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They kissed me one last time before stepping out of the cottage. I spread out on the couch, my body aching in places it had never ached before. It was a good ache though—a very satisfied feeling.
I was no longer tired. I felt energized, like I could take on the world. Which I fully intended to do. But first, I needed to start my piece on the resort.
I stood up, my legs feeling like jelly at first. Reaching for my phone, I decided to check my email for any editor responses about the article.
My heart sank when I saw a message from Hilda.
My finger lingered over the email and I had half a mind to delete it. The subject of the message said, “Where are you?”
Did she not know I was on vacation? I had assumed that Hunter would have notified her. After a few deep breaths, I decided to face the beast head-on and opened the message.
Bianca,
I don’t recall approving vacation time for you. Hunter just told me that you would be gone for another week, but that was a mistake on his part. We can’t afford to have you out right now, and the vacation time should never have been approved without me signing off on it. I expect you back on Monday morning, or you will find yourself without a job.
Hilda Grimm
I groaned and fell back on the couch, resting my head against the cushion. I had to suppress the scream growing inside of me. Years of anger and frustration boiled to the surface, causing me to rage like I had never raged before.
I knew Hunter was behind this. He had to be.
He went to Hilda and had her ruin my trip on purpose. Of course I had no proof, but I had a strong feeling he was behind it.
I wanted to respond back and tell her and Hunter to take the job and shove it up their asses, but I knew to take a pause before I did anything reckless.
I had bought my condo with the money I had inherited from my dad but it hadn’t been enough to pay it off in full, which was why I needed a job. Most of his money went to Hilda, including the home I had grown up in. He had left almost everything to her—leaving me with a job at the company he created; a job I never wanted in the first place.
If I walked away, my savings might last me a month or two. I relied on my salary to pay my bills—it was higher than what I would get at most other jobs and I had adapted my lifestyle around it. My dad had made sure that my salary would not go down and could only go up when he handed the reins over to Hilda. I’d take a drastic pay cut if I left, that is, if I could even convince another company to hire a 23-year-old in a similar position as the one I held at Grimm Industries.
I needed to get out of there, that was clear. And I needed to find something else—fast.
But I couldn’t just walk away, could I?
I had a few more days to think it over. Hilda didn’t expect me back until Monday. I took a couple of deep breaths and told myself I’d figure it out. In the meantime, I was going to make the best of the days I had left.
24
Gage
“Why am I the only one who takes my job seriously?”I thought to myself as I walked away from Snow’s cottage. Even though I had wanted to say yes to her question like Jason and Anthony, I wasn’t about to let my guard down. She was a guest and we weren’t supposed to mingle with the guests. I realized how hard it could be when someone as young and beautiful as Snow was concerned, but we should’ve had better control.
I was jealous and that was an unusual emotion for me to feel, among others.
Even though I’d had an opportunity, I was still irritated that I couldn’t just relax and jump in like the others. To be honest, I expected better from Anthony. He was usually all about protecting the integrity of our business and his focus was on work and success. Knowing that he jumped into bed with Snow surprised me.
Not that I could blame him.
Dammit. Why had I said no?
I had half a mind to run back to the cottage and knock on the door, but enough time had passed that it probably would’ve been a futile gesture anyway. Instead, I headed for my office, where I could be left alone to deal with the tightness in my jeans.
“Gage, why the sour face?” Reed’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“Isn’t my face always sour according to you?”
“This is true,” Reed said as he stepped out from behind his desk in the open-air lobby. He was grinning from ear-to-ear. “Let me guess, you can’t get a certain raven-haired beauty out of your head?”
I scowled at him. That question was too ridiculous to warrant an answer.
