Well isn’t that just great. He already knew what I was going to do the second I walked out of his office, and he’s calling my bluff. Stick it out or run and tell Daddy.

  I’ll be damned if I call my dad now. Whether or not it was by mistake, I’m on Hudson’s team, and I’m not giving him the satisfaction of calling mercy.

  This situation is nothing I haven’t dealt with before. He’s just another bully, no more menacing than all the rest I’ve had to contend with my whole life. It’s only hard to stand confidently before him today because I’m still getting used to his presence, I suppose. He’s intimidating, I’ll give him that—what with the broad shoulders and sculpted jawline—but I’ll get used to those cut cheekbones in no time. Those piercing brown eyes won’t even affect me by next week, just watch.

  When I smile, it’s so genuine and real I feel a little flutter of satisfaction in the pit of my stomach.

  “It’s an honor and a privilege to work with you, sir. I’m happy to do any extra tasks you require of me, and I promise, I won’t let you down.”

  There it is—the saccharine words he never thought he’d hear from my lips during this meeting. Even better, they end up sounding like a big Eff you.

  His gaze hardens as I turn for the door, dismissing myself. I’m about to reach for the handle when he speaks, stalling me for a moment.

  “Why are you here, Scarlett?”

  I wasn’t expecting his question, which means, for a moment, I’m almost caught off guard enough to give him the truth: to work hard and take my rightful place in this company, just like my brothers.

  But under these circumstances, he doesn’t deserve to know the truth. So instead I look back at him over my shoulder, dropping the nice act completely.

  “That’s none of your business.”

  And then I wrench that door open and leave because some of us have extra work to do.

  Chapter Five

  Scarlett

  It’s nearing lunchtime and I’m still jittery from my encounter with Hudson. Though to be fair, it could just be general first-day nerves. It might not even have anything to do with Mr. Tall Dark and Deadly.

  I’ve had a busy morning. Once I joined Sophie and Kendra, Sophie introduced us around the floor so we could meet the other junior and senior associates, people we’ll be working with on a daily basis. Our tour culminated at our office. Yes…OUR office.

  Kendra asked about it before I could.

  “Surely there’s enough space in this huge building for everyone to get their own office? When I was here last summer, new associates didn’t have to share.”

  Sophie smiled grimly. “It’s intentional. It’s not about the space, actually. I think there’s a memo about it waiting for you all in your inbox.”

  There was. I read it.

  Basically, they’re trying to foster a more collaborative work environment, especially among new hires who are just getting their feet wet in a professional setting. They feel like this will cut down on depression and anxiety in first-year associates, which like, okay thank you for taking my mental health into consideration, but could we possibly go back to the drawing board because this is my literal nightmare!

  In the office, there are two desks facing each other. Kendra took the larger one—the one that was obviously here before they converted the space to accommodate two attorneys. My desk is made from flimsy particle board (at best) and shoved in the corner as an afterthought.

  There was no discussion about who would go where. After Sophie left, Kendra plopped her bag on the larger desk and immediately went around to open her brand-new work-issued laptop. We each got one.

  “This is ridiculous that they have us both in here,” she bit out in anger.

  “I agree.”

  But no more conversation came from that little bonding experience. We’ve been sitting in ominous silence ever since while we configure our computers and get through a few HR modules. We’ve left the door open intentionally. Our office is right by the break room, which seems to get a lot of foot traffic. Closing the door would reduce the noise, but then…we’d really be stuck in here together, and I definitely don’t want that. Kendra almost scares me more than Hudson if I’m being honest.

  I’m just completing one of my HR modules, eager to cross it off my to-do list, when I hear a familiar booming laugh out in the hall and my heart simultaneously soars and sinks.

  My dad—God love him—is about to make my life ten times worse. His timing is impeccably bad. Though Kendra and I have been mostly silent for the last few hours, it seemed like here within the last few minutes, things were starting to thaw between us as evidenced by the fact that when I sneezed a moment ago, we exchanged your classic “Bless you” and “Thanks”—which seemed really promising.

