The storm had passed and the sun had just started tinting the gray sky shades of pink when Olivia finally fell asleep. Just a few hours later, the alarm woke her. As much as she longed to remain in bed with Logan, there were things that needed to be done.

She woke Logan, barely able to resist his attempts to lure her back to bed as she stood by the side of the mattress, clutching her robe together. Logan was lazily tugging at the sash with one hand, the other caressing her thigh. She pulled the sash away from him and backed up from the bed.

“I need to be at work and you need to make a phone call. I want this interview scheduled for today. You know how important it is.”

Logan propped himself up against the head of the bed, the sheet draped across his lap. His hair was tousled, his eyes still heavy-lidded with sleep. She bit her lip, wavering for a moment before resolutely turning toward the bathroom. His reach laugh made her smile, and then the chirp of his cell phone interrupted them.

She looked back, watching as he climbed out of bed and retrieved the phone from the coffee table. He swiped a thumb across the screen and glanced down at it before setting the phone aside. Olivia hadn’t moved from her place. She might have been staring.

He glanced up at her, a seductive smile on his face. Olivia’s knees went weak.

“Exerting your will power today, mo chridhe?”

She fled to the bathroom, closing the door behind her and letting herself lean against it, a smile on her lips. If he only knew.

* * *

AN HOUR LATER, OLIVIA was at her desk, dressed in an impeccable suit—crisp and professional. She’d taken extra care in getting dressed, wanting to project just the right image for her meeting with Logan and Ryan.

The morning dragged on as she waited for either Lori or Victoria to send an invitation to the meeting. Despite her resolution not to, she bit her nails, anxious to call Logan to make sure he’d made the phone call, but he’d said she would and she was going to trust him. Maybe Ryan’s not in today. Or has another meeting.

It was well after ten o’clock when the ping of her computer made her jump. She clicked on the message and resisted the urge to do a fist-pump. The interview with Logan was set for three o’clock that afternoon. Again, she resisted the urge to call him.

Since the night Ryan had shown up at her door when she’d been expecting Logan, she’d thought long and hard about just how he knew Logan would be there, right down to the specific time. Ran had even had the nerve to repeat her conversation with Logan back to her. Either he’d been lurking outside her door, or he’d been listening in on her phone calls. That, or he had a spy in the office.

Olivia shook her head. Am I really that paranoid? She probably was, but it was definitely justified.

Victoria was in and out of her office periodically, dropping off files, helping Olivia organize her desk. Even though Olivia had initially had reservations about her, Victoria was proving to be quite perceptive, quickly picking up on Olivia’s routine.

It occurred to her that she had never called Melissa. Olivia froze with a page half-turned in her hand. What kind of friend was she, that she had abandoned someone she was close to just because she was a little busy in her own life?

She’d have to make it up to her. A gift. Dinner out. A long, heartfelt conversation. Just as soon as she got home, she promised herself, she would call.

The clock seemed to stop completely after lunch, crawling toward three with all the speed of a hungover sloth. Olivia was so on edge she finally banished Victoria from her office, giving her a complaint to type, even though it was clear Victoria wasn’t yet ready to handle a document that complex.

Just before three, Olivia grabbed her legal pad and pen and stepped out of her office.

“I’m heading up to Ryan’s office for the interview with Logan Graham,” she said, heading for the elevator.

“Wait. I’ll ride up with you.”

Olivia turned back. “Ride with me where?”

“Mr. Marshall asked that I sit in on the interview.”

Olivia was stunned. “I thought he didn’t want you sitting in yet. When did that change?”

“Oh, well, he said that this case was pretty important and I could learn a great deal by sitting in.”

What kind of game was Ryan playing? Olivia frowned at Victoria. “Well, I’d prefer that you stay here and work on that complaint I gave you to type. The Graham-Ashton case is in mid-stream right now. I’m not sure how much you’ll pick up coming in this late. The next case, you’ll be involved from the start.”

Victoria hesitate, clearly torn between conflicting directions. But her phone rang, and she turned back to her desk. Olivia took the opportunity and quickly walked to the elevator.

Ryan’s door was ajar, and she knocked lightly. He was standing by the window and turned, his charming smile already in place.

“Olivia. Right on time. Can’t say the same for our client, though, can we?”

Olivia stepped into Ryan’s office. As she was closing the door behind her, she glanced up, catching the startled expression on Lori’s face. She had the overwhelming urge to wink at the woman but managed to control herself.

She walked forward, dropping her pad and pen on the table. Then she undid the single button on the front of her suit jacket, sliding the garment off and draping it over the back of a chair.

The blouse Olivia wore wasn’t particularly provocative by most standards. When she had Logan had discussed the plan over dinner the night before, she’d decided it would be better to give as much appearance of propriety as possible. If Ryan was going down, there wouldn’t be any ambiguity about it.

