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The more I thought about it, the more I realized Ihadleft the room. And by the time I’d gotten back, the switch must’ve already happened.
“BASTARD!” I swore out loud. “That little—”
“Yes,” said Mr. Drumm. “We thought so too. Which is why he was in here just before you were, trying to rationalize what he’d done. This of course, after denying doing it altogether. Until we showed him the actual footage—”
“None of that matters now,” Mr. Burgen cut in. “What matters is the danger he put the company — and much more importantly,you —in. It’s inexcusable, and he’s gone of course. Fired an hour ago.”
I couldn’t believe it. Only I totally could.
“He may or may not be brought up on criminal charges,” said Mr. Drumm. “Sabotage. Reckless endangerment. Our lawyers are still looking into it. But for now…”
“For now we’d like to apologize for your suspension,” said Mr. Burgen, “and offer you a promotion to floor supervisor. It’s a small token of appreciation for your good work, but also for what we put you through.”
“Not to mention I have to do my workandMark’s work now,” I said dryly.
Mr. Burgen looked at Mr. Drumm and almost smiled. Almost. “You’re right. She catches on fast.”
Mr. Drumm chuckled. He turned back to me and sighed. “You can hire someone if you need to,” he said in all seriousness. “In fact, we’re not just recommending, we’re requiring.”
“Good,” I said, my heart beating fast with excitement. “Because with Mark gone I’m gonna need someone.”
“We figured you might,” Mr. Burgen said. He finally let a smile slip through. “As amazing as you are at your job here, we also figured you’d like to see your family too.”
Forty-Seven
KADE
“So let me get this straight,” I said, pointing my fork at her. “We cast those statues so you could show them…”
“Exhibit them,” Sloane interjected, adding her usual, adorable smile. “Yes.”
“Whatever,” I smirked. “And then after that, you won the exhibition. You sold the statues thatsamenight.”
“Those as well as other pieces, yes,” she confirmed. “I found out the next morning, when the curator called me.”
“And he put you in touch with the guy running the show,” I squinted. “And when that finally happened, you told him you weren’tsellingthem?”
Valerio stopped twirling his spaghetti for a second and shook his head. “Are you not listening to her? She said the show already delivered them, and took their cut of the money. All of them except—”
“The angel,” Sloane explained, casually twisting a lock of her beautiful dark hair. “I thanked them very much for the offer, but told them I couldn’t sell the angel.”
We were at Mangiamo’s, celebrating a whole slew of things. For one it was Brock’s birthday. But it was also the day Sloane had been vindicated of her accident at work, and informed she not only got to keep her job but was actually promoted. The asshole who apparently sabotaged her had been fired, and was lucky we didn’t hunt him down and beat him to within an inch of his life.
On top of all that, we were doing a ‘redo’ of New Year’s Eve. Taking a raincheck on what our girlfriend had promised us, back when we first snuck into her show.
“Were they mad?” asked Brock.
“Not mad, just disappointed,” Sloane answered. “The couple who put in an offer on the angel ended up doubling their bid when I said I wouldn’t sell it.”
“Whoa,” I swore. “And you stillkeptit?”
“Yes,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s… special to me now.”
Sloane had made more than enough money to pay us back already, not that she had to. When she absolutely insisted we took her money and set it aside, the three of us vowing to buy her something fantastic with it. It seemed the only Christmas-like thing to do.
“So why is it so special?” asked Valerio, already knowing the answer.
“Because it came fromallof us,” she said gently. “I may have sculpted it, but you all had a hand in its creation. It was brought to life by the four of us, working together. For that reason, I love it more than anything I’ve ever made.”
