Page 18 of Barristers & Bones

“You make it sound like I had a choice. He’s been picking me up every morning this week,” I whined.

Gideon chuckled and kept typing. “Has he now? That’s delightful.”

“No, Gideon, it’s really not. This is my fall break, and he’s making me come in and be with him all week. For the whole day. What mentor does that?”

Gideon’s phone rang. He patted my hand sympathetically and turned to answer it.

A man I’d seen a couple of times walked out of his office with an empty coffee cup in hand too. He was tall and muscular, had a nice, full beard and slicked-back hair, and wore a black pearl snap shirt with black motorcycle boots. I got the impression he didn’t go to court much.

He smirked when he saw me. “Hello, Luna the intern. I’m Ivan Knox, one of Roman’s partners.”

“Hello, Ivan. I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but after spending time with Roman, I’ll reserve judgment about the rest of you.”

Ivan chuckled. “That’s smart. Has it been that bad working under Roman?”

I raised an eyebrow. “UnderRoman? That’s a funny way of putting it.” I pointed to Ivan’s office. “What is it you do exactly? You’ve got more monitors and computer equipment than any attorney I’ve ever seen. How many single-board computers do you have, and what are you doing with all of them?”

“How do you know about SBE’s?”

Shrugging, I snuck another peek inside his office. “I have a friend who knows computers. Are you an attorney? What’s your specialty?”

“My specialty is finding things out about people they don’t want me to know.”

I blinked at him. “You’re an interesting foursome. Xander wears business attire, but it seems like an afterthought. He reminds me more of a skateboarder.”

Ivan smirked. “He snowboards and surfs.”

I nodded. “That fits. Drakos dresses so sharply, he gives me paper cuts. Where’d you all meet?”

Ivan’s eyes went cool. So he wasn’t going to tell me how they met. Waving my hand, I moved on. “I don’t understand your firm's structure. You seem more like brothers than partners. What is ityoudo again?”

Ivan studied me. “I gather and analyze data.”

I studied him back. “Hm. I wonder why a law firm would need someone who does that full-time.”

“Is that a rhetorical question?”

“No. I’m actually curious.”

His eyebrow went up. “We have other business interests, and I do background checks and vet companies and individuals.”

My eyes narrowed. “Did you ‘vet’ me?”

“Of course.”

I wasn’t surprised. “What other business interests do you have? Blackmail? Money laundering? Pest control? What?”

Someone chuckled behind me, and I startled. Turning around, I saw Drakos sitting on the corner of Gideon’s desk.

“Hello, Little Luna. It’s not even lunchtime, and you’ve already asked sixty-nine questions.” He wore a sleek designer navy blue suit, a crisp white dress shirt, and an azure–blue silk tie and matching pocket square.

“Is that a sexual innuendo or did you actually count?” I asked, then turned to Ivan. “See? A paper cut.”

Ivan chuckled. “Point taken.”

“You don’t have to drill us like we’re in a police interrogation. You could just enjoy our company.” Drakos’s grin was too wide to be sincere.

“What classes are you taking this semester?” Ivan asked, obviously changing the subject.

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