Page 139 of Steel

I resisted choking. A half a million. The same amount my ex had offered me. How coincidental.

After listing a few perks, he tilted his head. “What do you say, Ms. Livingston? Can I count on you to join the executive team?”

“You’re not happy here,”Brenda had told me.

“Mom, why are we leaving Missoula? You’re happy here.”

Interesting.

“Mr. Dannon. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to think about it.”

CHAPTER 30

Steel

“You need to stop moping, dude.”

“Do you really need to accost me in the shower?” I glared at Axe while yanking on my shirt.

“You’re not in the shower. You’re getting dressed.”

“What’s the difference?” I shoved the material into my jeans and snatched my keys and wallet.

He slammed my locker for me. “If I need to explain that to you then you’re a lost cause.”

“Yeah, so what? It just doesn’t matter. Does it?”

“What matters is you picking up the phone and calling Violet.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Bullshit,” Axe tossed out.

With a hard glare as I was so prone to giving, I shook my head. “She didn’t stay.”

“I’ve noticed. She had a job to get back to. From what I can tell, you’re not giving her a reason to come back.”

“Just leave it.”

“You’re miserable. It’s been three weeks since she left.”

“Yeah, I know. Three weeks and I’ve heard shit.”

I headed around him and into the main room, heading straight for the door. The last thing I wanted to do was to talk to anyone. When I felt my brother’s presence behind me, I bristled. “I said, leave the topic alone.”

“You guys are good together. Great in fact.”

“Stupid calendar. I wish she’d never come to town. Ridiculous idea.”

He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. “Oh, for God’s sake. You enjoyed the work. Don’t lie to me. We both did. Including that picture taken of both of us. We looked pretty cool. You have to admit.”

When I didn’t say a word, he ribbed me with his elbow. “Yeah, it was alright. Why did she leave? I thought we had something. You know. As usual, I’m wrong.”

“You did have something amazing. You still do, so stop feeling sorry for yourself. She doesn’t live on Mars. If you’d just call her, you never know how much good that might do.”

“We were just a thing while she was here. Well, that thing was just her having something to do with her down time.”

“You are a pain in the ass. I agree with everyone else. She was very picky about what the captain wrote regarding the team. She called him four times to make sure she captured the essence.”