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My mouth twitches with a smile. I should’ve expected the question.

“Officially, it’s 7 a.m. to midnight. But we’re a law firm, which means it’s unofficially 24/7.” I pause, then add, “Although we might want to give the security guards a heads-up if you’re anticipating a 4 a.m. working session. They’re only used to my 2 a.m. comings and goings.”

“I don’t know yet how often I’ll be here,” she says. “I might never be. I won’t know until I start working.”

I nod in understanding. I expected as much. “Well, just in case, I had Samantha prepare a conference room for you.” Which we’ve just reached, so I push the door open and gesture Charli inside.

I know enough about due diligence to know there’s going to be a lot of files and even more research. And I know Charli enough to know that she’s going to be meticulous about it. So I made sure she had the biggest room in the office, complete with all the materials she could possibly need.

Charli lets out a whistle as she walks into the room. “Damn. Someone needs to tell this buyer to enter the twenty-first century.”

I turn toward the dozen boxes of documents. “Seriously.” But then I voice a worry that’s been rolling around in my brain ever since Randall approached me. “Part of me wonders if they’re hiding something in it. If that’s why so much of it is on paper.”

“Yeah, that’s my thought, too,” Charli confirms. She runs a hand over one of the boxes. “If that’s the case, I’m going to assume it’s not organized, either.”

I wince at the thought. “Let’s hope it is.” I consider Charli as she rifles through some papers. “We’ve got some law students who could help with this part, if⁠—”

But Charli is already shaking her head. “It’s easier if I do it. I have a system, and I don’t need some twenty-year-old kid fucking it up.”

My mouth twitches with amusement. “Says the twenty-three-year-old kid.”

Charli only rolls her eyes in answer.

Glancing around the room, I acknowledge that I’ve reached the end of my tour—and that I have no excuses left to talk to Charli. She’s already lost in the papers she’s studying, anyway.

“Alright, well, I’ll leave you to it,” I say awkwardly. Awkwardly? Who am I? “I’m assuming you’ll be here going through these boxes for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Mhmm,” she mumbles distractedly. When she shrugs her backpack and jacket off, I take it as my cue to back toward the door.

“Let me know if you need anything, Charlotte.”

It’s a testament to how absorbed she is that she doesn’t respond to the name.

NINE

CHARLI

Four days later, I’m still sorting through paperwork.

It took me less than an hour into my first day to realize, this is going to take longer than expected. Maybe not the case as a whole, but between these boxes and the research I spent last weekend doing, some organization is definitely needed. And I don’t know if Lucas is right about something being hidden in these paper files, but I need to go through them all regardless.

I’ve been coming in after lunch and working until 7 p.m. A normal office would start emptying at this point, but this is a law firm: Lucas wasn’t exaggerating about employees working late. I usually grab a snack, hit the coffee bar, and keep working.

By 9 p.m., the snacks aren’t enough. My stomach is rumbling, desperate for real food, and my fingers are raw from handling papers for hours. That’s the point that I rub my eyes and start to think about calling in a food order for delivery.

Lucas chooses that moment to knock on the door and poke his head in.

I’ve seen him intermittently this week. It’s mostly Samantha checking in with me once a day, just to see if I need anything, but I sometimes see Lucas in the hallway or passing by the windows of the conference room. Tonight is the first time he’s entered the room since Monday.

“You’re still here?” he chirps.

I straighten and stretch out my arms. “You’re still here?”

He chuckles as he steps into the room, looking just as bright-eyed and put-together as he did on my first day.

I want to punch him for it.

“How’s it going?” he asks, looking at the stacks of papers laid all over the long table. “Did you find their dirty secret?”