Page 76 of Love Is an Art
Brooke asks some penetrating questions—questions that seem designed to showcase my strengths. Brooke is solidly in my corner. Then she says, “We have to discuss, and then we’ll let you know.”
Chapter twenty-four
Zeke
Arthurhasgivenmeone assignment after another, as if he needs to get as much work out of me as he can before I escape his clutches, and now I have a meeting with Tessa at 5 p.m. in our conference room. Because I might as well get all of this over in one day. I’m not looking forward to “working” with Tessa. But objectively, it made sense to hire her.
I need to maintain my cold front and not allow any personal lines to be crossed.
Thankfully, I’m meeting Sebastian afterward for a squash game. I’ll need that decompression.
Tessa has her back to me as I quietly enter. She’s wearing a dark-blue pantsuit and standing at the windows, looking out, her phone to her ear.
“Mrs. Humming thinks he was away last weekend? So, he might have gone to his former apartment and former girlfriend. That would be good.” She pauses. “Let me follow him. He doesn’t know who I am yet.” She laughs. It’s so joyful. I still like how she laughs wholeheartedly. My gut twists. “I wish we had the funds to hire a private investigator.”
I harrumph loudly to indicate I’m here.
Tessa whips around. “I’ve gotta go. But I’ll call you back later.”
“I didn’t realize your firm handled divorce cases,” I say.
“Hasn’t anyone told you to knock before entering?”
“I didn’t realize I had to knock when I’m entering my company’s conference room. But trailing someone? I’m not far off when I say lawyers are practiced in the arts of deception.”
She winces. “I think we’ve pretty much proved that I’m not practiced in any arts.” Her gaze is level and open, meeting mine squarely. “But let’s get it all out so we can work together. Thanks again for choosing my firm. I appreciate it.”
I place my laptop and papers on the conference table at the spot across from her.
“I didn’t have much choice. The other firm was going to bring along a Spanish-speaking paralegal, which was immediately going to increase the cost. Plus, your pitch was better. And Brooke wanted you.” I shrug. I can get through this. I pour two glasses of water from the pitcher on the credenza and add ice cubes.
Cold front, Zeke.
Two seconds alone, and I’ve already crossed the line. I set the glasses on the table and sit down across from her.
She takes a deep breath and ducks her head. “To your other question, my firm doesn’t handle divorce cases. That’s a pro bono case I’m handling. So don’t worry, I billed the five minutes you were late to my pro bono matter and not you. If there is anything personal you want to discuss, I won’t start the clock running yet.”
I stare at her. She takes a deep breath and seems to steel her body, waiting.
No personal discussions.I’m not going there. I don’t believe in rehashing things anyway, and I’m definitely not going to share all myemotionswith her.
Because that worked so well with Paisley. I can still hear Paisley saying, “If you feel that betrayed and that hurt, doesn’t that mean you still have strong feelings for me and we should stay together?”
I shake my head. “I’m good. Let’s go.”
She turns on her laptop. “Here you go. I’ve analyzed what we have so far. As you know, Comidas en Canasta has a pretty small team. And senior management is the CEO, CFO, the HR VP, the Marketing VP, and the VP of Information Technology and Security. Given that it’s the books that are being cooked, the most likely suspect is the CFO, Cameron Stone.”
“He’s Roberto’s right-hand man. I also can’t imagine it’s the CEO, Roberto. This is Roberto’s baby. Unless it really is a fake front company being used to launder funds. In which case, I’m screwed. Because if it’s him, there goes the company. But then, it doesn’t make sense to get venture capital funding with its additional oversight.”
I should have reserved a bigger conference room. This fits four people. It would have been better if I’d reserved the one for twelve people and we’d been able to sit at either end of the long table.
“Given the email, it appears that the whistleblowers believe in the company and want to save it,” she says. “But let’s say it’s the CFO. They clearly don’t feel comfortable telling Roberto directly.”
“For good reason. Cameron and Roberto went to business school together in the States,” I say. “They’re very close. Which also makes it unlikely that Cameron would screw Roberto over.”
“Let’s hope the whistleblower contacts us again when we go down there. Presumably, she has support for her allegations in the email.”
“She?”
