Page 223 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

Mrs. Kline steps forward again, controlled and efficient now she’s found a practical problem she can solve in real time. “Denise, call maintenance and have someone clear this hall. Tiffany, hand over your keys.”

Tiffany stares at her.

“Now.”

With a shaking hand, Tiffany digs into her pocket and throws a keyring onto the floor hard enough to make everyone flinch.

“Fine,” she says. “Fine. Fire me. I don’t care.”

She yanks herself fully out of Rex’s hold the second he lets go and glares at me like she wishes she could burn me down with her eyes. Then she turns and stalks toward the back hall, shoving her cart so hard it clips the wall, leaving a gray streak behind.

The second she disappears, the whole building seems to exhale.

I do too.

And immediately, my knees wobble.

Fletcher catches my elbow before I can pretend they didn’t. “You with me?”

I nod, then shake my head, then give a short laugh as I lean against him.

“I think so,” I say. “Maybe. This is… wow.”

Rex comes back to my side, still keyed up, still dangerous around the edges. “That’s one word for it.”

Mrs. Kline is watching me now in a way she didn’t before. Not like a risk. More like a problem that just became a liability in a completely different way that before.

Also good.

She clears her throat. “June. May I speak with you privately?”

A laugh almost escapes me again.

Wayne’s hand settles more firmly against my back. Fletcher shifts closer. Rex lifts a brow like he’s waiting for me to say no.

I should say no.

I don’t owe this woman a private conversation.

But I also know exactly what’s happening. Panic. Damage control. An institution suddenly realizing the wrong person may have been protected.

“Not alone,” I say.

Mrs. Kline’s jaw tightens almost imperceptibly. “Very well.”

She gestures toward the conference room.

I almost refuse out of sheer spite, but then everything in me straightens.

No. I’ll go in there, and this time, I won’t be the one leaving broken.

“Okay.”

Wayne goes in first. Of course, he does. Fletcher after him. Rex last, muttering under his breath about fluorescent lighting being a crime against humanity.

I’m weirdly grateful for it.

The room looks exactly the same.