Grace tilted her head. “I appreciate that, but I’m a little confused. How do you know so many details about what happened?”
“San Valentino might be a city, but it’s a small town, too. Everyone knows everyone else’s business, and I keep particularly close tabs on Alex Medson. He has an… outdated way of doing things that I don’t agree with.”
“I see,” Grace said. She wasn’t sure “outdated” was the word she’d use to describe Alex, but the part about San Valentino being a small town certainly made sense. Enough of her job applications had been rejected to prove that. “So, what’s your offer?”
“A lawsuit.” Patrick leaned forward, clasping his hands. His blue eyes were gleaming in a way that Grace found quite unsettling. “I’ll back you, as will my company. I’ll even pay for your lawyers and any legal fees that come up—that’s how confident I am that you’ll win. Sue Alex. Most likely, he’ll settle to avoid a scandal—and you’ll get a hefty payout. If he doesn’t, you’ll have a chance to prove that you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I don’t understand.” Grace folded her arms. “Why would you help me? What would you get out of it?”
“The satisfaction of taking my rival down a peg,” Patrick admitted. “And the satisfaction of helping you get even. Alex has ruled the dating-app scene for too long. It’s time someone showed him he can’t just do whatever he wants.”
Grace bit her lip. “I’m sorry, but this just doesn’t feel right.”
“Does it feel right that you were fired without any proof that you were actually guilty?” Patrick asked. “Because it seems to me like you were fired just because you were the most recent hire.”
Grace didn’t agree with that, but she didn’t tell Patrick about her history with Alex. It wouldn’t help anyone to reveal that they’d slept together, at least not right now.
“Do you really think I’d get some financial benefit?” she asked, her stomach turning at the question. “It’s just, I’ve been struggling since I was fired. No one seems to want to hire me now.” She hated herself for sounding so vulnerable and for even considering Patrick’s offer, but she couldn’t go on like she was now. Pretty soon, she wouldn’t be able to afford rent.
“You definitely would,” Patrick assured her. “The settlement would be enough to tide you over for a few years, even, until the scandal blows over. Which it will, especially once people hear that Alex settled the suit.”
“I…” Grace knew she should say no. A good person would walk away. But this might mean the difference between having to move back home and work as a waitress again and regaining her status as a bright, up-and-coming programmer who everyone wanted to hire. “I’ll think about it.”
“Very well. But don’t think too long—I’d like to get the ball rolling on this as soon as possible.”
“I understand.” Grace stood, and they shook hands again. She got a weird vibe from Patrick, like he always got his way no matter what it took, but he was offering her a lifeline, and she couldn’t throw it away. She didn’t have any better options.
“Thanks for coming in. Get back to me soon.”
Grace left the office with a heavy heart. She was facing a very difficult decision, and she had no idea what to do.
Her stomach twisted with anxious discomfort, and a wave of exhaustion hit her. For now, she’d go home, put on a sitcom, and have a cup of tea. And she’d try not to think about either Alex’s betrayal or Patrick’s underhanded offer.
CHAPTER 11
GRACE
Grace woke the next morning with such bad nausea that she ended up spending the morning in bed, popping mints, drinking water, and trying not to move. She’d thought her nausea was anxiety-related, but the longer it went on and the stronger it was, the more she worried it was something else. Had she somehow picked up a stomach flu, along with everything else?
In the afternoon, there was a knock on her door. She pulled on a bathrobe and went to answer, feeling about as put-together as a zombie. Susie stood outside, holding a plastic container, her brow pinched with worry.
“Grace? Have you been in bed all day?”
Grace nodded. “I don’t feel well.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Without being invited, Susie stepped past her and into the apartment. “Being fired really hit you hard, huh?”
“Yeah,” Grace admitted. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it feels like my life is falling apart. I lost my job. I don’t have any job prospects. And now I’m sick.”
“And it’s all Alex’s fault,” Susie added loyally. She was the only one who knew the whole story of Grace’s attraction to Alex, their night together, and her being fired right after. “If I knew where he lived…” Susie made a fist and a threatening face, and Grace laughed. It was hard to imagine her five-foot-nothing friend being violent to anyone, but the mental image cheered her up.
“It’s fine,” she said as they went into the living room.
“It isn’t. For now, though, I brought you some food.” Susie opened the lid of the container, and another wave of nausea hit Grace along with the scent of cheesy pasta. She went running to the bathroom and returned a few minutes later to slump on the couch. Susie looked at her with concern. The container was now closed on the coffee table.
“You reallyaresick.”
“I told you.”
