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“So Chancellor Stevens is feeling generous,” Levi says.

Patrick shakes his head. “He’s being fast. He wants this dead and buried.”

“On a Saturday?” I ask.

“They interrupted my tee time,” Patrick grouses.

Levi leans forward. “That means he’s vulnerable. His counsel has gone to town on him and he desperately wants to make this go away before the next news cycle.”

“Dammit, Levi, that’s supposed to be me giving that professional insight.”

“Sorry. Proceed.”

“That means he’s vulnerable. Roger Holis has almost certainly had some very choice words with him about exactly how bad this will play in the court systems and what it’s going to do to the donations. So if he’s interrupting my tee time to settle, he wants this over with before the next news cycle makes it worse. And Levi, if we are going to work together in the future, you cannot steal my thunder.”

“By doing what? Making a completely logical conclusion that’s self-evident from the timing?”

“Yes, but it’s more dramatic when it comes from the lawyer!” Patrick says.

“All you did was say the same thing in more words.”

“Because you used the basic version I was going to go with first! I had to improvise.”

“Gentlemen!” I call. “Can we focus on my case?”

“Hello, Patrick!” Delphine says, leaning forward on the table. “Should I leave?”

Patrick raises a brow. “How coincidental that you picked this very moment to visit your dear friends.”

Delphine shrugs elaborately. “I am never coincidental, Monsieur l’avocat. I am merely fortunate.”

He sighs. “Of course you are.”

“Oh, let her stay,” I say.

“Merci. I am the soul of discretion. When it suits me.”

“Jesus Christ,” Levi says.

“But I am loyal, and you two have done me a service I will not forget,” she says. “Anyway, who do you think put together those protests?”

“What does the University want?” Levi cuts in.

“They want to settle out of court. The truth is that Fairhaven’s been the gayest college in the South for decades, and this is really fucking up that image. It’s been their cash cow too long, and they want to make sure that they don’t fuck it up. So they’ve made a counteroffer.”

“For what?” I ask.

“They’re lowballing. I asked for four, they’re willing to go for one-five and an NDA.”

I look at Levi. This feels alien to me. It’s his language. I want him to confirm it. “One and a half…Sorry?”

“Million,” Patrick says.

“Oh my,” I say. I blink at Levi. That’s more money than my father made in a decade of rewiring other people’s kitchens. “And my job?”

“How does expedited tenure sound? Tenure in two and a half.”

“I won’t work with those people again. Hughes, Preston, Spring. They can’t come back.”