AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You mean to you,” Elisha shot back.
“That too,” Grace replied, and then she squared her shoulders when she noticed the looks of shock and incredulity on the science horde’s faces. It was out of character and far from Grace’s norm to put anything, or anyone, above them, and anyone with eyes could see they were in disbelief.
“Did he dickmatize you?” Elisha asked.
“No!” Grace exclaimed, throwing her hands up.
“Yes. Yes, I did” Anton replied.
Grace’s eyes widened and without so much as a glance she landed a sharp elbow to Anton’s stomach. “Shut the hell up.”
“Oof!” He doubled over, clutching his stomach, prompting an exasperated sigh from Grace.
“Listen up, everyone!” Grace stepped past a still hunched-over Anton. She threw her arms up in the air and waited for the disgruntled, very vocal, science horde to quiet.
“Do I have your attention? I love you all, but I’m only going to say this once, so eyes and ears up here.” Her eyes moved over the crowd as one by one they gave her their undivided attention. Appeased, Grace continued on, “Right then. I know it’s been a very dramatic morning, but I want you all to know that we will figure this out together.”
Elisha spoke up. “So losing our entire body of research is now just dramatic?”
Mindy waved her tablet. “She asked for quiet, not your smarmy commentary.”
“Your boss is the one who put us in this situation,” she shot back.
“No he didn’t, because he didn’t do this.” Grace jerked a thumb at Anton, who only now stood up to his full height and leaned against Mindy while rubbing his side. “Anton didn’t steal our data.”
“Then who did?”
“An excellent question, but one that I don’t know the answer to.” Grace shook her head. “But it’s someone out there. Not one of us.”
“Which means we report this to someone who can actually do something like arrest people, and stop accusing one another,” Lou said, crossing her arms and giving her team a stern glare. “Everyone take a break while we get this ball rolling.”
Elisha relented with a huff and Grace caught her wrist. “Thank you for being ready to fight for us. I just need you to trust me on this.”
Blowing out a sigh, Elisha nodded. “I can do that.”
Mindy nodded. “If you need anything from us or the New York team, just say the word and we’ll get it to you.”
Grace inclined her head to Mindy. “Thanks. I’ll go start making calls.”
Lou held up her phone. “I’ve got this. You stay here, Anton and Grace. You two look like you need to talk.
“Thank you.” Grace darted forward, catching her friend in a tight hug.
Lou wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” Grace smiled before Lou turned on her heel, her phone already pressed to her ear.
Once Lou had left, Anton sidled up close to her and cleared his throat. “I think you bruised a rib,” he said, rubbing his side.
“You deserved it.”
He puckered his lips in a pout for a second before he brightened, a wide smile on his face. “You love me, huh?”
“Definitely,” Grace replied. She hadn’t meant to blurt it out, but now that the cat was out of the bag there was no use in denying it. “I was riding the high of making big declarations and decisions. It went straight to my head.”
“Do you regret saying it?”
“What? No. No, never that.” She shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still wondering how it happened, but no. I’m glad I said it, I just wish it had been under different circumstances.”
