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“I expect loyalty from my employees,” Alex said.
“Loyalty has to be earned.”
“When have I been disloyal to you?” he said.
“You don’t believe in me.”
“I do. But unlike everyone else in your life, it seems I’m the one who tells you the truth. Maybe you can be a CEO someday but you’re not ready for that yet.”
“How do you know? You weren’t much older than me when you started your first company.”
“My first company was tiny, not a multimillion-dollar sporting franchise.”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” she said. “Tell me, if you were me and someone offered you this sort of chance, you wouldn’t even stop to think about it?”
“Not if I’d made my mind up already about what I wanted. Which you apparently haven’t.”
“That’s not a crime.”
“No, it’s not. But this is the big league, Maggie. Literally. I don’t have time for this and you need to choose.”
“That simple. Damn it, Alex. I came to you. I told you what Will was offering, doesn’t that get me any points at least?”
“Some. But it’s not enough. I need a decision.”
“Give me some time.”
“I don’t have time. If you’re going to work for Sutter, then you can’t be party to anything we’re doing to defend our bid. Surely you can see that?”
“I can see that you’re being a colossal jerk.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m being reasonable. This is business. Not personal.”
“It sure feels personal,” Maggie said, wishing she knew how to break through that cool façade. “I knew it. I knew this was a mistake. This is why you don’t sleep with the boss.”
Alex held up a hand, palm down. “That’s a separate issue.”
“Is it? You want me to do what you want. You expect me to choose that automatically when we’ve only known each other a few weeks. That’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it.”
“I thought we had something.”
“So did I. But that’s not how I do relationships. There has to be give-and-take. You’re standing there yelling at me about loyalty and you don’t even know what my decision is. You don’t trust me enough to let me make up my own mind. So no, I don’t think we have something.”
“You’re taking my business decisions as personal ones. Which is partly my point. You’re not ready to run something like the Saints if you can’t separate personal from business.”
“The Saints are personal. They’re my family.”
“Then stop acting like a spoiled rich girl who’s always gotten what she wants and stop and think about what’s best for them. Try some loyalty to your team.”
“You and your fucking loyalty. What the hell do you want from people?”
“I want people who’d run into a fire with me and pull me out the other side,” he snarled.
She froze. “What?”
“I said I want people who would run into a fire with me.”
“Oh and you’ve run into burning buildings with Mal and Lucas, have you?”
