I pulled out a thick, legal-sized manila folder bound with a red elastic band. “But you forgot one fundamental rule about business.”

I turned and tossed the folder onto the center of the desk. It landed with a definitive slap.

“What’s that?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

“That,” I said, staring him dead in the eyes, “is the leash I never wanted to pull.”

Ashley appeared in the doorway behind him, her cashmere absurdly out of place in my dim, heavy study. “What is he doing?” she hissed.

“I’m educating him,” I said, untying the elastic band.