Lisa Scottoline - Lady Killer

“First things first.” Bennie rested her elbows on her armrests. “I appreciate your apology. I suppose I owe you an apology, too.”

“You do?” I mean, you do.

“Now that I’m involved with the case, I see what you were dealing with and I can understand why you went to such lengths to find Trish. I’m sorry I gave you an ultimatum.”

Wow! “Thanks,” Mary said, shocked.

“You know, I was remembering when you came in, that morning not long ago, asking me to hire you help.”

“I remember.”

“You said you were bringing in a significant amount of new business, and that would justify hiring an extra person.”

“Yes.”

“You were right, in a way. The fees you brought in for the past year have been very significant to the firm. The past two years, in fact.”

So Judy had been right.

“It’s not that my cases don’t bring in money, but they are a slow pay. They’re bigger, as you know, and so many of my fees are recoverable only by application to the court, under the civil-rights statutes and such. It creates a chronic cash-flow problem.”

It was just what Judy had said.

“Big picture, the firm has enormous resources. We have several million dollars from the class-action representations, and for a long time now, I’ve been planning to move our offices.”

“You mentioned that.”

“Yes, but what I didn’t tell you is that my long-term plan is to buy my own building, not keep leasing.” Bennie’s blue-eyed gaze didn’t waver, and her tone of voice changed, newly serious. “It requires a lot more capital, organization, and coordination than merely reupping.”

“I bet.” Mary had had no idea, and Bennie grinned for the first time, excited.

“It’s a good time, and I feel ready for the move, but that’s why I didn’t want to hire anybody right now. I’m in negotiations to buy a building uptown and I expect the deal will be final by the end of next month.”

“That sounds great.” But will I be working there?

“You should also know that the other relevant part of my business plan was that after the move, I planned to offer you a partnership in the firm. I thought you had matured in the past few years, and your numbers justified it.”

Gulp. Mary couldn’t believe her ears.

“Bottom line, I’d like very much for you to come back to work. I think you deserve your job back, and you’re a terrific lawyer and associate.”

“Thank you,” Mary said, but the sudden darkness in Bennie’s facial expression made her hold her breath.

“That said, it’s only fair to tell you that I don’t see making you a partner anytime soon, not after what you did. I’m no longer sure that you’d make a terrific partner.” Bennie’s blue eyes hardened, like ice. “You walked out on me when I needed you, and I can’t have that in a partner, my sole partner. I hope you understand.”

Surprisingly, Mary did. But it didn’t mean she liked it. She shifted in her chair. A sunbeam from the window caught the prism of a cut-crystal award and sent shards of light shooting around the office.

“I run a very successful law firm, DiNunzio. That takes planning, professionalism, and mental toughness. To a certain extent, you’re still ruled by your emotions. You haven’t fully matured as a lawyer or a businesswoman. You’re too impulsive.”

Mary felt an ember of resentment flare in her chest.

“You identify with your clients, and that’s the reason they love you. South Philadelphia’s throwing itself at your feet because of your loyalty. But that strength can also be a weakness, in a partner. I need your first loyalty to be to our firm as an entity, and to me.” Bennie’s features relaxed a little. “You can’t throw a temper tantrum, even for the sake of a client like Trish. For you to ever make partner, for you to be my partner, you would have to show me you understand that.”

For a second or two, neither woman said anything. Bennie’s mouth remained taut, and Mary sensed she was her mirror image, just in a tinier suit.

It was Bennie who spoke first. “I’m sorry if this hurts your feelings.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Mary said, though it did. She’d always liked being an employee, but she didn’t like being told she couldn’t be a partner. She thought that even though a firm was composed of many clients, it made sense that some matters would be more urgent than others.

“So, DiNunzio.” Bennie clapped her hands together. “You ready to get back to work?”

“No,” Mary heard herself answer. She felt like walking out on her job, right now, but that would be impulsive, proving the wrong point. And she needed the job, to finally get her house.

“Pardon me?” Bennie blinked.

“I don’t want to come back on the terms that I may never make partner.”

Bennie blinked. “Okay,” she said slowly.

“I’d like to come back, do my job, and talk about partnership in six months.”

“Really.”

“I think I deserve it, and the business I bring in justifies it.” Mary was making it up as she went along, but she was convincing herself. “We have our different spheres of influence, but that’s good. The fact that you don’t agree with the way I handled one situation doesn’t mean I’m not mature.”

Bennie said nothing, but eyed her with annoyance, or new respect, Mary couldn’t tell which.

“What do you say?” she asked.

“No,” Bennie answered flatly.

“No?”

“Six months isn’t enough. One year.”

“Let’s split the difference,” Mary said, relieved. She’d thought she was getting fired again. “Nine months, then.”

Bennie nodded, mulling it over. “And what if, after nine months, I say you don’t make the grade? Do you leave or stay?”

“We’ll see, then. I can’t decide now, on impulse.”

“You don’t make impulsive decisions.”

“Never.” Mary smiled, and so did Bennie.

“Fair enough. Done.”

Yay! “Good.” Mary rose and extended her hand across the desk, and Bennie stood up, took it, and squeezed it hard.

“Now get back to work, DiNunzio.”

“You’re not the boss of me.” Mary turned to go, with a smile.

“For nine months I am.”

“There’s gonna be some changes made-Rosato.”

“Out of my office,” Bennie said, chuckling.

And Mary ran.

I wanted to thank you readers for picking up this book, and especially those of you who remember the women of the Rosato firm from my earlier books. They’ve been gone for five years now, and I know some of you have wanted them to return, so permit me to explain why they took such a long vacation. As you may recall, Killer Smile was my last Mary DiNunzio novel, and it was written before my father, Frank Scottoline, passed away from cancer. When I started to write about the DiNunzio family again, I began to realize how much Mr. DiNunzio was like my father. It was simply too hard to write about the DiNunzios, and oddly, it wasn’t until I wrote a novel entitled Daddy’s Girl that I got my mojo back. So, bottom line, the Rosato girls will return from time to time, because I’ve missed them. Thank you for your loyalty as I stretched myself to create other characters. I’m a fan of making new friends, but I’ll always keep the old.

Of course, in that regard, thanks very much to the great gang at HarperCollins, for publishing my books so well for fifteen years-CEO Jane Friedman, Brian Murray, Michael Morrison, Jonathan Burnham, Kathy Schneider, Christine Boyd, Liate Stehlik, Tina Andreadis, Heather Drucker, Adrienne DiPietro, Ana Maria Allessi, Wendy Lee, and my wonderful editor, Carolyn Marino. Thanks to all of the supertalented people like Virginia Stanley, in addition to some of the best sales reps in the business, including (but hardly limited to) Gabe Barillas, Jeff Rogart, Ian Doherty, Brian Grogan, Brian McSharry, Stefanie Lindner, Nina Olmsted, Carla Parker, and the world-famous John Zeck.