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Chapter 2
Zariah
I was sitting through the midmorning meeting with the rest of the legal department in the conference room. My attention was split between what the others were discussing and texting my sister, trying to lock her down on the double date I’d conned her into going on with me later that evening.
Not even I wanted to go. Patrick left a lot to be desired, and I’d barely stomached the first date we’d gone on. It wasn’t his fault that the couple behind us at the restaurant where we’d had dinner was watching the Boston game on his phone loud enough for me to hear. Every time Patrick said something that irritated me was usually about the same time that the broadcaster would mention Nolan Krenshaw. I couldn’t be completely sure if it was Patrick himself making me want to break my wineglass and stab him in the eye with it, or if it was because the man I hated the most in the world was having a killer game.
I decided to give the stockbroker one more chance, hoping with the buffer of Ciana there along with Patrick’s friend for a double date, he’d be a little less douchebag mixed with a huge dose of smarmy.
While my little sister took her time texting me back, another text popped up on my screen. Around me, the room went silent, even though I could see the others’ mouths moving. The guy beside me even laughed, but I heard nothing but the blood rushing through my ears as my eyes narrowed while reading the words on my phone.
Unknown:Zariah, this is Nolan. Don’t block me! Just listen. Please…
Unknown:I’ve run into some trouble. Might have beat another player bloody. But considering who it was, I’m sure you would agree he deserved it. I need a new agent since my contract just expired with my last one. And I may need a lawyer too.
Unknown:Fuck, Red. What I need is YOU. The only person I trust who can help me right now is you.
With each word, my heart started racing faster, pumping harder than it did when I worked out with my drill sergeant personal trainer. My palms grew damp with sweat, and my stomach started to toss. Darkness blurred the edges of my vision, and I quickly reminded myself to breathe.
No way I was going to pass out in front of these assholes. Not when they only begrudgingly considered me their boss. I didn’t have to hear their whispered lunchroom conversations to know they thought the only reason I was the VP of the legal department was because of who my parents were. It didn’t matter that I’d graduated at the top of my class, or that I’d spent two years interning at one of the most prestigious corporate law firms in the country. None of them even cared that I knew more than my own boss.
All they saw when they looked at me was Scarlett and Ciro Donati’s daughter, Cristiano Vitucci’s niece. I had a trust fund big enough to feed an entire country, so why was I even working? Then there were the misogynistic pricks who thought they were too good to work under a woman.
Those same men didn’t have similar qualms about my mother signing their paychecks.
Or maybe they did, but they just kept their comments to themselves about it so they would continue to get paid and not piss off my father, who had a past reputation for turning flesh to goo and pouring it into the Hudson to feed the fish. A reputation I doubted wasn’t as much a part of the past as he wanted people to think.
Once the black spots around the edges of my vision faded and I made sure the others in the room hadn’t noticed my mini-meltdown, I quickly called a break to the meeting. As I sat there, watching the others walk out to use the bathroom and grab themselves cups of coffee, I heard one of the guys muttering to his friend. It was loud enough that he must have known I would hear it, but from the cockiness of his stride, it was obvious he didn’t care.
“Someone is extra bitchy today,” he said with a low laugh. “Doesn’t seem like she’s getting a good enough pounding. Give me half an hour alone with her, and she’ll be in a better mood. Her cunt just needs this big cock to reset her bitch mode.”
His friend stopped, a look of dread mixed with fear and a touch of terror on his face, while the other man kept walking, not realizing he was now alone.
I slapped my hand down on the table so forcefully everyone who was still trying to file out of the room froze. “Mr. Kirby,” I called loud enough for him to hear me, and I watched him turn to stone through the glass wall he was walking past on his way to the men’s room.
When he shifted his gaze to me, I took a little pleasure in how pale he’d gone, but it was short-lived as my anger rekindled when my phone pinged with another text. Ignoring the message, I waved my hand back to the large conference table I was still sitting at. “Please join me for a private moment, Mr. Kirby.”
His paleness was replaced by a pink heat that lifted from his neck, up his face, and turned his ears a bright red. But he still had the balls to notch up his chin as he walked back into the room once everyone else had left.
“Close the door, Mr. Kirby,” I instructed, pushing back from the table just enough to cross one leg over the other. With the door firmly closed, I waved to the table once more. “Have a seat.”
“I’d rather stand,” he gritted out, and I actually found myself smiling.
“The big man wanting to have all the power while he looks down at the little woman?” I taunted. “Do you think that will intimidate me, Mr. Kirby? I assure you, it doesn’t. If anything, it only emboldens me further. Now, I’m curious. If you speak about me, your boss, like that within earshot, how do you speak to and about the other females on our team?”
His jaw clenched, not answering me.
I nodded, his nonanswer all the confirmation I needed that this wasn’t a one-time thing. That the other women in my department had been dealing with this misogynistic asshole and I hadn’t known—or worse, hadn’t paid attention to it—pissed me off. “We don’t tolerate harassment of any kind. Typically, there are three warnings before someone is fired,” I reminded him since all this was in every employee’s handbook that Human Resources gave them in their new-hire packets. “However, sexual harassment is an automatic dismissal.”
The heat faded from his face, turning it pale once more. Except for his ears. They were still fire-engine red, the only outward sign I could see that he was still angry, even though he was scared.
Which he had every right to be.
“Not only is it an instant dismissal, but it also means an exit meeting with HR, my uncle, and my mother.” I picked up my phone, ignored the newest Unknown text, and group-messaged my mom,Zio, and HR. Briefly lifting my gaze back to the man still standing over me, I texted them to let them know what to expect.
Instantly, I got two texts back.
Mom:Be there in two minutes.
Zio:On it, Z-Z.
Human Resources quickly assured me they were on their way to the conference room as well, but a text from my dad appeared before I could drop my phone onto the table.
Papa:Just got a text from your momma. V and B need some knife practice.
I sighed and placed the phone facedown on the table before lifting my gaze back to my fellow lawyer. “I would say it’s been a pleasure working with you, Mr. Kirby, but we both know that would be a lie.” I stood and gathered my things. “But I wish you good luck…in all aspects of your life.”
My phone went off yet again with another Unknown text, but instead of reading it, I shot the man standing there trembling a smirk. “However long that might happen to be.”
