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“No. On its face, it is a legally sufficient complaint alleging the elements of defamation and laying out the details of the damages she’s claiming.” Carmen knew she was using her mother’s tone, clear and measured, and sure to make Lola feel a foot tall. “That’ll be the problem with a motion to dismiss,” she said, mostly to herself, “but it’s still worth trying.”

“Earth to Carmen. I’m not paying a lawyer to dignify this with a response. Or I’ll file a countersuit for harassment and get her to back off.” Lola’s shift from defensive to launching an attack was instant. She wouldn’t stay tangled up in the ropes for long.

“Or,” Carmen held out her hands as if she was about to make a shattering, absolutely outrageous suggestion, “you could be nice to the lawyer you know for about ten seconds.”

Lola narrowed her gaze, her attention focused like a laser beam searching for a weak spot to exploit. “Why?”

Carmen rolled her eyes to hide her amusement at Lola’s over-the-top suspicions. “Because, we’re co-defendants in this ridiculous thing, I could appear on behalf of both of us to get rid of it.”

“Why?” Lola squinted harder. “So you can charge me—”

“I’m not going to charge you anything.” Carmen shook her head. “I’m going to file something, anyway. It costs nothing to file my motion jointly.”

“Sure, so you can find a way to dump this all on me.”

Carmen sighed, leaning away from Lola. “You know what? Forget it. Figure it out for yourself—”

“Would this make me your client?” Lola moved forward, her energy shifting again. Still chaotic and hot, but less irate.

“Only in the most limited sense. If I can’t get this kicked, I’ll have to talk to an ethics lawyer. Make sure I can represent us both — or even myself,” she thought aloud, trying to recall the rules of professional conduct she hadn’t needed to read since law school. “But I’ll worry about that later if it happens.”

Something unreadable played on Lola’s lips. “Does that mean you have to be civil toward me? Put my interests ahead of your own?”

“Always looking for the angle.” Carmen quirked a brow. “On second thought, you’re definitely right. Go get your own attorney.”

Lola took another step closer. “I mean, if all it requires is filing a pro forma response, some shark is going to charge me thousands of dollars to draft…” She shrugged.

“Wow.” Carmen laughed. “That is the strangest thank you I’ve ever heard.”

The corner of Lola’s lip twitched into a momentary smile. It shouldn’t have sent a spark skittering up Carmen’s skin.

“What do we do now?” Lola asked, her voice so soft and devoid of contempt that Carmen barely recognized it.

“First, I’m going to talk to Bamford,” she said at the same time that a strategy materialized in her mind.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Absolutely not. This isn’t like reading a recording contract. It takes a careful, deliberate hand to negotiate these things. There’s a good chance Bamford can talk Fortune out of this. Convince her to go away quietly after what she did. Considering Bamford might still be angry at having been conned, that’s going to take finesse.”

“I have finesse.”

“Sure, in the way a wrecking ball glides elegantly through the air before taking down a building.”

Lola laughed with her eyes, even if her lips didn’t move. “Shut up. I’m coming.”

Carmen threw on the blazer behind her chair before grabbing her copy of the lawsuit and her cell phone. “God, you’re like a hideous rash that refuses to go away.”

“A lot of experience with those?” Lola scanned her body, a ghost grin threatening the edges of her lips again.

Carmen bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. “Only since I met you,” she replied while opening her office door.

Grateful to have made it to the waiting room without her mother spotting them, Carmen called Bamford’s office while hurrying for the elevator.

“Enjoy your lunch, girls,” Blanca called out to them before picking up a ringing line.

“It was so nice to meet you,” Lola replied in a saccharine tone.

“You’re the absolute worst,” Carmen said while she waited for someone to answer Bamford’s phone.