But although the deep blue button-up was workplace appropriate, Olivia knew just how good she looked in it. The sleek silk accented the curves of her breasts, the line of her throat. She’d left just one button undone. Just enough to tease.

Ryan’s eyes widened slightly, moving down slowly over her body. They lingered on her breasts. Her hips. The skirt of her suit was tight, and she knew it hugged every curve. She perched on the edge of the table, legs crossed demurely, and pretended not to know that when the skirt rode up it showed the barest flash of lace where her stocking tops started.

“He called and left a message with Victoria. Some kind of problem with his band. He’s going to be a little later, closer to four o’clock.”

Her boss’ blue eyes snapped back to her face. Olivia pushed away from the table, back arching with the motion. The silk of the blouse slid against her breasts. Ryan’s hungry gaze drifted downward.

“I’m glad he’s late. It gives me a chance to talk to you for a minute.”

Olivia had berated herself for being so passive. For freezing when Ryan approached her, letting her concern for her career keep her from knocking his hands away when he laid them on her. She still regretted it. But it did have one advantage. It had made Ryan complacent.

He was so sure of victory, she thought as he stepped in closer. So certain that he could never be toppled from his place at the pinnacle of the firm. But all it took to lose a case was a single slip.

Ryan put a hand on her arm, sliding it slowly up the smooth silk of her sleeve. The scent of his cologne threw her back to other times she’d been in his office. Times he’d touched her and she’d wanted to push him away. Even knowing that his one would be different, she felt herself tense. Forced her muscles to relax.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said. “Quite a lot. About making partner. About this case.”

He smiled. Stepped in closer. The hand on her arm stroked her shoulder, explored the curve where it met her neck and silk gave way to skin. She managed not to shudder.

“Something has changed, I think,” Ryan said. He sounded pleased, but his eyes were narrowed, calculating. It was the look he got in the courtroom, when he was nearly sure of victory.

Her heart was racing. “Maybe it has.”

Fingers traced the collar of her blouse, dipping down into the v at the front. “The results of the trip not quite what you’d hoped after all?”

His mouth curved into a smirk. “I had the impression that everything had worked out for the best with you and your...client.”

Olivia dropped her gaze. It was a calculated move, but it also let her hide from his scrutiny. It was harder than she’d expected, to walk into his office and hand him enough rope to hang himself. The memories of too many other touches, too many other small indignities, threatened to ruin the careful façade of composure she was barely holding onto.

But this had to stop. Ryan had to be stopped. And if this was the only way to do it, she could make it through.

“It’s not what I thought it was going to be,” she said, words hardly more than a whisper. “And I have a career to think about. I can’t- I can’t just throw that away.”

Slowly, Ryan slid his hands down the curve of her spine, with them coming to rest on her hips. His fingers clenched against her, rucking up the shirt, pulling it loose from where the hem was tucked into her skirt.

“No,” he agreed. “You can’t. I think you’re a smart girl, and I’m glad you’ve seen the error in your ways.” His smile was warm. Almost genuine. “It’s not too late to make some changes, salvage that promising career here at Marshall, Avery and Shaw.”

His lips were on hers, then, hard and possessive, his hands pulling her hard against his body. Despite herself, Olivia jerked in surprise. The intensity of it made her gasp, a sound he would no doubt take for desire, but there was no pleasure in this kiss. It tasted of total control—all take and no give.

Moving with the confidence of knowing he owned her, Ryan’s hands moved up her back, sliding around to cup her breasts. Olivia writhed. Not from pleasure, but from repulsion. What had made her think this was the right idea? Logan had argued against it, but she’d insisted, more and more certain that it was the only way to bring him down.

As though the thoughts had sprung the trap she’d laid, there was a soft knock on the door.

Olivia broke their kiss and pulled back, breathing hard. Ryan was slower to react. His hands were still on her breasts, hers on his shoulders shoving him away, when the doorknob turned and the door swung open wide.

Lori was frozen in place on the other side, the doorknob slipping from her grip to let the door bang against the wall. Behind Lori was Logan, eyes dark and body tense, fists clenched at his sides.

“Take your hands off her, Marshall.” The words were low and cold. Deadly.

Logan strode into the office, even as Olivia stumbled back from Ryan, out of his reach. She caught up her suit jacket and threw it over her shoulders,

“She—What?” Ryan spun toward Logan. “You—!”

Logan’s fist connected with Ryan’s jaw. The sound of it was painful, and yet somehow deeply satisfying. It sent Ryan sprawling against his desk. Logan advanced again, but Olivia caught his arm.

“No. No more.”

Slowly, Logan took a step back from Ryan, his arm around Olivia. Lori was still in the doorway, eyes wide and a hand pressed to her mouth. The color had drained from her face, and for a moment Olivia thought the woman was going to faint.

