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Hours of constant work for her clients did nothing to quell the anger in Lola’s belly. She was stewing in the injustice of it all. Not just Martina’s clumsy attempts at sabotage, but the stupid lawsuit, too.

Why should she take that shit lying down? Carmen wanted to play defense when what they needed to do was go on the attack. People only responded to aggression.

Lola’s mind was racing, her pulse jumping, when she left her office. Adriana was already gone, of course. After shacking up with Roxy, she’d stopped putting in long hours at the office. She pretended to work from home, but Lola wasn’t so sure she believed her.

The bullpen was empty and Natalia hadn’t returned from her meeting, so there was nobody to track her movements. A development in her favor for once.

Crossing the empty reception area, Lola accumulated confidence with every step. She’d convince Carmen to sue the shit out of Fortune. For drugging them, for suing them out of malice, and for making fraudulent claims. That had to be a basis for something, right?

Lola grinned when the elevator dinged its arrival. She was going to sue Fortune’s ass for fucking Monopoly money — if that’s the amount of money she lost when Bamford fired her, she must be loaded. Fortune would have no choice but to drop her suit, or Lola would destroy her.

It was only when Lola arrived at Carmen’s office that she realized there was probably no one there. Glancing at her watch, Lola forgot it was well beyond most people’s working hours.

Standing in front of the creepy oil painting in the empty waiting room, Lola made a second discovery. She didn’t have Carmen’s phone number. Was it strange to ask her for it? She’d been inside of her twice, and yet exchanging contact information seemed too intimate.

Lola turned back to the elevator, intending to get back to her office, when the door in the waiting area opened. Heart plummeting into her stomach, Lola was trying to come up with a rational excuse for standing in a place where she didn’t belong, when the person walking through the door smiled at her.

“Hey, Carmen’s friend,” the nice guy from earlier smiled and held the door open for her. “Remember your way back there?”

Surprise shaped a genuine smile on Lola’s lips. “Yeah, thanks.”

Guilt snagged Lola by the collar before she crossed the threshold. Would she get this poor guy in trouble if she walked back there? At Dominion, he and the receptionist would have both been fired on the spot for helping an interloper. But Carmen had seemed horrified by the idea that the lady at the front would have been punished for something Lola did. Plus, this time she was coming as a client. That had to count for something.

Inertia moved Lola forward, forcing her to stop thinking about other people and worry about herself. The office that had been a beehive of activity that afternoon was all but abandoned when Lola strode with confidence down the halls, dark offices on either side of her.

Lola started to question whether Carmen would even be there. But the guy at the door would have mentioned if she was gone.

As soon as she turned the corner toward Carmen’s sad office, she was assaulted by the sound of a man’s gruff voice. Carmen’s office was the only one with the light on, so there was little doubt the barking man was in there.

Shit.

Lola turned to leave, but the sound of two people talking in the main part of the office made her stop.

Great plan, dumbass.

Willing herself to stay calm, Lola slipped into the dark copy room next to Carmen’s office. As soon as the people talking left, she’d slip out again — stupid plan abandoned.

“It’s my kid’s little league championship game, Carmen,” the man barked louder than before.

“And you didn’t know that when you scheduled an expert’s deposition, Barry?” Carmen’s voice was sharp, but the undercurrent of frustration made her pitch too high. “Or did they just suddenly drop this pre-planned thing on you?”

Don’t let him get to you, Lola thought, instantly disliking the asshole even without any context for their conversation.

“It’s so easy to govern your own time when you don’t have kids, isn’t it? When you don’t have to think about anything other than club hopping and getting your hair done.”

Lola’s head exploded into a mushroom cloud. Club hopping? Hair? This guy couldn’t be for real. Who the fuck did he think he was talking to?

“Your misogyny is so charming. Your ex-wife must miss it immensely,” Carmen said, a smile in her voice even though Lola was sure she was as angry as her. “But I’m pretty sure it’s not my fault you failed to pull out nine years ago.”

“Being crass is very amusing these days, huh?”

“Says the man who had to be told to stop addingthat’s what she said, andin bed, after everyone else’s statements.”

“You think you’re so cute,” he growled, openly flustered at Carmen not letting him get away with shit. “You wouldn’t have survived under the Old Bear. You know why we called your grandfather that? Not just because Bernal means—”

“Are you mansplaining my family name to me right now, Barry?”

Lola gritted her teeth. This jerk was unreal.