  I was wondering when this was going to happen. I imagined a million different scenarios in which my dad could simultaneously celebrate, humiliate, and torture me all in the name of familial love. Examples include but are not limited to this set of things he’s already proven capable of doing in the past:

  On my first date to the movies as a fourteen-year-old, when the boy (and his mom) came to pick me up, my dad made us pose for a fifteen-minute photoshoot for a commemorative scrapbook he’d completed by the time I got home at 9:00 p.m.

  On my sixteenth birthday, he came to my school and sang “Happy Birthday” to me over the PA system. Accompanied by my gym teacher Mr. Rollins.

  When I got accepted into undergrad at Cornell, he came to my afterschool job at the ice cream shop dressed up as “Touchdown” aka Big Red Bear, holding up a “Go Scarlett Go” banner.

  I’m his youngest child and his only daughter. He was never going to be hands-off with me the way he was with my older brothers. I’m honestly surprised he’s lasted this long before coming to surprise me. Almost 1:00 p.m.? For him, that’s showing real restraint.

  I barely have time to brace myself, and unfortunately, I don’t get the chance to pre-apologize to Kendra for whatever is about to go down before my dad turns the corner with his phone held out right in front of his face, and oh, look at that—he’s already taking pictures of me.

  How do I know? The flash is on and blinking about every half second. He’s going to have seven hundred versions of me wearing a dumb expression as I try to yank his phone out of his hands.

  “Dad!”

  He’s roped his two assistants into this too—Janice and Linda. Janice holds up a multi-tiered cake that might have been stolen from someone’s wedding it’s so insanely huge. Linda is holding enough balloons that a) I can’t see her face and b) I’m genuinely concerned she’s having a hard time keeping her feet on the ground. We’re about to have to call maintenance for a ladder to get her down from the ceiling.

  “This is a lot, even for you,” I say drolly.

  He laughs before obtusely asking Janice to snap a photo of us.

  “Dad, her hands are full. So are Linda’s.”

  Unperturbed, he turns to Kendra. “Right. Okay, here. Would you mind taking a picture?”

  Kendra has to really battle with herself over her reply to this question. She doesn’t want to have to give in and be nice to my father and, by extension, me, but she certainly can’t be rude to the owner of the company. There’s really only one choice. I watch her force that smile and give her best enthusiastic nod. “Sure thing! This is so sweet of you!”

  The moment—and I mean down to the millisecond—she finishes taking our picture and hands my dad’s phone back, her smile drops and she returns to her resting bitch face.

  I don’t let it bother me. I turn to my father and give him a side hug. Honestly, I’m just glad to see a friendly face after my long morning.

  “Balloons and cake, Dad?” I rib him.

  “What?” He drops a kiss to my head. “Can’t I celebrate my one and only daughter on her first day at her new fancy job?” Then his eyes widen like he’s remembered something, and he looks behind him. “Janice, come on, show her the cake.”

  Though it seemed over the top from a distance, up close…I’m actually speechless. There’s a little miniature version of me planted into the icing on the top tier. Did he get it custom made? He must have. The figurine has a leather briefcase, brown hair, and brown eyes. She’s also holding a little pennant flag that says: I love Elwood Hoyt.

  Despite how much this is going to hurt me in the long run, I can’t help but feel grateful for his support. I know he doesn’t approve of my position here. There were many, many late-night discussions over rounds of Scrabble where I convinced him this was what I truly wanted. I appreciate him putting his feelings aside today and making me feel loved.

  Unfortunately, Janice takes the cake to the break room, and when I go in to get a piece after lunch, most of it’s already gone, and my figurine, well…someone stuck her headfirst into the cake so all that’s sticking out are her feet and that pennant flag. Which now reads: “Loser.”

  Later that night, I try to tell Jasper about it all, laughing while I do it.

