Page 48 of Boss Level

In return, she got a tight smile. “I suppose it sounds all right. I’m good with what we’re getting, though,” Claire said.

The waiter wrote down Judith’s order then turned to me for mine, as Dale let out a quiet sound that was something like a grunt of disbelief.

Did he really expect me to treat my partner like a mindless creature? I had to tell myself not to roll my eyes.

Judith was the embodiment of poise as she draped her napkin over her knee, and sipped her water. “How was your trip, Dale?”

Was that panic on Claire’s face? Despite the calm start to the evening, and us only being a few minutes in, the tension in the air was already dense.

“Beg pardon?” Dale asked.

“When I ran into Claire, she mentioned you were traveling for business.”

Dale raised an eyebrow. “It was fine.”

Odd answer. “I don’t know if I’ve ever described a business trip asfine.” I was happy to listen if it kept me from saying the wrong thing about Judith’s or Claire’s story, but I was also more pleased than maybe I should be to subtly call Dale on some of this shifty behavior. “There’s always something that comes up. You’ll have to tell me who your travel agent is, that you didn’t even have bumps in your flight plans.”

Dale’s chuckle was flat. “I’ll get you her name.”

Thank God for awkward silence. Though the way Claire was dissecting her bread, pulling tiny pieces off and letting as many fall on the plate as she ate, I felt sorry for the poor piece of multi-grain.

“Any interesting new clients, Dominic?”

I couldn’t believe Dale asked that. I did an imitation of his unamused laugh from a few minutes ago. “You know I can’t tell you that.”

“Really?” Dale had the audacity to sound shocked, as if he hadn’t had a dozen lawyers explain attorney-client-privilege to him during his career. “Not even client names? Privilege extends that far.”

I gave a brief shake of my head. “Not even client names. Put yourself in their shoes.”

“You’re a contract lawyer, not a defense attorney. I wouldn’t think people would be ashamed to associate themselves with you.”

If he was trying to get under my skin, it wasn’t working. I was amused. Curious about how this helped him exert dominance. “They’re not ashamed, but people have other reasons for keeping things to themselves, and that’s their decision to make.” Like how their business trips went, or the fact that they’d spent their week at a gaming convention and didn’t want their spouse to know.

Judith nudged my foot with hers, and I wondered what I’d missed, until my gaze fell on three people walking toward us. At the sight of Cole, Graham, and Luna, both my tension and amusement leapt.

Especially when Cole looked toward us, and smiled.

This ought to be interesting.

He had redirected his partners, and all three were walking toward us.

Double interesting. Triple, even.

“Judith, Dominic, great to see you.” The warmth in Cole’s voice was genuine as he approached.

Judith gave him a well-rehearsed smile. Was she as darkly amused by this as I was? I should be concerned about what one of the new arrivals might say, but this was a train wreck and I couldn’t look away. “Same,” she said.

“I’m Dale.” He injected himself into the conversation before anyone else could speak. “An associate of Dominic’s. And this is my wife, Claire.”

“Cole is my ex-husband.” Judith wasn’t going to hide that. Okay.

Probably smart if she didn’t know how much Cole would play along. He’d never been much for putting on airs, so it seemed unlikely he’d be willing to fall into a scripted part for this.

“Oh.” Claire’s mouth formed a shocked circle. “Oh. I was under the impression her first husband was… Dang it.”

Cole’s smile grew. “Did she tell you I was dead? Judy is such a joker.”

The nickname might be taking things a step too far.

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