Priya skidded to a halt in time to avoid a collision and barely managed to dodge the hot slosh of coffee that would've otherwise destroyed her ivory slacks and pale pink blouse. Shaking dark beads of brew off her burning hand, she swallowed the equally scalding curse as the woman in towering pumps swivelled on strong legs and angled her pointed chin a degree higher.

"I've been looking for you." Marai crossed her arms, hands cinching her biceps accented with an elegant manicure. The side of her head was freshly shorn and her slick wing of dark hair grazed the hard edge of her jaw.

"I...me?" Scheisse, I need to stop stammering like an idiot in front of his woman.

Marai dropped her chin in a stiff motion of affirmation. "This way."

Priya's eyes dropped to her lacquered black pumps and followed Marai pried open the door the firm's library and held it wide enough for her to slip in behind her before nudging it shut.

"I have a meeting in ten minutes which I'm already late for so I will keep this brief," Marai dropped her hands from her arms but her posture was no less severe or intimidating. "You've drawn a lot of attention with you case, Ms. Seth. Attention that I am not sure you adequately know how to handle."

"Ms. Nagao—"

"Several media outlets are already hyped over the salivating headlines of a contracted grad student out for a first year associate-ship is going against a realty giant. I don't know how, but you've taken a simple matter and turned it into a circus."

Priya flinched at the whip-crack tone but otherwise kept her mouth shut.

Thin lips narrowed further. "I want this passed off to Paulson."

"What? Why?"

"Because you've sucked this case into a media vortex and run the risk of losing control. Crowley's team will eat you alive tomorrow."

Priya's grip tightened around her mug, rings cracking against ceramic. "I won't let that happen."

"This isn't up for discussion." Marai curled one hand into a fist and scored her thumb back and forth across her knuckles. Diamonds at her wrist and ears catching the light. "My firm has a long-standing reputation that I will not see you taint with your...inexperience."

"Please...please, don't. You asked us to prove ourselves. If you pull this case I lose any chance of doing so."

At the sound of a cleared throat and both Priya and Marai's gazes pulled to where Hadrian sat, arms spread in supplication and eyes wide with surprise.

"Sorry. But you both sorta burst in and it all happened so fast."

Marai scored her tongue over her upper teeth and bounced a fist off her thigh. She spared them both a single, withering glance and spun out the door in a whirl of bling and steam. At her departure Priya exhaled, knees shaking and fingers clenched so tight around her mug they'd started to go numb.

"Damn, Tiger. Telling a named partner 'no'..." Hadrian sucked in a hissing breath, eyes dancing playfully as he crossed to her. "Takes some serious balls."

Setting her mug down on the nearest table, Priya set her hands to the scarred wood and hung her head. Tight. Everything felt tight and hot and confined. She wanted to pull the pins out of her hair and let it tumble free, to pop open buttons on her blouse and heave a chair out the window so she could gulp in air. "Leave me alone, Hadrian. I can't do sassy with you right now."

"Hey, sorry, I was only pulling your leg. You alright?"

Standing straight, Priya let her head fall and her eyes open, certain that abject misery and frustration shone in them.

No. No, I'm not alright. I have court in the morning and I'm drowning and now I've tied a thousand pound anchor around my ankles. I don't know what to do. I'm lost. I've got nothing but a fistful of cards and no hand to play other than a bluff.

"Fine," she said, drawing on a tight smile. "I'll be fine."

An obvious, useless lie, she thought, as he walked off with a nod, and not one that he'd believed for a moment, but she had to believe it. Had to believe she'd pull through. Because the alternative was failure.

A crippling, soul crushing, failure that would render four, back breaking years as obsolete.

Dragging out a chair, Priya set to work.

#

"You need to stop pacing. You're giving me a headache." Genie crossed a leg, dressed in navy slacks and a coral pink cable knit sweater. White hair, bouffant with aerosol sprayed curls, framed her sagging face brightened with badly applied blue shadow and the wrong shade of peach lipstick.

Priya had made a concerted effort to convinced Genie into something less...well, less, but had been met with unwavering resistance. Soon enough exhaustion gave way to apathy—what did it matter, anyway? She was the Captain of a sinking ship, might as well let the woman where whatever she pleased.

On the wall to her left the clock ticked loudly and she could almost feel the vibration of each passing second behind her eyes. In fact the left was lightly twitching in harmony with every stroke. A realization that had a smile itching to crack along her face.

No, she couldn't lose it now. Granted she was running on the fumes of two hours sleep and at least four espressos, on the surface she was placid but beneath the skin she was a wired mess. She had Marai looming over her shoulder and the fact that Hadrian had been there to witness her moment of weakness was galling and, like a shark scenting blood in the water—would he circle closer for the kill? Or would he wait it out and watch her bleed to death?

If by some miracle she managed to sway the judge and convince him they had enough to go to trial she'd never have to know. Anything less wasn't going to slip her out of the noose chaffing around her throat.

