“That’s not true!” Hannigan protested.

Daniel ignored him. “And when he realized that she’ll never give into his advances, he decided to fire her.”

“I’m the one, who makes those decisions, Mr. Sinclair. Not that it’s any of your business, but Sabrina was let go because she neglected her work.”

“Says who?”

“It was brought to my attention by Mr. Hannigan here. He’s been supervising her work,” Merriweather advised.

Daniel shot Hannigan a furious look. “Well, did Mr. Hannigan also bring to your attention that he surprised me and Sabrina during out weekend getaway in Sonoma? Did he bring it to your attention that he accused her of being a whore for sleeping with me? Did he?”

Merriweather went white. It was clear he knew none of the details.

“I didn’t think so.”

“Jon? Is this true?” Merriweather barked but received no answer. “Damn it, Jon. I was willing to overlook your indiscretions when it came to the secretaries, but this is going too far!”

He turned to his client. “Mr. Sinclair. We’ll rectify this.”

“I’m listening,” Daniel said expectantly.

“Jon, pack your personal things and leave. The firm has no further use for you.” Merriweather was pragmatic. It would be wiser to lose an associate, who’d become a liability to the firm rather than piss off a lucrative client.

“You’re firing me? You can’t do that!” Hannigan was beside himself. “That little bitch! Just because she’s fucking a rich client, she’s suddenly got free range and I get shafted!” His face was red like a ripe tomato.

Daniel swerved around and landed his fist in Hannigan’s gut. Hannigan doubled over and fell to his knees, holding his stomach, his face twisted in pain.

“Never, do you hear me, never talk like that about the woman I love. Is that clear?”

“Jon, if you’re not gone within ten minutes, I’ll have security remove you from the building. Mr. Sinclair, please join me in my office.”

Once in Merriweather’s private office, Daniel finally relaxed. His attorney’s decisive action to fire Hannigan on the spot had somewhat pacified him. He would give the firm another chance, even though he’d been ready to pull his account.

“Mr. Sinclair, let me just say on behalf of the firm that had we known about any of this, this would certainly not have happened. Please accept our apologies.”

Daniel nodded and sat on the couch.

“I had of course no idea, that you and Sabrina …, well I’d been under the impression that you’d been referred to us by another client not by Sabrina,” he angled for more information as he continued to stand.

“You weren’t misinformed. I was referred to you by another client.” Daniel left it at that.

“We’ll of course reinstate her, since it now is obvious that Mr. Hannigan has given me inaccurate information as to her work. I shouldn’t have relied on his information alone and investigated for myself, but the circumstances … In any case, I’ll send a personal message to her right away, together with the firm’s apologies.” His statement bordered on groveling.

Daniel motioned him to sit, and he complied.

“I had something else in mind. I would like you to draft an employment contract for her,” Daniel started.

“Of course. Certainly. We can use our standard contract and make any changes you suggest.” He seemed eager to please.

Daniel shook his head. “I’m not talking about an employment contract between her and your firm, but between her and me.”

Merriweather looked stunned as he tried to process his client’s words. “You want to hire Sabrina?”

His expression went from surprise to disbelief and then to shock as Daniel laid out the terms he wanted incorporated in the contract.

“You can’t possibly think that Sabrina would sign such a contract.” Merriweather swallowed.

“I know exactly what she’ll do when she reads it,” Daniel responded. He hoped he was right. For once he trusted his gut. He hoped he wasn’t wrong this time.

13

The week was almost over, and Sabrina had been busy updating her resume and sending it out to several employment agencies. The outlook wasn’t rosy. There were specific times during the year when law offices hired, and she’d just missed the most important hiring period by a few weeks.

She’d gained at least two pounds in the five days she’d been at home by gobbling down pints of ice cream whenever she was depressed and feeling sorry for herself—which was daily.