“I bet he has a gun,” Gran complains.
“It’s Linda.” I frown.
“Jaxon’s godmother?” Jess’s tone is sharp. “Tell her to go to hell.”
From:Linda
To:Mandy
If you have time, please stop by my office today. I’d like to talk.
Jess reads over my shoulder. “She doesn’t get to make demands. This is her fault. She needs to apologize.”
“I’m sure Jaxon lied to her too.” I begin composing a reply.
“Stop making excuses for people’s bad behavior,” Jess warns.
“Yes, Mandy.” My mom starts scrubbing at my face with a wet washcloth. “You need to stand up for yourself. Go down there and tell her you demand a refund and an apology.”
“I can’t. I need to bail out Pepper. I just want to forget this all happened.”
“But you need Linda to give you a settlement!” Lauren wails. “I don’t want to have to move back to Mom and Dad’s, and you’ll lose your apartment if you don’t have a job.”
“You girls are all moving back here,” my mother informs us. “It’s too dangerous in the city.”
Now we all start protesting.
“But I stay in Mandy’s room,” Gran complains. “Where will I sleep?”
“There’s a shed out back,” my dad mumbles.
“Mandy!”
“Fine, I’ll stop by Linda’s before picking up Pepper.”
46
SALINGER
Clarke & Turner is the second-best law firm in the city.
When my legal team, thepremierlaw firm in the city, and I walk into the Clarke & Turner offices, we breeze past the receptionist.
“Excuse me!” She rushes after us. “If you can wait in the lobby…”
I give her a smile. It’s only partly feral. “No thanks. We’ll wait in the conference room.”
She races back into the office, presumably to complain to the legal team representing Jaxon Pendleton.
The lead lawyer hurries into the conference room a few moments later. “The meeting is not for fifteen minutes, Tanya. Why did you let them in?”
The receptionist makes a helpless gesture.
The lead lawyer tries to wrestle the situation back in his favor. “We’re not meeting here,” he blusters.
Two of my lawyers smirk at each other.
Conventional wisdom says that meeting on your home turf gives you the upper hand. That advice is only for peons jockeying for power. If you’re the real alpha, you can walk onto someone else’s field, stake your claim, and act like it’s your home. Now,thatmakes people very off-balance and upset.