Squaring off with Genie, Priya set her hands to her hips. She'd pulled out all the stops today on herself, at least, with her custom thousand dollar suit that never made it to the interview table would hopefully now help sell them both to Judge Shield and Crowley's defense attorneys.

"We have little over forty-five minutes before we go before the judge in chambers. I think we need to go over things one more time."

Genie razzed her lips, waved an airy hand. "Dear girl, we've circled it backwards, forwards and sideways. Enough."

"I don't think you appreciate what's at stake here."

Filmy eyes sparked to life and shot to Priya's. "I know perfectly well, thank you. My home. My memories. Everything I was or have been is sown into that brick and mortar. Those walls beat with my husband's heart and the echoes of my children's laughter. I've more at stake in this gambit than you, child. Far more."

An ache swelled in the back of Priya's throat and seared behind her eyes. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Scooping her hands around her crossed knee, Genie raised her chin. "I know this hasn't been easy, and I know I've pushed you into a fight you didn't intend to wage, but win, lose or draw—I can't let inaction be the answer anymore. If I go down, I do so in a blaze of glory."

this was where she felt the most at home. Alive. Litigation wasn't for the faint of heart and Priya's third year law professor had once claimed she had balls of solid f*cking titanium. So what if she was out gunned? Bring it, that daring voice inside of her echoed. We were born for this.

Resigned, she sat down next to Genie and hadn't quite worked out what to say when the door to the room opened and a dark head poked in. For a moment Priya thought she might have imagined him—a combined result of stress and fatigue—when the rest of him slid into the room wearing a rumpled suit and haggard expression.

"Woof," Genie said, hand to chest. "Who's the fox?"

"Excuse me, Genie."

"There you are, been looking everywhere," Hadrian said as she sped towards him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was a little worried about you last night, so I made a few calls." Breathless and a little sweaty, he waved a thick folder for her to see. "You're going to want to see this."

"Look, I appreciate the show of support, but I really don't have time to—"

He slapped the file against her chest, eyes serious and without a hint of his usual playful spark. "Take a second, Tiger, and trust me."

Gathering the file, Priya opened and skimmed a finger down the first page. Copies of agreements. Negotiations. Offer letters. Exasperated, she slapped the file shut.

"I know about that Crowley is looking to sell the Brownstones," she sighed.

This deal has been quiet and under wraps, but she had a few contacts of her own. Derek hadn't been pleased about the call, but it was amazing what an ego-stroking apology could accomplish. Crowley's pending deal to sell to a new company looking to sell the brownstones for over ten million per. That put him on the hook to lose $480 million dollars.

A hit Crowley couldn't afford to have the buyers walk away from. Not after getting hammered in the stock market the last three years and the slew of active complaints that, despite his best efforts, had tarnished his once pristine reputation and drove clients to his competitors.

All the heat she'd blasted on Crowley and his sketchy renting practices was making the transaction completion difficult, and according to sources—he'd been looking to offload and sell a large chunk of his more problematic locations to keep his company running.

The Brownstones will prove to be his most lucrative sale, and Priya had spent the bulk of last night framing her case around leveraging the inconvenience of a stalled transaction to her advantage.

Hadrian rolled his eyes. "Check the last tab."

"Hadr—"

"Just do it, Priya."

He'd never used her name before. Not that she could recall. Hearing it made her pause long enough to concede. Exhaling with a huff, the edge of her bangs fluttering from the gush of breath, Priya flipped to the back and, after a stunned thirty second pause, almost screamed.

At least twenty-three pages of back and forth correspondence between Crowley and his hired heavy that proved he'd been driving tenants out with high pressure tactics for the sake of flipping the units for sale.

Holy fuzzknuckles. This folder was a fully loaded AK47 that would blow this meeting with the judge out of the water.

Priya's eyes shot to his face. "How? How did you get this?"

Hadrian bit down on his proud smirk. "I know a lot of people," he said, shoulders lifting in a slight shrug. "More than a few owe me favours."

"And you're giving me this for nothing? What do you want in exchange?"

"We're allies, remember? I've got your back and you cover mine."

Priya swallowed thickly, her blood humming with adrenaline and too much feeling. "You know at some point this isn't going to continue, right? We agreed to look out for each other regarding the competition, but this is different." This would push her ahead, so far ahead of anyone else. He was practically singing handing over a signed employment agreement to her.

Hadrian slotted in hands into his pockets, jerked a shoulder. "We make a pretty solid team. Don't see why that has to change."

"Because Ms. Nagao only wants to hire one first year associate?"

Sinking his teeth in his bottom lip, Hadrian swung his elbow against hers. "We're lawyers, Tiger. If we can't sell Marai Nagao on the advantages of keeping two accomplished and capable candidates, then neither of us truly deserves to work for MNS."

Priya pursed her lips. Damned if he didn't have a valid point.

Pleased he'd rendered her speechless, Hadrian winked. "Knock 'em dead."

https://youtu.be/hOaSF46KXxM

**AN**

I hope you guys enjoy this installment - Priya's about to kick some major ass and *mini-spoiler* there may be a pretty smexy BONUS scene coming.

Stay tuuuuuned!