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the fame of those
involved, it could easily be considered the Divorce of the Decade
in New York society. Unfortunately.
    And the possibility of Mikalo knowing Mara
Byzan? Of possibly even flirting with her or dating her or, oh god,
“being” with her at some point possibly in the past?
    No. Just no.
    The thought alone made me want to hurl.
    With all of that on my emotional plate, the
last thing I wanted to deal with was the smiling sycophant sitting
in my office.
    Marcus Marunder. Abigail White’s soon-to-be
son-in-law.
    Yeah, her horse-toothed daughter and this
ambitious cretin still weren’t married, the two of them continuing
their torturous drag down the aisle to the altar. Both of them
desperately hoping to find someone better, no doubt.
    Smooth, polished, insincere, he sat opposite
me, flashing his pearly whites while doing his best to stab me in
the back.
    “I still don’t see what M&A has to do
with what I do for the Byzans,” I said for the millionth time,
fully aware that Mergers & Acquisitions had nothing to do with
anything I was doing for the Byzans.
    Another smile as he nodded, obviously
ignoring every word I just said.
    “I know, I know,” he almost cooed. “But
Partner White --”
    Partner White? Since when has anyone ever
called Abigail “Partner White”?
    “-- believes it’d be best,” he continued,
“I’ll just watch over you, make sure everything’s okay. That the
clients are happy and, of course, that my department agrees with
the decisions you make.”
    A quick flash of pearly whites.
    His department. He hasn’t even been here two
months and now Mergers & Acquisitions is “his department”?
    Bet Bill Blazen will be happy to hear
that.
    “Are the Byzans planning on acquiring
anything of importance?” I asked. “I’m just not sure what I do and
what you do in Bill’s department makes it necessary for us to be
joined at the hip.”
    A nod, a smile, the grin never reaching his
cold, dark, calculating eyes.
    “Of course, of course,” he agreed. “Still,
it’s best I be a sounding board for the Byzans when it comes to
their work with the Firm. And the work my department does with
you.”
    Damn, he was really desperate to claim
M&A as his.
    “I’m sure you understand,” he said, standing
to go.
    “I don’t,” I answered, standing as well.
“And, frankly, it’s ridiculous for you to watch over my shoulder,
so that’s simply not going to happen.
    “The Byzans will be fine,” I said,
finishing.
    No smile this time as his eyes slightly
narrowed while his mind raced.
    This had been building for weeks. And I
wasn’t sure what, exactly, this “this” was. Wasn’t sure what was
happening beneath the surface. What had changed. But there was
definitely a sense of Abigail rallying her troops for ... well, who
knows what?
    I was Partner, so firing me was a complicated
process. And my work, despite the recent distraction of Mikalo, was
as strong as ever. No complaints that I knew of. And, believe me,
if there were, Partner White would no doubt race her skinny ass
down the hall to tell me.
    But something was happening here.
    And I was finally realizing that being
brilliant and working hard was no longer enough. If I was going to
remain at Macfarlane, Schaal, I was going to have to fight.
    And I wasn’t necessarily sure I wanted
to.
    He spoke.
    “I’ll speak with Partner White.”
    “No,” I said, the red rising to my cheeks.
“Have Abigail --”
    “Partner --”
    “Abigail,” I interrupted. “Have Abigail speak
with me.”
    Taking my eyes from him, I sat.
    “I have work to do,” I finally said.
    Reluctantly, he left, the door closing a
little too hard behind him.
    Whatever. Thank god he was gone.
    I put my head in my hands, my fingers
massaging my temples as I steadied myself, willing the beginnings
of this headache to go away.
    A small knock, knock, knock.
    “Yes,” I called out.
    Janey, my fantastic secretary, slipped in,
closing the door behind her.
    Despite the