The Singles Table (Marriage Game #3)(28)

Jay had no hesitation sharing the details. The case was a matter of public record. “One of our biggest clients suffered a data security breach. We provided physical security for the building. They’ve sued both J-Tech and their cybersecurity provider, alleging that someone broke into their office and downloaded the virus into their system. There’s no way that happened. We’ve been through the security footage and my men are solid. Lucia was at court today trying to get the case against us dismissed but the judge wouldn’t buy it.”

“Maybe it was an inside job,” Zara said offhandedly. “My roommate’s ex-boyfriend Jimmy used to infiltrate companies to steal their confidential information and then sell it to the highest bidder. He’s the reason I was so flustered at the interview.”

“I did wonder,” Lucia said. “You seemed a bit . . . distracted.”

Pain flickered across Zara’s face an instant before she smiled. “It was a bad day. My roommate, Parvati, had just broken up with Jimmy and had eaten herself into a food coma when he showed up at the door drunk. I had to act as a go-between until the police arrived.”

“My goodness.” Lucia raised a perfectly manicured brow.

“Jimmy was in the Mafia.” Zara shrugged as if Parvati’s Mafia ties were no big deal. “I didn’t feel safe after he pointed at me through the window and did the I see you with his fingers and then drew a line across his throat. The whole horse-head-in-the-bed thing . . .” She shook her head. “I wasn’t up for that. I had just bought new bedding and you know how hard it is to get horse blood out of sheets.”

Lucia didn’t miss a beat. “Actually, I don’t.”

“It’s not easy,” Zara said. “So I called my cousin Aamir. He works with the South San Francisco Police Department, and he and his partner came to deal with Jimmy.”

Should he shut the conversation down? Surely she didn’t want to share fabricated stories with the senior partner of one of the top firms in the city. But what if it wasn’t fabricated? What if Parvati really did have a boyfriend in the mob and Zara was familiar with the difficulties of getting horse blood out of sheets? He had to know. “Then what happened?”

Zara heaved a sigh. “Jimmy’s on the run now. I think he’s living in Florida. He and Parvati sorted things before he left. If he hadn’t cut off Aamir’s partner’s fingers, everything would have been fine. Anyway, by the time I’d cleaned up all the blood, it was late, and I had to rush to get to the interview, which is why I wasn’t at my best . . .” She trailed off when Lucia grimaced. Jay took that as a cue to step in for the save.

“I’ll just see Lucia out and then we can have our meeting.” He moved toward the door but Lucia didn’t follow.

“Where did you wind up after interviewing with us?” Lucia asked Zara.

“Cruz & Lovitt.” Zara launched into a jingle with a jazz-hands finish. “Sound familiar?”

“Yes.” Lucia’s lips curved at the corners. “You have the tiger mascot.”

“Everyone knows the tiger.” Zara handed a business card to Lucia. “In case you ever need legal advice. We’re the number one personal injury firm in the city.”

“I’m not surprised. Tony Cruz was at the top of our class in law school.” Lucia tucked the card away in her purse. “I always wondered where he landed. He was incredibly gifted but he didn’t fit into the traditional mold. He had long hair, tattoos, and he refused to wear a tie.”

“He still won’t wear a tie,” Zara laughed. “But he has had a few haircuts.”

After Lucia had gone, Jay sent his staff back to work, making a mental note to find out what tea had been spilled about him and how he could prevent such office gossip in the future.

“You’re early,” he said to Zara. “I had blocked off two hours and forty-five minutes for our meeting, assuming it would start at three.”

“I wanted to make sure I had enough time to talk to your staff.” Zara shrugged. “I can come back later.”

That was the last thing he wanted. She had already brightened up an otherwise bad day. “Lucia’s visit was also unexpected, so I had to rearrange a few meetings. It’s not a problem.”

“I sometimes wonder if I should have accepted Lucia’s offer,” Zara mused as he led the way to his office. “Her firm has an entertainment law department. I would have met a few celebrities by now, maybe even been invited to the Academy Awards.”

Had he misunderstood her conversation with Lucia? “I thought you just had an interview and it didn’t go well.”

“It didn’t go well,” she said. “My head wasn’t in the game after all that nonsense. You try to do an interview after you’ve been mopping up blood and running around with an ice bucket collecting severed fingers. I’m still embarrassed by how badly it went.”

He slowed his steps as they neared his office, turning to face her. “It couldn’t have been that bad if she offered you the job.”

“She offered me the job because I was at the top of my class and I’d never lost a case in my previous two firms. Unfortunately, my methods were too unorthodox for them, so we parted ways by mutual agreement. Lucia interviewed me as a favor to my mom when I was struggling to find a new position, and I guess she liked what she saw. But by then I knew I was never going to fit into a big-city firm, so I turned her down to take the job with Cruz & Lovitt.”