“I’ve only been there five years!”
"And you thought this would help move things along faster." His voice takes on a conspiratorial tone. "Bring in a major client like Blackstone Bourbon permanently? That would certainly catch the partners' attention."
“I never said anything about permanent. They hired me for a specific issue, not indefinitely.” Shit, did they misunderstand? Will they send someone to replace me and make me return to New York? What about Madison?
“It could be…”
I face Thorne. The fury and confusion on his face mirrors everything churning inside me.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
"The Blackstone environmental work, what you've done so far, is just the beginning. They have ongoing needs. EPA compliance, water rights, environmental impact assessments for distillery expansions. We're talking millions in billable hours over the next decade."
The bottom drops out of my stomach. Of course. Of course he does.
"If you can guarantee that Blackstone Bourbon keeps Huntsman & Fellows as their exclusive environmental counsel, on long-term retainer, for all their environmental legal needs, I can guarantee you’ll make partner. And not in two years. Before the year is out."
Knowing and hearing are very different things. They hit hard, so hard, I actually stagger back a step, my hip hitting the pool table.
He wants me to use Thorne. To leverage our relationship into a business deal that buys my partnership.
"You can't be serious." I choke out.
"Completely serious. This is what partnership is, Ivy. Bringing in clients and leveraging relationships. Tom Henderson marrieda client and made partner. The difference? He brought in her company's business first. You do the same thing, and suddenly your relationship isn't a liability—it's an asset."
Thorne's hand rests on my lower back. I can feel the tension thrumming through him. There’s no way he hasn’t inferred something is wrong.
"This isn't—I can't—"
"Can't what? Ask your boyfriend to hire your firm?" All the smarmy friendliness drains from him. "Why not? You're already sleeping with him. You're already working on his family's cases. At least this way, you turn it into something that benefits your career instead of destroying it."
Nausea rises in my throat. "That's not how I operate—"
"Then how do you operate, Ivy? Because right now, at the very least, you look like an associate with poor judgment and a conflict of interest. That's not someone we can keep on staff, let alone make partner." He’s quiet long enough to let that sink in. "But if you can deliver Blackstone Bourbon as a client? That changes everything. That's not sleeping your way to the top—that's strategic networking. That's what partners do."
Everything crystallizes with sickening clarity. This is worse than being accused of sleeping my way up. This is being told to actually do it. To put a price tag on my relationship with Thorne and cash it in.
"I can’t—”
“Think on it. Don’t answer hastily. The partners meet next week to decide your future." His voice softens into that horrible fatherly tone again. "In the meantime, you can finish the current Blackstone environmental work since you're already deep in it and sending someone else would be a pain in the ass. But understand, there may not be a place for you here if you can't turn this situation into an opportunity. Not as a partner. Maybe not at all."
"Bill—"
"One more thing." A pause, weighted and deliberate. "I wouldn't recommend making waves about this. Filing complaints, claiming discrimination. You’ll have no proof. All that will happen is you’ll never become partner here or anywhere else.”
Cold floods through me, starting at my scalp and racing down. "Are you threatening me?"
"Threatening? No, no. Just being realistic. You made certain choices. Now you can either make them work for you, or they work against you. Your call."
The line goes dead.
I stand there, phone still in my hand, staring at nothing. The silence is absolute except for the rain and my ragged breathing.
Five years. Five years of proving myself, and it comes down to this. Pimp out my relationship with Thorne or lose everything.
Tonight, he finally let me see him. Really see him. And the universe decided that was the perfect moment to set everything on fire.
"What the fuck just happened?” Thorne nearly explodes.
