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‘You don’t know?’ Greg’s brow furrowed.
‘Know what?’ Alex growled.
‘You should speak to her family.’ He threw the file he was holding onto the table, clearly upset.
Alex was already on the move. He had no idea how they could have made life any worse for her, but being on edge and emotional had his temper simmering just below the surface.
The elevator doors slid open on the C Suite floor, and as luck would have it he ran into Lauren.
‘Alex!’ she said, surprised.
‘Where’s your father?’
His tone was sharp and low. Lauren clearly recognised the edge in it and had him follow her to her father’s office. She walked in behind Alex and silently closed the door.
‘Alexander Hastings!’
Peter Brown greeted him warmly, but his eyes were cold. Cruel.
‘This is a surprise. How can I help you?’
‘Where’s Emma?’ Alex stared the man down. He was not in the mood for pretences.
‘As of two days ago she no longer works here,’ Peter said.
‘What did you do?’ Alex clenched his fists at his sides.
‘What didIdo? You dare barge into my office and questionme?’ Peter was incensed. ‘I fired her, and it was about time too. I don’t have time for anyone who abandons their duty to their family for frivolous pursuits.’
Alex had to fight every urge to punch the man in front of him. ‘You fired your daughter?’ he said slowly. Disbelief turning into blazing fury.
Helen rushed into the office. Out the corner of his eye, Alex saw her enter, but he didn’t acknowledge her. Not even when she called his name.
‘It’s none of your business,’ Peter spat.
Alex brought his palms down onto the glossy wooden desk, leaning over this man he hated with a passion. ‘Oh, it’s very much my business. Every time you hurt Emma, it’s my business,’ Alex snarled, his pulse pounding in his ears. ‘Let me tell you right now, if by some miracle she ever lets you back into her life, and you cause her even the slightest bit of distress, I will have no problem coming after you with everything I’ve got. You’ve been warned.’
‘You think you can threaten m—?’ Seeing the look in Alex’s eyes, Peter let the words die on his tongue.
Alex brushed past the two women. He had had enough of the Browns for one day. All he wanted was to find Emma.
‘She’s at home.’
It was the last thing he heard. He didn’t thank Helen.
Emma had her feet curled up on the couch. Lucky lay against her, happily dozing, while Emma watched whatever was on the flatscreen TV. She didn’t care. She felt empty. Grief-stricken. There was plenty to mourn—her job, her family, a relationship that had been doomed from the start.
The laptop she’d been working on stood open on the coffee table. Words she couldn’t concentrate on stared back at her. Judging her. She’d allowed herself these two days. A lot had happened, but tomorrow would be the start of a new journey. A new Emma. The Emma she was some of the time. Except now she could be her all of the time. She no longer had a family who could make her feel as if she needed to withdraw. Tomorrow she would be liberated, but today she was sad.
There was a knock at her door, which she figured must be the takeout she had ordered. With her hair up in a messy bun, her feet bare and wearing an oversized T-shirt, Emma went to answer the door, knowing the pizza guy wouldn’t care that she looked like a slob.
She pulled the door open, but it definitely wasn’t the pizza guy.
‘What do you want, Alexander?’ she asked. She’d slipped up. Saying his name made her heart skip a beat.
‘Can we talk?’ he asked hopefully.
Lucky had heard his voice and jumped off the couch to rub himself around Alex’s legs.