  “Like sure, they could have come up with something slightly more creative than loser, but the overall effect was still pretty funny.”

  My boyfriend sets down his silverware and eyes me with tenacious concern from across his dinner table. “That’s not funny, Scarlett. You need to tell your father, or at the very least, Barrett. They’ll be able to do something about it.”

  Panic has me leaning over to touch his arm, to reassure him that it was really nothing. “No. Come on, lighten up. So they wrecked my cake? Big deal! I still got a big ol’ slice for myself. I just happened to also accidentally decapitate my figurine in the process. They really stuck that sucker down in there.”

  I laugh, but I’m alone in it, so I let it trickle away as he shakes his head at me. It’s like I’m in as much trouble as they are. I didn’t destroy my cake!

  I should have known not to tell Jasper. He’s completely by the book. Everything is right and wrong, black and white. With him, there’s no nuance to life. It makes sense, I suppose. He works for the district attorney’s office. Those guys all fit a certain kind of mold, and I don’t mind it, truly. Jasper is wonderful! A perfect boyfriend! We’re about to celebrate our first anniversary. He was a year ahead of me at Columbia Law, and we were introduced through mutual friends. We didn’t jump into things right away. Jasper courted me like we were in the Victorian era. First, we’d see each other in group settings, then we slowly developed a steady friendship. From there, we moved infinitesimal step by infinitesimal step toward a relationship that was mostly long distance as he took a position in Chicago and I stayed back in New York to finish my final year of law school.

  When I asked him a few weeks ago what he saw for our future, he said it was already mapped out. At our two-year mark, he’d ask me to marry him, and an appropriate amount of time after that, we’d have the ceremony.

  “And what if I propose to you first? The day before our two-year anniversary?” I teased.

  I meant it as a joke, but Jasper looked at me like he was horrified.

  “That would make no sense, Scarlett.”

  He’s looking at me much the same way now as we discuss the silly cake situation.

  “The point is, it’s disturbing. I’m going to call your dad if you don’t.”

  I try not to be overly annoyed by his threat. “Relax, Jasper. You’re taking it way too seriously. There was always going to be a little bit of light hazing. What job doesn’t have some of that? Think back to the way they treated you when you started at the DA’s office last year!”

  “That was nothing. The guys made me wear a t-shirt at work that had my middle school graduation picture on it, big whoop.”

  I wrinkle my nose. “I’ve seen that picture. It’s pretty bad.”

  Jasper has neatly combed blond hair and a cute spray of freckles across his cheeks. Though a little dorky in middle school, he’s attractive now, but that’s not really why I’m with him. He’s kind and respectful, dependable and honest. He’s a good man, and I’m lucky to have him.

  He tilts his head and frowns at me like I’m not quite getting his point. “I understand you don’t think it’s a big deal, but with everything else you’ve told me, I’m worried about you. I didn’t want you taking that position in the first place, Scar. If you’re not comfortable telling your father or Barrett about what happened today, at least tell your department head. Who is it? Which partner did you land with?”

  I haven’t been hungry for the last few minutes, but now I suddenly go back to picking at my food. “You don’t know him.”

  “Not Barry Pruitt? I told you I played soccer with his son when I was younger, didn’t I? Great guy.”

  I shake my head. “No, not Barry. Another guy. Hudson something. Sorry…it’s been a long day and I met a lot of people.”

  I stand and reach for my plate to carry it over to the sink. I hate that I’m doing this. Why am I even bothering to lie to Jasper about Hudson?

  Like I don’t know Hudson’s last name. LAUGHABLE. I know his first, last, and middle name. I looked him up on my walk home—sue me. Wait, don’t sue me; I’ve only just passed the bar.

  Hudson Samuel Rhodes.

  I know his entire educational track and can recite all his accolades and honors; chief among them is being the youngest person to make partner at Elwood Hoyt. I have no doubt he stepped on a lot of people to get there too. You can’t be that successful and well-liked by everyone. It’s one or the other.

