Free Empire Part 2: A New Adult and College Billionaire Romance Series (Empire Billionaire Romance) by Bella Love-Wins

with him?
    On top of all that, I haven’t seen anything suspicious in Jonathan’s behavior, and he’s not opening up about his past. Finally, the evidence collected on Doreen Rushton has yet to come back from the lab. Maybe Kara can pass this on to someone else and spare me the clear conflict of interest in sleeping with a client—by now, I prefer Jonathan in my bed—and save me the misery of having to deal with Rob.
    She eyes me up and down as she finishes up her call. When she hangs up, I try to jump in with both feet, but she beats me to it.
    “What happened to the Bahamas trip?”
    “We’ve rescheduled for tonight. That’s why I’m here. I don’t know if I can do this, Kara.”
    She just looks at me. I’m about to continue, but a call comes in. She answers on speakerphone. The receptionist tells her it’s her brother and patches him through.
    “Phil? This had better be good.”
    “Are you all set for Monday morning, Kara?” he asks.
    “That’s why you called me? Come on, Phil.”
    “You blew off the last three appointments, Kara.”
    “Alright, alright. I’ll be there.”
    “Good. Are you eating?”
    “You mean right now?”
    “Don’t play smart with me.”
    “Yes. I’m eating.”
    “You sound tired. You need sleep, the pace you’re always going. With everything going on, it’s not healthy, sis.”
    “Stop Phil. I’m fine. I’ll see you Monday.”
    “Bye.”
    She hangs up and looks at me again. Instead of letting me talk, she lifts a hand and tells the receptionist to send in Brian Beck, a junior legal analyst who works at the firm. Less than a minute later, he walks in, nervous as hell.
    “Have a seat, Brian.” I get up to leave and she stops me. “No. You need to stay.”
    She pulls a file from a small pile on her large mahogany desk. “How long have you been working here. Brian?” she asks, still looking in the file.
    “Seven and a half years, Kara,” he answers, his voice wavering.
    “That’s a long time to know how things work around here.”
    “Yes, ma’am. It’s been a pleasure working for you.”
    “I wish the feeling was mutual.”
    “Pardon me?”
    “Brian, who did I trust to compile the data from the Arthurian case?”
    “Me, ma’am,” he mumbles.
    “Come again?”
    “You trusted me, ma’am,” he says more loudly, but with just as much nervous energy.
    “And who let my client liaison on the case look like a fucking idiot when she didn’t have her facts straight on one of our biggest class action lawsuits ever?”
    “I did, ma’am. In my defense, the clients acknowledged they had only sent the correct files to me on the morning of the meeting.”
    “Just that morning, eh? The briefing was at seven that night, Brian!” she shouts. “You sat on pivotal information for nine hours and you think you have a defense?”
    “You pulled us into a mandatory all-day meeting that day, ma’am. I couldn’t possibly have…”
    “Couldn’t possibly have checked that fucking blackberry on your hip during the all-day meeting? Couldn’t possibly have created such a catastrophic fuck-up all by yourself? Well, I for one take responsibility for the mistake, Brian. And I will not let it happen again. Brian, you’re fired.”
    “You’re not serious.”
    Kara turns to me and asks me to tell her what I needed to talk about. Brian is still looking at her, in shock.
    “Kara. The clients apologized. Please, listen to me.”
    “You listen to me, Brian. Get out of my office and start packing up your desk.”
    He stands and storms over to her office door. “This is bullshit, Kara.”
    “I agree. That report was the biggest, steamiest pile of bullshit ever put together by this office. Congratulations. Now get the fuck out and keep walking.”
    She waits for Brian to finally walk out the door, and turns to me. “What were you saying?”
    Kara has a flair for the dramatic, and would probably love for me to cave and tell her never mind. I continue as if nothing just