, I legally dropped the contract and warned all the firms I knew that Ivanov was dirty. So, they wouldn’t risk the legal implications of working with him if they didn’t want to.”
“Oh. My. God,” Sarah said, sounding well and truly shocked.
“He’s been holding something of a grudge too. This is just his most recent stunt, mostly because he knows I can’t be intimidated.”
“Intimidated?”
“You know, standard tactics. Pulling up beside me on my morning job. Sending me threats in the mail. Planting a bomb under my car. Turns out the bomb was fake, but he was still trying to get a message across. One I refused to take seriously.”
“He tried to kill you?” Sarah asked.
“No, not seriously. Though I nearly killed him when he implied her was going to rape Camilla.”
“You what!”
“Remember how my knuckles were bandaged?”
“Yeah.”
“Turns out that bullet-proof windows are really hard. That was only one of the times he tried to intimidate me from the safety of his limo. I know he was trying to get to me. I’m sad to say it worked.”
“You hit his window?” Sarah asked, by way of seeking clarification.
“More pounded, really, while hollering like a beast and running after him for a full ten blocks after he drove away. I would have curb stomped him if he hadn’t got the window up in time. You have to understand. I really love my baby sister.”
“I-I do understand,” Sarah said, putting her hand on mine.
I hadn’t even noticed that I was shaking. The darkness coming back into my heart by just relieving the terrible events. Ivanov really couldn’t scare me. Anything he could do was nothing compared to what I could and would do to myself.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Sarah laced her fingers through mine and gently squeezed my hand. I had never really told anyone about what was happening with Ivanov. Not even Camilla. I didn’t want to worry her, even though I was pretty sure Aden would be able to help. I wanted to handle it myself.