Page 30 of Broken Boss

But these days, he feels more like my savior.

“It’s fine,” I bite out in response to Orla’s desperate, worried looks. “I’ve got it under control. Everything is fine.”

Who am I really trying to reassure—her, or myself?

Marty picked the wrong day.

“That was completely inappropriate.”

The words are like ice as they leave my lips. Marty cocks a hip out and grins, the plaid pencil skirt she’s wearing clashing garishly with her blouse.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Autumn. If a client decides you can’t handle their case, they’ll leave you either way—whether they choose to work with me, or another firm.”

A smugness settles across her features and only stokes the fire in me. It’s taking everything I have not to hurl a stapler at her as we have it out over the desk of Saskia, the paralegal who first informed me that Officer Wilcox was now going to be represented by Marty instead of me.

Except it didn’t go quite like that—Saskia realized all the files related to the case were missing from the system.

She sounded the alarm, and over the last two hours, we figured out what happened. During this fiasco, Marty sashayed her way around, looking like the cat who ate the canary. She had to know what we were all panicking about, but she didn’t say a word.

“I’m not talking about Wilcox choosing to work with you, Marty, I’m talking about the fact that you had your paralegal pull everything from the system without notifying me or my team. It goes against protocol.”

She manages an airheaded look, one that might actually convince HR that she truly didn’t know the rules regarding hand off. Which is bullshit.

Marty leans across the desk, forcing Saskia to sit back abruptly. She raises a brow conspiratorially, but her voice is loud as she says, “Autumn, I think you should go calm down somewhere. There’s no need to get all worked up over losing a client. There will be plenty more.” The pulse throbbing in my head only intensifies as she adds, “I’d be happy to throw you a bone. I’m sure we can pare down our own caseload, especially to help out another associate.”

She says the word like it’s a curse, and the meaning is clear—she’s drawing a line between us. I’m the designated associate. She plans on moving up to partner.

And she actually thinks these games will secure her the position.

“Going forward,” I hiss through gritted teeth, “you come directly to me before pulling my cases.”

Marty hums flippantly and turns away, giving Saskia a slight sneer. Her head is held high as she heads off to her own office where, undoubtedly, her team is gathered to work on the Wilcox case.

“I’m sorry,” Saskia whispers. “If I’d caught it earlier?—”

“No. It’s not your fault; it was out of your hands. And honestly, it’s not a loss. There are other clients we can focus our attention on.”

I give her a soft, encouraging smile. Not exactly the workplace demeanor I’m going for, but I can’t help it. Marty pisses me off. I don’t like the way she treats the legal teams helping us out and I don’t like her sneaky tactics.

Feeling like a pot about to boil over, I stride through the halls and toward Chris’s office. I wasn’t planning on seeing him at all today.

In fact, I was planning on dodging him. With the threat of Kieran in the back of my mind, I don’t need to deal with another man deciding how I should navigate my life—even if I’m starting to think maybe he has my best interests at heart.

Head in the game, I remind myself, ignoring the looks I’m getting as I turn a corner. Everyone in the office heard the confrontation between Marty and me. I’m not sure who came out looking worse. I don’t really care.

In a scene mirroring yesterday morning, but in reverse, I push Chris’s office door open and find him standing at the window. It’s not much of a view; Sharpe Law is situated for easy access for clients, not for aesthetics.

He looks over his shoulder and my heart stutters in my chest.

Why does the man have to be so damn good-looking? For a second, the anger bleeds away, but then I remember how Marty undermined me just minutes ago.

“We need to talk.”

Chris raises a brow. The amusement and curiosity on his face is annoying.

“Okay. Shoot.”

“Marty took over my client, Eli Wilcox. She couldn’t have done so without your consent.”

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