Page 82 of Apparently, I’m A B!tch

Chapter42

Nikki

Thursday morning

A knock soundedat my office door. Not looking up, I said, “Come in.”

Jake stormed into the room, slamming my door with such violence, I startled and stiffened, my eyes flying to him.

“You bitch! You fucking bitch!” He stood at my desk, staring at me with daggers in his eyes. “Harvey fired me because of you!”

“Harvey fired you?” I squeaked up at him, wide-eyed and too shocked to be angry.

“He fired me because of YOU,” he roared. “You fucking bitch!”

From the corner of my eye, I watched Harvey walk into my office. He was so quiet and solemn, it made me straighten that much more as he came to stand in front of my desk. He considered Jake with wariness, but the irate ex-employee muttered another curse under his breath and stomped out.

“Is… everything okay?”

Harvey’s gaze was pinned to my desk. “I’ve just let Jake go.”

“I can see that.” I tried to keep the sarcasm from my voice, but boy was it hard. Overcoming my intense dislike for this man was a challenge I hadn’t mastered yet.

He ignored my sarcasm and said, “I’m here to talk to you about your case, Nik.”

I gestured to my guest chairs, amazed my hand wasn’t shaking from Jake’s sudden outburst. “Have a seat if you like.”

Harvey bent himself into one of my guest chairs and winced. “My word, Nikki. These chairs are horribly uncomfortable.”

I cracked a small smile as he wriggled against the seat.

“So, what area of my case would you like to discuss, Harvey?”

He breathed in and drawled, “You’ve got your alibi, the charges were dropped, and your client has the chance to countersue. I’m sure you realize what this means.”

Yesterday afternoon, after Kelly and I danced and squealed in the kitchen, I arranged an urgent meeting with my client. I wrote the facts on a statement, and all he had to do was read it over and sign, confirming his alibi and eradicating all claims against him.

My client ran his eyes over the papers, then glanced at me with confusion. “I didn’t tell you any of this, Miss Gataki.”

“You didn’t have to. I’d like to think I do my job well enough that even when my clients withhold information, I can still win them the outcome they deserve.”

He shook his head as he stammered, “But I don’t… I may not deserve to go to jail for sex crimes, but I’m… my wife can’t know what I’ve done. She’s passionate about gun violence, and if she finds out I’ve been donating money to hurt her cause,” he paused and lowered his voice. “I don’t know what she’ll do.”

I sat back in my chair, my conscience warring with itself. I didn’t want my client to jump from one crisis to another, even if being acquitted of his case meant he could go back to his normal life. I could put his mind at ease, despite knowing it gave him the opportunity to continue lying to his wife.

“Our case didn’t go to trial, and so all records and evidence remain confidential. If you sign this paper, no one has to know the details of it. You can tell your wife whatever you like and she’ll never have to know about your donation.”

His body loosened with relief, and a bit of word vomit pushed through my lips at the sight. “Telling your wife the truth is completely up to you… but I recommend you own up to what you’ve done. It might hurt you both to do it, but she’ll respect you for your honesty. It would be better than her finding out the truth on her own, wouldn’t it?”

His jaw clamped tight, and he looked away as he nodded. Without another word, he bent over the statement and signed, guaranteeing his freedom and my win.

Now, less than a day later, Harvey came to pay the piper. I looked at him and said, “It means… I keep Kelly.”

Harvey sighed. “Yes, you do. It became apparent that your assessment of Jake’s performance was, ultimately, correct. We should’ve listened when you complained about him earlier, but I’m afraid I began to believe what was being said about you, especially once you attacked my abilities as a potential partner for the firm.”

He clucked his tongue and added, “Your standards were so high, and I thought you were being unreasonable. You are The Cutter, after all. But it was clear to see that Jake wasn’t up to the task. He almost cost me my last case, and I came to realize what you were dealing with this past year. Your attitude toward my working relationship with Kelly made much more sense.”

He lifted his glance to mine and surprised me by saying, “I’ve come to apologize, Nikki. I owe you and Kelly both apologies. I worked Kelly much too hard, and I leaned on her much too heavily. I suppose I was behaving selfishly, but I didn’t see it. Losing Kelly was a hard hit to take, but this will make me a better leader, and I can assure you my unwavering support as partner from now on.”