Page 134 of Dial L for Lawyer
"Too late, already texting. We'll be there in twenty."
True to her word, twenty minutes later my apartment is invaded. Layla arrives first, followed immediately by Bennett. Then Dominic bursts through the door like he owns the place.
"That is not Audrey," I say, staring at Dominic, who's holding a bottle of champagne and looking entirely too pleased with himself.
"Audrey's with Logan at the lab," he announces, settling onto my couch like he's been invited. "Some crisis with contaminated code. But I come bearing gifts." He waves the champagne. "And moral support."
"We don't need champagne," I protest. "This isn't a celebration."
"Every crisis needs champagne," Dominic counters. "Courage bubbles, sweetheart. Liquid spine."
Bennett looks around at the boxes, his expression grim. "How bad is this, Serena? Really?"
I sink back onto the couch, suddenly exhausted. "I don't know. Caleb didn't get any details, but emergency partnership meetings on Saturday mornings aren't exactly routine."
"You're right." Bennett frowns. "That's not good."
"I know. I'm just?—"
"Freaking out," Layla finishes, handing me a glass of wine she's somehow already poured while simultaneously relieving Dominic of the champagne and setting it on the coffee table.
"Which is completely understandable," Dominic says, actually being serious for once.
"What triggered it?" Bennett asks, all business. "Did he say?"
"Just that it's an ethics complaint. Margaret wouldn't give him details over the phone."
Dominic adjusts on the couch beside me. "Could be anything. Maybe he forgot to file something. Or double-billed a client. Or?—"
"Or it's about me," I interrupt. "About us. About how our relationship started."
The room goes quiet.
"The dinner thing?" Layla asks carefully. "But we all knew about that. It was basically a joke. Just his way of getting you to stop running scared. It was harmless."
"Not if someone found out and reported it to an ethics board," Bennett says, his brow furrowing. "We all know Caleb and understand why he did it. But even we were pointing out that it could be seen as coercion."
"But no one seriously thought that's what he was doing," Dominic says. "And who would report it? The only people who knew were?—"
My phone rings. Caleb's name on the screen.
I answer immediately, putting it on speaker. "I'm with Bennett and Layla."
"And me," Dominic adds, not one to be ignored.
"You're on speaker," I continue. "What happened?"
"It's an ethics complaint filed by Maya Bolton's attorney." His voice is tight. "She's claiming I accepted sexual favors from you in exchange for legal representation."
The wine glass slips from my hand, shattering on the floor. Red wine spreads across the hardwood like blood.
"How does Maya even know?" Layla starts, then stops, looking at me. "Serena?"
Oh God.
The jail visit.
The memory slams back—the way Maya smirked when she said, ‘women like you.’ That glint in her eye, like she’d just pocketed a weapon she’d been waiting years to use. And I’d handed it to her.
