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10
The next morning we arrived at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Manhattan headquarters. Johnny and Sebastian came along, as did Connor’s four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We all made quite a sight as we took the elevator up to the fourth floor. It was like the HBO show Entourage, but with scary guys in dark suits and a tall gay man.
Connor’s lawyers met us in the lobby. Robert Schilling, the head of the firm, was there personally. He was a medium-sized man with short gray hair, Cartier glasses, and a $10,000 suit.
“Connor,” he said as they shook hands.
“Rob. Is she here?”
“Oh yes.”
Schilling led the way to a glass room where Miranda sat at a table with her fleet of lawyers.
She was strikingly beautiful in a crème designer skirt suit. Her blonde hair was arranged in a flawless chignon, revealing her elegant neck and highlighting her sculpted cheekbones. She looked like Grace Kelly, if Grace Kelly could look like she’d cut out your heart with a butter knife.
I tried to hide my fear as Connor, Sebastian, and I sat down next to Mr. Schilling and his partners. Johnny and the four bodyguards remained standing behind us.
A tall, thin man at the head of the table – apparently the SEC guy – cleared his throat. “Alright, now that we’re all here – ”
“We can cut to the chase,” Miranda finished. “Everyone out but Connor and Lily.”
“What?!” the SEC guy exclaimed. “We’re here on official SEC business, and because you requested – ”
Miranda turned to face him. It was like watching a mannequin’s head swivel on its neck: not a single change in expression at all.
“If I need something from the SEC, I’ll make a campaign contribution large enough to get what I want. Until then, leave.”
The SEC guy was outraged. “I – this is – ”
“Do I need to call your superior? He was the one who told you to include me in this meeting.”
The SEC guy flushed bright red. “Richard would not tell me to leave this meeting. This is an outrage – this is an affront to the authority of the SEC. In fact, to the entire regulatory branch of the federal government – ”
As he spoke, Miranda pulled out a cell phone and tapped the screen a couple of times. Suddenly a man’s voice came over the speakerphone.
“Hello, Miranda.”
“Hello, Richard. Would you tell your subordinate that I no longer require his presence?”
There was an uncomfortable silence. Then…
“Uh… Jeremy… why don’t you let them discuss whatever they need to discuss.”
The SEC guy looked like a five-year-old who had been bullied on the playground. He gathered up his papers, his lower lip trembling, and stomped out of the room with a hateful look over his shoulder.
“Is there anything else you need, Mir– ”
She hung up the phone without answering. “Alright, everyone else out but Connor and Lily.”
“That was cute,” Connor said.
“No, that was efficient,” Miranda said. “Tell your people to leave.”
Connor chuckled. “Yeeeaaaaah. Fuck you.”
“We already did that many times in the past, and it was always deeply unsatisfying,” Miranda said without a trace of emotion.
Ugh.It always sucks hearing a psychopath talk about her sex life with your husband-to-be.
