Page 132 of Snow

She ignored him before he made her laugh.

Leonard motioned toward the empty chairs. “Let’s make this quick. I’ve already wasted enough time on this nonsense, and I have better things to do.”

There was the father she knew.

Nova sat across from him and placed the folder she had been carrying onto the table. Rick took the chair beside her, looking far too relaxed for a man whose parents were about to discover that absolutely nothing was going according to plan.

“Don’t worry, Dad. This won’t take long.”

“Good.”

Nova slid the folder across the table.

Leonard frowned at it. “What’s this?”

“Open it.”

“Nova, if this is another attempt to—”

“Just open the folder.”

Something in her voice finally got through to him. His mouth tightened, but he flipped it open and began reading.

Nova watched the smugness slowly disappear from his face.

He looked at the first page, then the second, before going back to the first as if the words might rearrange themselves into something he liked better if he read them twice.

“What the hell is this?”

“A termination letter.”

“I can see what it says.” He slapped the page against the table. “Why is my name on it?”

Nova blinked at him. “Generally, that’s how termination letters work.”

Rob made a choking sound from farther down the table.

“You can’t fire me.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is my firm!”

There it was. The opening Nova was waiting for.

She leaned back in her chair and looked at him. “Is it?”

His anger faltered. Only for a second, but she saw it.

Nova continued before he could recover. “Because according to the paperwork you filed not too long ago, I was listed as the sole owner of Hart and Associates.”

The room went silent. Her mother’s head snapped toward Leonard. Merrick was frowning.

Leonard stared at Nova now, and for the first time since she had walked into the room, he looked genuinely rattled.

“How do you know about that?”

Nova laughed softly. “That’s your question?”