Ryan straightened up, and his expression was incandescently furious. Olivia resisted the urge to slip a little further behind Logan. “You’ve just made a very serious mistake, Mr. Graham.”

“I don’t think so,” Logan answered. “I know what I saw.”

The barely restrained anger in Logan’s voice frightened Olivia. She held onto his arm, the muscles tensed beneath her fingers. His hand was still curled into a fist.

“What you saw,” Ryan said, gathering his composure more quickly than Olivia had expected. “Was her all over me. She’s being doing that quite a lot of late. And apparently not only with her coworkers.”

He adjusted his tie, smoothing down his lapels. The change was instant and remarkable. Except for the angry red mark on his jaw, it appeared as if nothing had happened.

Casually, Ryan leaned back against his desk. He looked for all the world as if he were holding a client meeting, and not like he had just been caught sexually assaulting someone who worked with him. Olivia had to give him points for his ability to stay cool under pressure.

“At the bar you kissed me. Do you remember?” He directed his words at Olivia next. “Or maybe you were too drunk. I understand you have a bit of a problem with alcohol.”

Ryan’s lips were curved into a smile, but it held no warmth. And nothing reached his eyes. They were cold, moving between Olivia and Logan.

“You really think you can get anywhere with this? You’re sleeping with your client, Olivia.” He glanced at Logan. “I don’t know if she told you, Mr. Graham, but that’s a breach of the ethics code in New York State, and it’s grounds for censure. And you’ve been the one making advances, trying to trade me sexual favors to secure a position as a partner at the firm.”

Olivia’s breath caught in her throat. She’d thought that publicly exposing him, having a witness who could attest to the truth, would neutralize the threat of his lies. Ryan looked at her, pity in his gaze. He shook his head slowly.

“How can you possibly think that anyone would believe you, of all people, in a claim against me. I told you. My name is on the letterhead. I’m pretty much bullet-proof.

“And yes, you have Mr. Graham to back up your story, but they’ll hardly believe he’s an unbiased witness when it comes out that you’ve been sharing his bed. And I have witnesses of my own. Witnesses who will attest that they have seen you, more than once, initiate inappropriate flirtation with me.”

The smug expression on Ryan’s face made Olivia sick. Even with Logan, everything she’d done today—everything she had let him do all those times he shut them in his office—ha been in vain. She took a shuddering breath. These were the closing arguments, and she had just lost the case.

“Here, at work, you’ve been practically throwing yourself at me every chance you get.” Ryan swept a hand in the direction of the open door. “The minute that door closes—”

“No she hasn’t.”

Three heads turned simultaneously toward the door. Lori was still standing there, and Ryan was pointing directly at her. Olivia stepped out from behind Logan.

“Lori? What are you saying?”

“She’s not saying anything,” Ryan snapped. “Are you?”

He glared at Lori.

“I’m saying enough is enough, Ryan. You’ve done this before, and I’ve stood by, silently, while you’ve ruined careers and lives. And now, I’m not silent anymore.”

Ryan took a step toward Lori, a look of panic in his eyes. Logan stepped between them.

“Back, Ryan. Step back.”

“She’s lying. She’s jealous because I rebuffed her advances. That’s all. Just jealousy.” It might have even been believable, had the composure that came so easily to Ryan not deserted him at Lori’s betrayal. He didn’t look smooth anymore; he just looked desperate.

Olivia turned to Lori. “Who else?”

“The woman you replaced. And the one who left for Hirschbeck last year. An intern two years ago, who ended up getting divorced. And Melissa.”

Melissa. Olivia rounded on Ryan. “You did this to Melissa too?”

“I never touched Melissa.” Ryan was indignant. “She’s a paralegal.”

“No. But you had her fired. Because of what she knew,” Lori said. “Because of what she saw at the bar, between you and Olivia.”

For a shocked second, Olivia was silent. Melissa had known? Why hadn’t she said something?

Maybe she had wanted to. And she’d never had the chance. Because Olivia had never called her.

“You bastard!” She took a step toward Ryan.  She couldn’t get out more than that. There were too many words roiling in her throat. How could you? And She was my friend! And You ruined her life.

There was a noise in the hall and Olivia turned. A small crowd had gathered and pushing his way to the front was Nathan Hunter. He stepped into the office, closing the door behind him.

“I’ve heard complaints regarding a fight.” Nathan gave the forming bruise on Ryan’s jaw a pointed look. “Do you need medical attention?”

“No.” Ryan forced a smile that didn’t quite look real. “I’m fine. Really. There’s nothing here you need to worry about.”

“I need to know what happened here. Marshall, you stay here. You two.” He motioned to Logan and Olivia. “Come with me. I’ll speak to you in my office.”