“So was the TechNova case until I won that.I can do this justice too, I guarantee it.”
Erika rested her forearms on the desk as she leaned forward.“It would be unheard of for an associate to lead a potential class action of this size.”
“Maybe that’s a sign that I’ve outgrown that title.”He didn’t shy away from meeting her piercing gaze.He was the best person for the job, he knew it.A chance like this was all he had wanted for years.
“Aya.Do you think Sebastian can handle this?”
He caught Aya’s eye and issued a hundred silent pleas, praying Aya would read his mind as she so often did.Everything he knew about running a case, he had learned from her.That had to count for something.She must trust her own teachings.Right?
“If any associate can do it, it’s him,” Aya said.Okay.Not exactly the glowing endorsement Baz needed here, but she wasn’t one for grand displays.
“And you’d be fine second-chairing him?”Erika’s tone suggested she didn’t think so, for good reason.Aya was every bit as competitive as he was.
Once, at a summer event the firm hosted to boost morale, they had spent all day glued to the Can Knockdown station.It was supposed to be for the employees’ kids—they had turned it into a battlefield, hosting an epic showdown to determine, once and for all, who the better pitcher was (it was Baz).But she’d already made partner, she didn’t need this like he did.
A ticking of a clock counted the seconds of silence.Baz’s ass clenched.
“Yes,” Aya said.A muscle feathered across her jaw.
Baz squeezed his lips shut to keep his excitement inside.Oh, he could kiss her.
Erika’s face remained a stone-cold, unreadable mask as she nodded.“All right, then.Congratulations, Sebastian.The case is yours.”
A tantalizing warmth exploded in Baz’s chest, racing all the way down to his toes.He had to tense his legs to stop himself from bouncing in his seat.“Thank you.You won’t regret it.”
“I better not.”
Baz did not want to find out what the ‘or else’ swinging in her words alluded to.
“I promise you, there is no one else who will take this more seriously than I will.”
“Good.If you prove yourself on this, I’d be inclined to agree that the titleassociatedoesn’t do your value to the firm justice anymore.”
He really could make partner?This was it, the final nail in Ian’s coffin.He and his lapdog would go down.
“Dismissed.”
Baz jumped to his feet.His knees wobbled, but his body was so weightless, it floated without their support.
He held the door open for a silent Aya before Erika could change her mind.
“Thank you so much.I owe you,” he gushed, hot on Aya’s heels.
“Agreed.”
“I’ll buy you all the dinners on this case.”
A smile warmed her face.“I’ll be eating steak every night.”
Fine with Baz.Hell, he’d throw in the odd lobster if this case really got him promoted.Was lobster halal?He’d look it up before extending the invitation verbally.“Seriously, if there’s anything I can do—”
“There is.I need you to not mess this up.”Even though she barely reached his shoulders, under her stern glare, Baz felt like he was a schoolboy again.
“I won’t.”Messes didn’t make people partners before they were thirty.He didn’t even know how to spellmess, that was how good Baz was.Losing wasn’t part of his brand.
Regardless of what that prick Sami had claimed, given the circumstances, the Harrison case had been no loss.The deal Baz had cut with the prosecutor was the best Harrison could hope for after he got caught hacking the private communication of the executives at his firm and using insider info to rearrange his stock market portfolio.
“I’m counting on you, Baz.”
