Chapter Six
Sitting in one of the conference rooms at Highsmith, Dickson and Associates, Vanessa checked her phone again. Justin had to have gotten her text that morning, but so far there was no answer.
Sighing, she pushed the thoughts of Justin out of her mind and tried to concentrate on the mountain of papers in front of her. She needed to review them all. The opposing counsel was being a jerk. Apparently he’d decided to kill her with kindness by sending her every minute document.
Soon Felix strolled in with two Starbucks and a paper bag filled with fries. A Yale graduate, he reminded Vanessa of a hungry lion with burning dark eyes and brown hair streaked with golden highlights. His thin lips looked like he disapproved of everyone, especially when he set them in an unsmiling line. They worked wonders when he wanted to intimidate witnesses or difficult clients.
As usual, Felix was in another of his classic Armani outfits, although he’d dressed on the casual side for the weekend. Unlike Vanessa, he had come from a lower middle class family in Cincinnati, and he was extra aware of the image he needed to project even though he didn’t mind food slumming with her on difficult cases. In return, Vanessa hooked him up at La Mer or Éternité, two of the most exclusive restaurants in the city owned by her brother Mark.
“You sure you don’t want to take some time off this weekend?” Felix said, handing her her tea. “You look like hell.”
“No, but thank you for the compliment.”
“You know what I mean.”
Vanessa knew exactly what he meant. She looked and felt like hell. Apparently crackers didn’t agree with her, and now she was craving French fries with the heat of a thousand suns. “I’m a little behind. Besides, I have tons of work to do before next Friday.”
“I can’t believe Harry gave you another day off,” he said, taking his seat. “I was sure he’d say no. What’s the secret?”
“It’s conditional.” Dickson had made it clear if she got everything done by Thursday, she could take Friday off. Otherwise, she had to keep her ass in her seat and get the work done.
“Yeah, right!” Stan Rivers stuck his head through the open door and snorted. “You’ll be able to go even if you don’t finish anything. Everyone knows that.”
Vanessa gave him a long, hard stare. A couple of years older than her, Stan was the most likely associate to make partner next, although there was some whispering that Vanessa might take his spot. She hated how people tried to pit them against each other, but most importantly she hated how smug and annoying Stan was. He was always bringing up the fact that she was a Pryce girl and knew a lot of people. He even talked about how she’d been invited to Barron Sterling’s granddaughter’s wedding—in a not so subtle way—to hint that she was being promoted at the firm only because of her connections.
It was just her luck he wasn’t even a terrible lawyer. He wasn’t great, but he was better than average—good enough to survive at the firm. Plus he knew how to be slick with partners and clients. He always dressed well and swaggered around like he knew he was a shoo-in for the promotion.
Which made her jaw ache.
“If I had the influence you think I do, you wouldn’t be working here.” Vanessa reached for her fries. “Felix, do you mind shutting the door? We have a lot of billable”—she looked pointedly at the pile of documents to review—“work to do.”
With an overly sympathetic smile, Felix shut the door in Stan’s face. “Can’t stand that guy.”
“You and me both.”
“I hope you make partner before him. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it if he does.”
“He’s not a bad lawyer.”
“That doesn’t make him great.”
Vanessa nodded and almost jumped when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Justin.
Why do you want my lawyer’s contact info?
Narrowing her eyes, she t
yped, So I can tell him where to send me the prenup.
A moment later, he responded, Send YOU a prenup? Isn’t it usually the other way around with the Pryces?
She sighed. Don’t be dense. At 25 billion and counting, Justin was worth more than her entire family.
No prenups.
You need to protect yourself.
If I wanted your legal advice, I would’ve signed a retainer agreement.