“Sage—don’t.”
“This is what I do,” she said.
I went to bed. She was in full war zone mode. Researching asking me to get Tony to email her the charter contract and all video footage.
He was in deep shit and even though it was Sage—he complied.
She worked all night.
“Babe, come to bed,” I muttered as she sat at my desk, the glow of her laptop screen the only light in the room.
“Shhh, I’m working.”
I swallowed. Lump in my throat. Sage was a lot of things—loyal being one of them. Protective, too. I was impressed I’d never seen her self absolved in work mode. Business Sage was a pro.
I woke up just as she was slipping on her heels. Dressed in a power business skirt suit, simple pearl earrings in and muted makeup she looked like a shark.
“Go give ’em hell babe. I didn’t tel Tony you were going.”
“It’s fine. The element of surprise will work in my favor. I’ll call you after.” Her lips pressed mine quickly before she left in a cloud of light perfumer and power.
Tony called me two hours later. I was already clearing my inbox and scheduling meetings.
Sounded like he’d just run a mile.
“Yo,” he said. “You will not believe this.”
My chest tightened. “What happened?”
“Your girl,” he said. “Just walked into that meeting like she owned the building.”
I sat back in my desk chair. The office buzzed around me as I pictured it.
“She didn’t introduce herself as anything,” he went on. “Didn’t say she was counsel. Didn’t say she wasn’t. Just shook hands and sat down like she belonged there.”
I pictured it instantly.
Sage at the end of a table. Calm. Watching.
“She starts talking,” Tony said, “and suddenly she’s quoting statutes. Liability exposure. Negligence thresholds. Case law. Stuff their actual attorneys hadn’t even mentioned yet.”
I let out a breath.
“She never threatened anybody,” he added. “Didn’t have to. She just laid out what would happen if this turned into litigation. Who’d bleed first. How ugly discovery would get. How fast the press would eat it.”
He laughed. Nervous. Awed.
“Man… before you knew it, the insurance guys were backing off. Talking settlements. Small ones. Quiet ones. Like they suddenly didn’t want any part of this.”
“She didn’t say she was a licensed lawyer,” he said. “But everybody assumed she was. No one questioned it. Even the attorneys were like—” he exhaled — “shit.”
A pause.
“We were all quivering in our boots by the time she left.”
I stared at the wall.
“She just… owned it,” he said. “Walked in, rearranged the room, walked out.”
