AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She finally turns to look at me. “Yes, I’m angry. Have you had your father do to you what you did to me today?”
“It’s been a long time, but yes, I have. I know it’s not fun. What happened today is part of learning. I don’t think I’ve had my last one either. I’ve been a firsthand witness to your overwork the last two weeks. To say I’m concerned is an understatement.”
“Did you help her collect evidence against me, Eli? Did you?”
“You make it sound like you’re on trial. The answer is no. Our home is not a place for espionage.”
“I felt like I was in the principal’s office, Eli. Everything feels like it’s breaking down. I don’t like how this crow tastes. I can’t do it all, clearly.”
“Hey.” I take her hand, dragging her with a light resistance to the couch. “Sit down with me.” Reluctantly, she takes a seat at my side. “This is about more than what just happened. Rationally, you know this was the right thing to do for you. What else is there?”
“I got an email from Jill, just before the meeting. Looks like she’s as unimpressed with me as you and Skye are right now.”
“Dylan, that’s an exaggeration.”
“Is it though? It’s not a coincidence this is all coming down at once. She wants to see me as soon as possible, tomorrow if she can.”
“Things will level off here. You should be able to give Jill more. The foundation is in a fine place. Give yourself some grace.” Just as Dylan leans over to put her head on my shoulder, our watches both vibrate with a new notification. “Did your watch just ring too?”
“Yes. It’s probably that mass email from HR that your father warned us about.”
I push up the notification to see that it’s not from my work account, it’s my personal account. I open the email with no subject. “Shit. Fuck. Viper, open your email.”
“God what?”
Dylan’s head goes from on my shoulder to upright in a fraction of a second. “Is this happening?”
“It is. She’s crossed a line she can’t uncross. Looks like we’re staying late tonight. I’ll set the meeting for here at six. That should give a clear window for everyone to be gone.”
“I’m sick and angry, Eli.”
“Let’s see what she wants first.”
I look at the clock on the lower right of my computer. It’s five minutes before six. Dylan comes out of my in-office washroom looking as beautiful as she did this morning. I know she calls it her game face. I call it stunning in any language.
Dylan sits at the small table in the corner of my office near my desk. Her posture, which is always nearly fluid, is strikingly rigid. Her hands are folded on the tabletop with her ponytail sleek over her right shoulder. We can hear the elevator door ding in the silence of the hallway and the unmistakable heel to toe of expensive shoes getting closer and closer to my open doorway.
I give Dylan one last look. My wife and I have a code. I know she doesn’t like it when I speak for her. However, this time, she doesn’t protest. I button my coat as I lean away from my desk and face the door. Elyse is removing her sunglasses when she enters my doorway.
“I’d like to say I was surprised you wanted to meet with me today, but I had a feeling you wouldn’t wait.”
“Have a seat at the table across from my wife.”
I can see the weight of this conversation in Dylan’s posture. Her biceps are trembling slightly under the force of her pressing her body into the table. “Hello, Dylan. Lovely to see your face.”
“That’s enough,” I bark as I close the door.
“This meeting is off the record. Just so we’re clear,” I add.
“Oh, of course. We wouldn’t want your father or grandfather to get wind of this.”
“Opening with a threat, Elyse? That’s a new low, even for you.”
“Don’t consider it a threat, consider it an opportunity.”
“I’m sure for you it is,” Dylan barks.
I quickly slide my hand under the table onto my wife’s knee. “Let’s get to it. What were you doing in our building, on our floor, on a weekend? How in the hell would you have access?”
