Page 219 of Savage Bosses

“Blasphemy. You know I had that civil case on lock,” she answered. “And hello to you too, Jaelle.”

“And I'm here too,” Brooke greeted.

“Hey, girl.” Whatever it was, it was big enough for a conference call. “What happened?”

“We want to know from you. I saw the article on Pnet about DMI. Are they laying anyone off?” Brooke asked.

Aw. My girls were checking on me. “I love you two, but it's fine. Jerry quit. He defected to another company.”

“Isn't he the worthless one?” Chantel asked.

“That's the one.”

“He doesn't matter,” Brooke scoffed. “You and Daisy do all the work, and he takes the credit. I thought there was real trouble, but it was gossip. I was going to advise you about your portfolio.”

I loved that one of my best friends was my financial manager. If it weren’t for Brooke, I wouldn’t be able to finance my life while I got my business off the ground in a year.

“Oh, that asshole deleted everything on our computers,” I replied. “But he thought he was smarter than the rest of us. Michelle helped me get most of the files back.”

“Black girl magic,” Chantel sang.

“Good. He was an asshat, anyway. You should be the lead. This a good time to throw your hat into the ring,” Brooke said.

“Yeah, about that. I have something in the works.”

“Tell us,” Chantel growled. “I want to know all about this magical land where a jerk like Jerry is in charge, and then they recognize the real talent.”

“Maybe you should write a book,” Brooke teased.

Chantel laughed. “Don't tempt me. I've heard Jaelle talk about Dani Bond enough that I could make my own fantasy world. Maybe one with a lawyer heroine. No, a legalgoddess.”

That sounded interesting, but I knew she wouldn't do it. Chantel didn't have the patience for fiction, but I would definitely be her fan if she did. “A lawyer deity? Sounds fun.”

“Girl, you know I'm playing. I leave the fantasies to the professionals. Besides, it's bad enough you got me reading that book,Friends with Benies. I was up until midnight laughing at Wednesday and Ryker. Those two are a trip.”

Another favorite of mine. A witch and a panda shifter falling in love. “Which part was your favorite so far?”

“I love when he busted down the door of her apartment thinking she was attacked, only for him to catch her eating breakfast with his mother. That was so embarrassing, but then—“

“I'm going to have to download this book, too, just to keep up with what you're talking about, aren't I?” Brooke asked.

I laughed maniacally. “Yes, come to the dark side. I have wine and cookies.”

“Sold,” Brook replied. “We will be there at wine o'clock. I want to hear about what happened at work and Chantel's case. I'm bringing the dragon rolls in honor of Dragon Moon. You supply the cookies.”

“You know I got the wine,” Chantel said. “See you in a few.”

“Bye, girls.” I hung up the phone. The display read 4:30 pm. Wine o'clock was at 6:00 pm. Chantel and Brooke usually got off work at 5:00 pm, and with travel to our favorite bar or one another's house in Hampton Roads, traffic put us at six. It was our little code.

That meant the chocolate chip cookies in my refrigerator would need to go in the oven by 5:30 pm. I had an hour to study the project plan and see what kind of mess was in there. Once I got a sense of the schedule and the progress of everyone's projects, I could strategize.

This was in the bag.

The convention hotel in Short Pump was a dream. The suburban section of Richmond was the right amount of bougie and southern charm. It was perfect for Martinicon. Plus, it took place in the same city as one of Dani Bond's books. The place was the ideal backdrop for a convention celebrating books and epic cosplay. It was fairly close to Virginia Beach too.

After staying up all night finishingPandora's Kissand combing through Dani Bond's site, I finished packing for the trip and got my hair done. Richmond may have been only 2 hours away, but I wasn't about to return to Virginia Beach except in victory.

There was trivia and a cosplay contest during Martinicon. I planned to go for the cosplay contest, but I would own the trivia. My preparation knew no match, and the prize was a seat at the coveted masquerade ball on Saturday. I would be in the presence of my favorite author, where I could ask her all the burning questions I had about her books and maybe glean a little tea about the next one. It would be epic, and I could get a selfie with her.

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