It doesn’t sound like Rivi’s about to be fired, after all. But she tenses anyway. She knows this man. She’s sued this man

R

ivi walks into her office the next day prepared to be fired.

Although how do you really prepare to be fired? She has it all rehearsed in her head, the calm and measured responses designed not to burn any bridges. The gratitude she’ll express for the opportunities she’s gotten at Faber & Granada, the confidence with which she’ll carry herself from the room. So much of her life is slipping out of her grasp, and at least today, she’d like to respond with grace.

She gets a few casual nods as she moves through the firm, past cubicles for paralegals situated opposite offices for associates. Her own office is at the end of the hall, with a window looking out at the sprawling city below. There’s a massive billboard across the building closest to hers, a colorful ad for sneakers, and she’s spent many calls staring absently at it. Today, she savors the view knowing it might be the last time she appreciates it.

Her train was delayed, and her meeting is in ten minutes.

She takes off her coat and combs out her sheitel with a spare brush, straightens her jacket, and stares at herself in the mirror until she’s satisfied. She wants to look strong. To look immovable, to be so calm and collected that they’ll regret letting her go.

A chime from her phone. It’s Antonia, her secretary. “Your meeting has been moved to Conference Room C.”

A conference room is an odd place to fire someone, with all its big windows and the possibility of a spectacle. Still, Rivi doesn’t let her guard down, and she thanks Antonia and strides to the conference room.

“There you are.” Sam Faber, one of the partners, brightens when he sees Rivi. “Five minutes early, as always. Riva is nothing if not reliable,” he says conspiratorially to the elderly man beside him.

It doesn’t sound like Rivi’s about to be fired, after all. But she tenses anyway. She knows this man. She’s sued this man, has gone toe to toe with his lawyers on behalf of her client. He’s Garrett Boyd, the billionaire owner of an array of auction houses across the East Coast. What is he doing here? And why has she been called in for this?