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“Is he your client?”
“No. But he’s doing business with my client, so anything I’d say connects to their right to privacy. He was contentious about terms he didn’t like. He pushed back, which would have been fine until he wanted to speak to me alone. He insisted upon using my first name, which he hadn’t done before the incident.
“Incident? The fucker assaulted you.”
I’m not getting into legal semantics with him.
“Are you really free for lunch? I wanted Simon to think I was going to see you soon.”
“Yes.”
“Enzo, are you rescheduling something, so you can say that?”
“Yes, and I don’t give a shit. I’m coming to see you.”
“Marco used the excuse that he’s picking me up so he could come into my office.”
“Good. Have him take you to Constantine’s. I’m here right now.”
“All right. Thank you, Daddy.”
“Always,piccolina.”
Fucking hell.
Anderson will understand, but Susan is going to plotz. How is it my male boss is more understanding than my female one? Does she think I should just suck it up and take it as par for the course? Or is there a reason for her to side with Simon over me?
I need to see Kelsey and Murphy and find out whether they’ll corroborate my claim. I grab my purse and laptop, slipping it into its bag. I head toward their portion of the bullpen, the place where the associates work their asses off, trying to make junior partner. I spot them immediately since they’re speaking animatedly with one another. But they go mute the moment they spot me. I approach with bravado I don’t feel.
“Shit, Michelle. I’m glad I was there for you.”
That’s the chatty Murphy I’m used to. He doesn’t swear in front of many people here. I’m one of the few. I suppose I should be honored. I look at Kelsey, who looks much warier. I wait for her to speak, but she shifts her weight from foot to foot a few times.
“Kelsey?”
“Why did that man interrupt the meeting? Why was he already here?”
“You heard Mr. Mancinelli. He came to pick me up because his brother couldn’t make it. We’re all having lunch together.”
“The three of you?”
I arch an eyebrow.
“What are you implying, Kelsey? Am I not allowed to get along with my boyfriend’s family?”
“He’s very handsome.”
She really thinks I’m cheating or going to have a threesome on my lunch break. If I were, I wouldn’t want it done in thirty minutes.
“He is, but his brother is even hotter. I didn’t come over to discuss either Mr. Mancinelli. What notes did you take?”
I put my hand out since they’re both holding their notepads. I skim Kelsey’s, which only note the business portions. That’s good. We need a record of Simon’s refusal to accept the thirty percent down payment request. We also have notes he wants to withhold the ten percent from the project. She also wrote down that he faced having another benefactor outbid him for the position as the foremost donor.
Murphy’s is a word for word recantation of everything said. I’d noticed him scribbling furiously, but he’s better than a transcriptionist. I look up at him, and he offers me the kindest smile I’ve ever seen on the young man’s face.
“I have three sisters and a mom, Michelle. He’s a sleezoid. I wouldn’t want him anywhere near the women in my family. I don’t think you should ever be alone with him. I’m glad I was there. It blows, but I don’t think he would have held back as much as he did if it was just Kels. He would play he said, she said. He won’t do that since I was there. He saw me taking notes.”
Kelsey’s eyebrows shoot up before she speaks.