  He’s clearly chosen his path, and I doubt he regrets it.

  After our encounter this morning, I didn’t hear anything from him for the rest of the day. I expected him to really pile it on me on my first day on the job, but I didn’t receive a single email from him, no phone calls, nothing. I even went by his office around 4:00 to check in with his receptionist, Lucy.

  Her phone rang just as I was walking up to talk to her. She apologized to me before answering it quickly and chatted briefly with the person on the other end of the line before finishing with, “Yes. Absolutely. Let me transfer you.”

  Only when she went to do just that, she accidentally hung up. The heavy dial tone rang out crystal clear in the quiet space. She looked up at me. “Well crap.”

  I smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him.”

  “I should have jotted down the man’s name. I always forget something. Darn it. Anyway…” She shook her head and composed herself, refocusing her attention on me. “What did you need, sweetie?”

  I stepped up and gave her a little wave. “Right. Hi. I’m Scarlett El—”

  She cut me off with a cheeky wink. “I know who you are. Gosh, let me get a better look at you, all grown up.” She shooed me with her hand so I’d take a few steps back, and then she grinned. “Cute as a button. All fancy in your work clothes. You look just like your mom. You know way back in the day, when you’d come up to the office with your dad, I’d sneak you and your brothers lollipops.”

  My mouth dropped. “I remember those lollipops!”

  Lucy grinned. “That was me.”

  I felt an overwhelming urge to hug her. Instead, I just smiled as she opened her desk drawer. “In fact, I still have some in here. I probably have the same bag from when you were little. Want one?”

  “Er…I’m okay for now.”

  “Right. Busy busy today, I’m sure.”

  I capitalized on her momentum and squared my shoulders, getting back to the point of why I’d come in the first place. “Yes, well, I was just coming by to ask if you know if Hudson sent any tasks for me to complete? He said he would, but I haven’t received any by email or by phone. I wasn’t sure if the company sometimes sends paper memos? I just really want to be sure I didn’t miss any correspondences.”

  I tried to stay glued to my desk all day, but I did use the restroom a few times. Also…there were those few minutes when I was getting cake in the break room. If Hudson had called my desk then, I wouldn’t have known, and it’s not like Kendra would have reported it to me either.

  Lucy was already reaching for her phone. “Here, let me ask him.”

  “It’s okay!” My voice was screechy high as I held out my hands to stop her. “Don’t do that.”

  She frowned and tipped her head down so she could get a better look at me. “You don’t want me to?”

  “No.”

  I didn’t want to wake the beast for no good reason.

  She clicked her phone back into place. “All right then…how about I see if I can get you booked into his schedule tomorrow for a meeting? It’ll be tight, but—”

  “No! No. I don’t want to take up any of his time. I know he’s a busy man.”

  I was already starting to back away, realizing I’d made a mistake coming here.

  “Oh, sure sure, but not too busy for you.” She waved away my words like they were nonsense. “I’m sure he would want to see you considering you’re a part of his team now.”

  Believe me, he wouldn’t.

  “Don’t worry about it! Nice meeting you again! Bye!”

  Then I took off like a bolt of lightning, scared that at any moment Hudson would walk out of his office and see me there talking to Lucy and accuse me of…I don’t know, wasting company time.

  I think it’s wise not to bring Jasper up to speed about Hudson. If he was offended about the cake, the rest of my day would really set him off. There’s no sense in worrying him.

  I’m a tough girl; I can survive all of this and more on my own.

  Probably.

  Chapter Six

  Hudson

  It’s Wednesday, my favorite day. Well, any day I’m in the office is my favorite day. I’d sleep here if I could. Or better yet, not sleep at all. At the moment, we have a few different deals in the works, and the tides could easily turn with any of them. I love the excitement and the drama—don’t let anyone tell you law is boring. Elwood Hoyt isn’t your uncle’s dwindling tax law practice.