Page 38 of The Monster and the Masochist

All I knew was rage.

I was swimming in a sea of red.

Fuck. THIS.

Grinding my teeth together, I forced myself to take a deep breath and compose myself before speaking.

“I feel I have more than proven myself to be considered for partner. With all due respect, the Steele case was not only a success because of me, but also the only reason our firm was considered to represent Tristan at all was because. Of. Me.”

I knew I was visibly seething, which wasn’t doing me any favors, and Edmund’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

This is what made him such a good lawyer.

I was his favorite, sure. I was the apple of his damn eye, but he still got off on pitting Nolan and me against each other.

Competition was encouraged and fostered in our industry, and it wasn’t uncommon for partners to pull shit like this to test their attorneys.

The question was, what was the criteria for this particular exam?

Was this to see if I could handle working a case with someone I considered to be a rival?

Did he want me to put my personal feelings aside and show that I could play well with others?

It would certainly make sense. I was notoriously stand-offish and prickly.

I preferred to work alone.

Forcing me to team up with Nolan on a case would be a challenge for me, and Edmund likely wanted to see if I could handle it.

“Not that I’m not excited for this opportunity… I appreciate it, I do. However, I did fully expect Cassandra to be chosen for partner based on her work on the Steele case,” Nolan said, completely to my surprise.

What was he playing at? Why would he come to my defense like that?

He continued, “What is the motivation to have us work this case together?

Ah. There it is.

His mind had clearly gone in the direction mine had, and he was fishing.

Did they want us to ruthlessly one-up each other? Or truly test our ability to work as a team? It could go either way.

At this, Edmund looked uncomfortable.

“I’ll let you take this one, Vivian. It’s an HR nightmare coming from me.” He smiled wistfully, and Vivian turned her sharp gaze onto me.

She transformed before my eyes into the cutthroat woman who mopped the floor with her opposition in court, and I straightened in my seat. I knew I was going to need to accept whatever was about to come out of her mouth without complaint or pushback–and I wasn’t going to like it.

“When we recommended Cassandra, the reverend expressed reservations. Due to the nature of his allegations, he’s concerned that being represented by an unmarried, attractive woman such as Cassandra will be… inflammatory and counterproductive.”

This time, my mouth did drop open.

“Excuse me?” I rasped. Vivian raised her eyebrows at me, her lips pursing.

“You heard me.”

“I’m sorry… you’re denying me partner, which I have rightfully earned, because… I’m too hot?”

Nolan coughed on what sounded much too close to a laugh for my liking.