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The young woman started to explain a problem for which she didn’t truly need his help. Her supervisor likely had an easy answer. He listened politely, then asked, “Have you asked Ann?”
“Ann’s at lunch,” she said, wringing her hands. “And it’s due at one.”
“It’s all right,” he assured her with a smile. “The Turner property isn’t going to auction until next week, but I would suggest you take a look at section two in the documents Ann drew up yesterday,” he said, then explained specifically where she should look to find the answer to her query.
She nodded, blushing. “Thank you, Jack.”
“No problem. Good work.”
He excited the cubicle, rejoining Mike and the other execs as they started toward the other side of the office. “So, as I was saying, the properties downtown have always been our bread and butter, but I don’t think…”
Jack let his words trail off. Mike didn’t appear to be listening. Instead, he had a shit-eating grin on his face and seemed fixated on something behind him. Jack turned to discover Julie had come around the outside of her cubicle and was talking to another intern, in a skirt much too short to comply with the Fiorini dress code.
“Good work is right,” Mike mumbled. “I’d hit that so hard.”
Jack scowled. “And then what? She’s an employee.”
“Who the fuck cares?” Mike grumbled. “Fire her ass. Even if HR came down on me, it would be worth it, for a taste of that sweet pussy.”
Mike was all talk, and the things he said were almost never PC, which made him the unofficial court jester of the Fiorini Group.
But Jack didn’t find this particular breed of bullshit funny. “Are you out of your mind?” he asked in a cold, sharp voice.
Mike blinked. “Hey, now, I was just—”
“It’s unprofessional to talk about any of our employees that way,” Jack said, cutting him off. “Not to mention crass and classless. And I won’t stand for it. If I catch you so much as looking sideways at one of the interns again, there will be consequences. Consequences you won’t enjoy. Do we understand each other, Mike?”
Mike looked at the ground, sufficiently admonished. The other execs had already drifted away, clearly happy to let Mike take his medicine alone. As Mike hurried off—making some vague noises about following upon the Clement deal—Jack heard a voice over the usual office chatter.
“Jack?”
This time when he turned, Eva was standing behind him.
He blinked, then blinked again just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. What was she doing here? And why was she…
He looked closer. She was trembling, holding her shoes in her hands. One toe was bleeding, and her hair was loose, wild strands matted to her temples with sweat.
He launched into action, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “What happened? Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “No. Not okay.”
Jack hugged her closer, his chest tightening as he noticed the trails of dried tears on her cheeks. “Come with me,” he whispered. “We can talk in my office.”
As he led her across the room, heads peeked out of the cubicles and whispers of speculation rustled louder than the paper in the copying machine, but he didn’t care. Eva was his only concern.
He barely had a chance to close the door before she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you at work.”
“You’re always welcome here. Always. This is your company, too.” He ran a hand gently down her arm to squeeze her hand. “Right now I’m more concerned about you than any interruption. What happened?”
“It was crazy, Jack.” She planted her backside on the edge of his desk. “I didn’t know what else to do. I rode the subway around and around because I was afraid if I went back to work, he would be waiting for me.”
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “He? He who?”
“I don’t know. Some guy. He followed me. He chased me. I don’t know who he is, but…” She hugged herself tighter. “I think he wanted to hurt me. The look on his face was terrifying.”
Jack’s jaw tightened. He went to her and wrapped his arms around her. Her heart was beating so fast he could feel the frantic patter in his own chest. “It’s okay. Shh. You’re safe now. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Do you think it’s the same man who broke into my place? And if so, what do you think he wants?”
