The Interior (Red Princess 2)

“I did, as a matter of fact. I wish he’d explained—”

“He didn’t like to talk about it. As unfounded as those articles were, they were deeply embarrassing to him.”

“The death of his girlfriend couldn’t have helped matters. Did you know her?”

“No, she didn’t live here. Her death was a tough break for Keith. Well, there’s no point dwelling on it now.” He paused, then said, “Ah, here’s Phil.”

“Have you asked him yet?” Phil inquired.

“No,” Miles answered. “I was waiting for you.”

“Good,” Phil said, smiling warmly at David, “because I want you to know that this proposal comes from all of us at the firm. Go ahead, Miles.”

David waited, listening.

“We’ve all watched your progress at the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Miles began. “You’ve done some amazing work in China and certainly with the triads. We’re all proud of you for that.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to lay our cards on the table,” Miles continued. “We’d like you to come back to the firm and open an office in China.” He held up a hand to keep David from speaking. “We’ve got a lot of work over there even without the Tartan business. We’re subbing it out to lawyers in Beijing. Remember Nixon Chen, who came over from China to train with us all those years ago?”

“Not only do I remember him, but I had lunch with him about three months ago.”

“He does a lot of our China work, and he bills at rates almost as high as ours,” Phil said. “We’re giving him hundreds of thousands in legal fees each year. The firm’s thinking is, why should we give Nixon all that work? We’ve been wanting to open a branch office in Beijing for quite some time, but we needed the right person to get it up and running.”

“And you think I’m that person?”

Phil stared earnestly at David. “Look, you’re a litigator, but a lot of your cases have involved big companies with complex financials, so you’ve become quite a good corporate lawyer too.”

David hadn’t thought of his career this way before, but it made perfect sense.

“But you bring something more to the equation,” Miles picked up. “The Chinese care about guanxi—connections. Nixon’s a Red Prince, so his connections are impeccable. But you also have some pretty interesting connections—with the Ministry of Public Security…”

“If you’re thinking about Hulan, forget it. She’s happy where she is.”

“I didn’t mention her name. You did. We haven’t asked Hulan to open the office. We’re asking you.”

David shook his head. “Thanks, but I like what I do too.”

“We’re prepared to make a substantial offer,” Miles said. “Just name your price.”

“Money’s never mattered to me.”

“I know that, and if you want our offer to take that into consideration, I’m sure we can oblige.” Seeing the look on David’s face, Miles grinned triumphantly, as if he’d caught a witness in a lie. “I knew it,” he said. “We never would have gotten this far in the conversation if you weren’t just a little bit intrigued. So do us a favor. Think about it and come see us tomorrow.”

“All right, but don’t count on anything.”

Miles smiled, gloated, convinced he’d achieved victory, then looked back toward his waiting guests. “I bet Mary Elizabeth’s wondering where I am. You mind if we head back?”

As the three men slowly walked along the path leading to the pool, David said, “I’m not saying I’ll do it, but what kind of time frame are we talking about?”

“The visa won’t be a problem,” Miles said. “The Chinese know you and you’ve been there before. We’d love to get you on a plane to Beijing by the end of the week.”

“Jesus! What’s the rush?”

Miles stopped. “Frankly I thought you’d be in a hurry. You’ll be safe in China. And”—Miles allowed himself a small smile—“you could be reunited with Hulan.”

“Actually,” Phil interjected, “we’ve been thinking about this for a long time. We have a window of opportunity in China. We’ve thought about talking to other attorneys, but you know how long it takes to integrate a lateral hire into a firm like ours. You already know us, and we know you. Really the only way we can go ahead in a timely fashion is with someone we know. That’s why you’ve always been our first choice, but you weren’t going to leave the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the middle of the Rising Phoenix cases. Those trials are done now, and let’s face it, David, it’s time for you to move on. So I say, if we’re going to act, let’s do it fast. All the work’s been done on the Knight deal. All we need now are the signatures. So, let’s get you in there in time to deal with the last-minute logistics and to meet all of Tartan’s top players. That will smooth the transition and put you in prime position to continue handling Tartan’s China business. But again, for that to work, we need to move quickly.”