The Love Wars by L. Alison Heller Read Free Book Online Page A

taps her fingernails distractedly on the desk, a manual ellipsis that explains why her burgundy nail polish is a little chipped at the tips.
    “Oh, I didn’t realize it was postjudgment.”
    “Her divorce was about two years ago. This one doesn’t smell good. The ex is Robert Walker. Do you know who that is?”
    I do.
    As a first-year corporate associate, I had volunteered to assist in a closing on behalf of the Aristotle Foundation, an education nonprofit. I had thought the assignment would be understaffed, but when I walked into the conference room, twenty people, three of them partners, were fluttering around as though preparing for a presidential visit.
    I had walked over to Holly, a second-year, the next junior person in the room. “What’s going on?”
    Frantically stacking papers, Holly had lowered her voice. “Robert Walker is expected to show up. This morning.”
    I lowered my voice too. “Who’s Robert Walker?”
    “You know Options Communications?”
    “The cable company? Of course. I’m not a moron.”
    Holly looked uncertain. “Walker’s the CEO. He’s a first-time donor to Aristotle, and it’s a big haul—a shitload of complex assets, probably to get his girlfriend on the board or something. Anyway, the firm has been trying to get Options’ business for years, so everyone’s going nuts at the thought of an audience with him.” She pushed a stack of papers toward me. “Here, help me sort.”
    The fevered activity continued for the next hour, peaking when Robert Walker phoned in, about forty minutes after he had been expected to appear.
    Doug King, the most senior partner in the room, punched the phone’s speaker, clasped his hands together and leaned forward, grinning madly. “Mr. Walker, what an honor.”
    “What. The. Fuck.”
    Doug King leaned farther forward, his face contorting a little bit. “Mr. Walker? Hello? This is Doug King, senior corporate partner at Bacon Payne. We’re preparing everything for the transfer. Such a generous donation—”
    “What. The. Fuck. Stop calling my office, you morons. Does no good deed go fucking unpunished?”
    “Mr. Walker, there must be some misunderstanding. We expected you here—”
    “Well, obviously, asshole. Can’t I just give a fucking gift? You idiots need me there to wipe your ass too? You can’t just messenger papers to my office like anyone who actually gets shit done in this town?”
    It was more than a little satisfying to see Doug King turn white, pick up the phone and murmur apologies like a schoolboy, but the flip side was that anyone capable of inspiring such behavior in Doug King was one scary guy.
    I opt against sharing that story with Lillian.
    “He’s the CEO of Options Communications.” She nods, letting the gravity of this sink in.
    “Oh. Have they become clients?”
    “Not yet, but I can think of sixteen partners who will shit a brick if we go after him. And on top of that, Ethan says this consult, the ex-wife, is a mess.” She frowns. “I hate wasting my time.” She looks at me.
    “If it would help, I could do it for you?”
    I don’t for a second think that Lillian Starling will seriously want me to substitute for her in a consult. She has practiced for over thirty years and bills at nine hundred dollars an hour. A monkey can tell the difference between us; certainly a client in distress who had waited weeks for an appointment will not be pleased.
    Apparently, that is exactly what Lillian wants. “Molly, you just get it. I love having someone who gets it. You sure you’re comfortable with this? It’s not too much for you? You have the list of attorneys that we refer to?”
    She doesn’t wait for a response. “Kim will give it to you. Also, have her set up a conference room so you’re not meeting in your office. That would be embarrassing even for this Walker woman. What will you tell her?” She stops herself, cocks her head and extends both palms in a gesture that makes me think of Don