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Ms. Paige.In my head, I can hear her demanding he refer to her that way when delivering the message. God forbid she let my staff call her “Mrs. Orlov.” This promotion has gone to her head already.
Albeit for good reason. She’s doing well as head of the marketing department. Promoting Rowan proved to be a good move, too. The staff already knows and trusts her, and she has Paige’s back unquestioningly. If anyone thinks Paige slept her way to the top, they won’t say anything along those lines for fear that it might make it back to Rowan. Or me.
I grit my teeth, preparing myself for whatever annoyance is incoming. “What message would that be?”
“She wanted you to know she’ll be taking her own car home today after work.”
“Her car?” I frown. “She doesn’t have a car.”
“That is the second thing she wanted me to tell you.” Nikolai looks like he is physically in pain. “It seems she purchased a new car.”
Call me ‘Ms. Paige’ when you talk to him, she probably said.And make sure to tell him I’ll drive myself home before you tell him I bought the car. Make it a big reveal. He’ll love that.
This is what comes of marrying an independent woman who works for her money—she enjoys fucking with me, and she has the means to do it. I get to my feet. “Excuse me, Nikolai. I have to go speak toMs. Paige.”
Ian moves out of my way happily. Another of his winning traits—he knows when to stay clear.
I’m visibly on the warpath, so no one bothers me as I navigate the halls to the marketing department. I’m about to tear through the lunchroom when I hear Paige’s name.
“I hear Paige and Misha are involved,” a female voice says in a judgmental whisper. “Like, full-on boning. Why do you think she got the damn promotion? I’ve been at this company three years and I’ve never been promoted.”
I stop just outside the door and listen.
“Do you think they fuck in his office?” a man’s voice asks. “I mean, I would—if I had an office.”
“It’s grossly unprofessional. Not to mention the blatant nepotism. Do they think we’re all stupid, that we can’t see how unfair it all is? Or that we can’t see the ring she’s wearing? It probably costs as much as this entire building.”
“She is pretty,” the man replies. “And she’s smart. She’s a better fit for head of marketing than Darian was.”
“Fuck that,” the woman snaps. “She put out to get ahead. She’s not smart; she’s cunning. There’s a difference.”
I’m just about to turn the corner and give these two fucks a piece of my mind when I hear the click of sharp heels against the tiled floor of the lunchroom.
“Hello, everyone.” Paige’s voice cuts through the chatter. The room goes silent, and I inch forward just enough so that I can see what’s going on inside.
Paige stands in front of the small cluster of gossipy Orion employees, regarding them all with a dangerous, imperious expression that is threatening to make my cock hard.
“I generally don’t like to engage in gossip.” She smiles, though it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Since this gossip happens to be about me, however, I figure I have every right to jump in and correct a few misguided assumptions.”
The snotty woman has turned a ghostly shade of white. Her head is bowed, and her mousy brown hair covers her eyes. “Ms. Paige, I am so—”
“Melanie,” she says, her voice snapping like a whip. “If you’d let me finish, please, I’dsoappreciate it.”
Melanie has the good sense to stop talking immediately. Paige fixes her with another hard smile, and then her gaze slithers slowly over the rest of the group.
“I understand why you’re all upset about my promotion. I was Mr. Orlov’s secretary for all of five minutes before I was promoted to department head. It doesn’t seem fair. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t think I’d put in enough time to be promoted. But that doesn’t mean I can’t do the job.
“In fact, before I was Misha Orlov’s secretary, I ran a business on my own. I built it up from nothing and ran it successfully for years. I know how to do this job and I know how to do it well. I was overqualified to be Misha’s secretary. He saw that before I did.”
I stash that little nugget away to gloat about later.
“Now, I don’t expect to change any of your opinions about me today. But in the future, I hope to prove to you that I can do this job. As for my relationship with Mr. Orlov…” Her eyes slide to Melanie and the man sitting next to her. “I don’t sleep with my boss to get ahead. I sleep with my husband because I want to. My performance in the bedroom has no bearing on my performance at work.”
A murmur runs through the group, but Paige ignores it. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, I expect you all to be in the boardroom in half an hour. There are a few things I want to go over.”
She turns and walks out of the room, leaving her staff gaping after her.
While they are stunned into silence, I step through the door and follow after Paige.
