Page 36 of The Fall Affair

“Once. When we went to The Hamptons for the weekend a few years back, remember?”

“Oh yeah. You drove home from the beach and almost ran over that little blond boy’s toes.”

“Who lets their kid stand that close to the road?”

“You were driving on the shoulder.” She laughed. “I hope you’re better with a scooter. Did you rent it or something?”

“No, it was my grandmother’s.”

“How old was your grandmother?”

“Eighty-five.”

Cassie laughed. “I’m sorry I never got to meet her. From everything you’ve told me, she really sounded like a hoot.”

I sighed. “She was. She knew how to live life.”

“It looks like maybe you’re learning a bit of that yourself over there.”

Her comment reminded me of one of the pearls of wisdom my grandmother had shared with Matteo for his birthday—about how the land teaches future generations how to live. But Cassie was right, I did look different. I’d noticed it myself this morning when I looked in the mirror. I was no longer wearing my shoulders as earrings, and the constant pain I’d had in my neck from countless hours working on a computer was gone.

I wasn’t even sure where my laptop was at the moment. How long had I been in Tuscany now? A week? Maybe not even? Last year I’d gone on a fourteen-day vacation to the Caribbean and hadn’t been half this calm at the end of it. Sure, I’d still been gainfully employed back then, so I had responsibilities. But it had been more than my job making me feel that way. It was the way I was living—always in overdrive, addicted to the hustle, even as it slowly burned me out. I walked over to the stove and double-checked that I’d turned the oven off before my gaze found its way out the window and over to Matteo’s property. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was probably still in the fields picking grapes, especially since I’d interrupted his day for my scooter lesson.

As if she was reading my mind, Cassie interrupted my thoughts. “Meet any hot Italian men yet?”

I wasn’t sure why I hesitated. Maybe because I knew talking about my insanely hot neighbor would lead to Cassie encouraging me to explore what was between us, so I held back. “I haven’t really gone out too much, just to my grandmother’s attorney and some stores and stuff.”

“Well, now that you’re settled in, you should definitely put yourself out there. What could be hotter than a Tuscan fling with some tall, dark Italian stallion who speaks broken English?”

After having my arms wrapped around Matteo this morning, I was starting to agree with her. Still, I steered away from the subject. “We’ll see. How are things at the office?”

“That’s one of the reasons I was calling, aside from checking in to see how you are.” She lowered her voice. “Mr. Ellington fired Sierra.”

“Oh, wow. Did something happen?”

“Apparently, she went to the hearing scheduled for earlier today unprepared, assuming that Judge Paxon would give her a continuance since she only just took over the file.”

“Oh boy. We’d already had two extensions, and when he gave me the last one, he read me the riot act. But I was always prepared in case he turned me down. Our requests for more time were strategic. We were still trying to get evidence that Mrs. Ellington was having an affair.”

“Yup, you never went to court without being ready. Anyway, Judge Paxon denied her request for a continuance and made her argue the motion, which she was not prepared for at all, and he ruled against her within a few hours of the hearing.”

“That motion to compel was winnable.”

“That’s what Ellington said. Sierra came back to the office with him right after the hearing so he could sign some paperwork, and he was there when the notification came in that she’d lost the motion. I heard him going off on her even with the door shut. After, he demanded to speak to one of the partners.”

I frowned. “Let me guess which one Sierra directed him to…”

“Of course. Though apparently, even Harry couldn’t smooth things over. I saw Mr. Ellington in the hall when he was leaving, and he asked me for your personal cell phone number. I didn’t think you’d mind, so I gave it to him.”

“No, of course not. But his case is coming up for trial soon.”

“It’s on the calendar to start in a little over four weeks.”

“I’m supposed to stay here three months, and it’s barely been a week.”

“I know. And now that I see how relaxed you look, I feel bad for even calling you about it. But Ellington defecting to your new firm would be a score—not only because he’s a high-dollar billable client, but you know how it is. Word gets around, and once other clients find out one client went with you, they’ll follow. You might not be allowed to solicit them, but they’ll all start calling you.”

I’d seen it happen before. Law firms weren’t allowed to put noncompete clauses in their employment contracts, like most employers could, but Kasoff, Faust & Moore had a stringent no-solicitation clause in all the associate contracts. So while I couldn’t ask the clients I’d worked with to leave with me, they could solicit me. And in the past, defection had been like a slow leak—once a few drips escaped, the floodgates opened. The only problem was, I hadn’t even started looking around for a new firm, and I wanted to do my homework before making a jump. “I have no idea where I’m going to land yet.”