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“Through a window.”
“Whatever.”
“There’s something behind it, Joe. Something inside you that makes it happen. You get mad. Quickly. You act out. Quickly. And, yes, things have maybe gotten better. Right?”
“Are you talking down to me right now?”
“No. I’m trying to get to the bottom of this.”
“The bottom of what?” he asked. “Someone pissed me off so I kicked his ass. Oh fucking well.”
“It was enough that you got in serious trouble and ended up here.”
“I ended up here because you wanted me here, Anna. You wanted to see me. To face me. You wanted to talk to me. Admit it.”
“I’m a professional.”
“Oh yeah? How many other people have you fucked right here in this office?”
“Bastard,” I growled. I walked by Joe and around my desk. “I should have just transferred you when I had the chance. You’re the one who requested me to travel with you. Dammit, Joe. This is all just…”
I looked at him and shook my head.
“What? Do you regret it? Do you regret last night? This morning? What about just before you came to work? Tell me the truth, Anna. Do you regret it?”
“I don’t regret a thing.”
And that was the damn truth.
“You want to know what it is? That raging fire?”
“Don’t say it’s me,” I said. “Don’t try to make something romantic out of violence.”
“It’s not romantic at all. It’s the one thing that’s never happened before in my life or happened again. It’s the truth about me. About you. About everything.”
“And what is it, Joe?”
He looked suddenly nervous to talk.
Almost scared.
There was silence between us.
“Joe,” I said. “Please. Please tell me.”
“You broke my heart, Anna.”
The words moved through the room.
They hit my ears. My heart.
They punched me in the stomach, stealing my air and my breath.
Without a chance to actually respond, Joe hurried toward my office door, ripped it open and left.
I took a few steps after him but it was too late.
He was moving faster.
