Daniel shook his head. “You watch too many bad movies.”

“Okay, so he’s suing you for assault and battery.”

“Among other things. I told his boss, Merriweather, that he fabricated lies about Sabrina to get her fired and insisted that Merriweather get rid of him. He complied and fired Hannigan on the spot. The assault charge would be a cheap one to settle. Unfortunately, he’s also suing me for the loss of his job and future earnings: five million dollars.”

“The guy is delusional.”

“Be that as it may, I need to deal with this.”

“Okay, let me get on this and call my old flame. I’m sure he’ll be able to help. He’ll probably want to depose Sabrina about the circumstances of her firing and—”

“No,” Daniel interrupted. “You can’t get Sabrina involved. She doesn’t know about the lawsuit and I have no intention of telling her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want her to worry about it. Hannigan did enough harm. I don’t want her to be reminded of how he treated her. It’s hard enough for her to adjust to living in New York.”

“So you guys are having problems already?” Tim asked, his voice serious.

“No, we don’t have problems!” Daniel shot back, his voice harsher than he’d intended.

“Oh, that sounds defensive though.”

“Damn it, Tim, we don’t have problems! It’s just that Sabrina doesn’t really have any friends here and I work all day. It’s not easy for her.”

“I get that. You do know that if she finds out you’re hiding the lawsuit from her, she’ll be furious,” Tim added.

“She won’t find out.”

“Famous last words.” Tim chuckled. “So you’re still working like a dog, huh?”

“Just until this deal is finished.”

“Where have I heard those words before? Have you learned nothing from the Audrey fiasco? You can’t just neglect a woman like Sabrina. She won’t take it for long.”

As usual, Tim was right.

“I know.” Daniel ran his hand through his hair and shifted in his chair. “I’ll have more time for her soon.”

“Don’t wait too long, or this one is going to slip through your fingers.”

And that was something Daniel couldn’t allow to happen.

14

Sabrina leaned over the counter in the jewelry department at Bloomingdale’s to get the sales clerk’s attention.

“Excuse me, please,” she called out to the man who leaned against a sales display, the phone clutched to his ear and a grin on his face as he spoke quietly into the phone.

From the few words she could pick up, she realized that he wasn’t talking to a customer, but was having a private conversation.

“In a minute,” he said to her, displeasure in his brusque tone.

Sabrina refrained from groaning loudly. It would only make the sales clerk even less willing to help her.

Instead, she inspected the brooch in her hand again. She’d bought it the day before as an accessory to pin to the front of one of her favorite blouses, which unfortunately had a neckline that plunged too deeply. Since she wanted to wear the blouse in her new office, where she’d noticed that the staff dressed more conservatively than at her old job, she’d decided on finding the right items to make adjustments to her wardrobe.

Unfortunately, the stone that sat in the middle of the brooch had come loose from its setting.

She glanced around the department, wondering whether to go to another counter, but knew it was better to talk to the same person who’d sold her the brooch in the first place. It would make returning and exchanging it for something else easier.

Impatiently, she tapped her foot on the floor, until finally, the sales clerk put the phone down and approached her.

“How may I help you?” he said coolly.

She held the brooch out to him and pointed to the setting that had held the stone. “I bought this here yesterday, and the stone came loose. I need to return it.”

“Do you have the receipt?”

She nodded and fished it from her handbag, handing it to him.

He took it and gave it a quick glance. Then he frowned. “Oh! It was a sale item. You can’t return items on sale.”

“But—”

“Says here clearly on the receipt,” he interrupted her and pointed to a spot on the receipt.

“I understand that. But the item is faulty. Clearly, you have to take merchandise back that’s faulty.”