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I turn quickly to see Craig’s shit-eating grin at the corner of the hallway, next to a fake fruit bowl and a knockoff painting.
I pause in my tracks.
I’d be thankful to never deal with this asshole ever again.
“Did you just get out of the shower, Craig?” I ask.
He wears a puzzled expression but doesn’t humor the question with a response. When he doesn’t say anything, I prod him further.
“Looks like somebody finally answered your ad.”
“And what ad would that be,” Craig asks.
“The one looking for someone desperate enough to bathe a grown man for cash.”
“Charming.” Craig’s growing scowl solidifies my confidence.
“Normally, I can smell you from a mile away. But not today. I didn’t think there was a soap strong enough on this planet to wipe your stench clean.”
Craig leans against the wall, staring me down.
“It’s the weakest among us who turn to petty insults,” Craig says, paying particular attention to his fingers, meaning I win. “You’re a rude piece of shit, you know that?”
He has the audacity to point a finger at me. And you’re a fuck face. But you don’t hear me pointing it out to your face.
“That’s what I keep telling people.” I shrug, letting him know I’m totally on his side. Not. “Employees, right? If they were different, they’d be perfect.”
I get a scowl out of him but not much else. “So when you burn your company to the ground,” he says, continuing his thought. “Rest assured that I’ll be dancing in the wreckage.”
“We have a word for folks like you, Craig. ‘Vulture.’”
His grin widens as he sizes me up from head to toe. This corner of the hotel is eerily empty. I’d love for somebody to interrupt us so that I can go find Sloane.
Even now, I’m so tempted to tell him how I’ve already won. He got so cocky, so careless, I’m almost certain he’ll take the bait. If only I could prove, or know without a doubt, that he’s the one responsible for this underhanded subterfuge.
“More insults,” Craig says. “You should lie down and die already. Such childishness isn’t becoming of a CEO.”
Removing all emotion from my face, I look at Craig coldly. “Stop pretending. You haven’t got a single fucking thing on me, Craig.”
“Why don’t you say that to me tomorrow when I bankrupt you? Our tech’s going to ruin you. Just wait and see.” Craig starts to walk off, ambling casually down the hallway before I call after him.
“Awfully confident, aren’t you? Come up with a stroke of genius all on your own?” He turns around briefly to smirk before entering the stairwell door.
I’m almost certain by this point that he’s going to fall into my trap. I stand perfectly still, savoring the moment. It will be such a sweet release to see the look on his face when I destroy him.
A hotel room door opens, and I see a very sweaty balding man staring at me. I feel my eyebrows furrow in confusion. Is this one of Craig’s spies?
“Hey, can you two keep it down?” the balding man asks, slightly out of breath. “We’re kind of in the middle of something. And your lover’s spat is very loud.”
I shake my head before turning to walk away. Putting Craig briefly out of my mind, I resolve to find Sloane.
I circle by her room several times with no luck, the night wearing on even later with every pass. Finally, the sun has vanished from the sky, a dark blue light pouring through the windows, and I stumble upon somebody carrying a stack of folders so tall that their face is completely hidden.
“Excuse me,” I grunt, nearly knocking them over in my rush.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Sloane’s voice comes from somewhere in the vicinity, and I peel my eyes trying to identify the voice’s source.
