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“Chloe told me you’d moved in with Renée.”
“You’ve spoken to her?”
“I went to your house.”
He studies the carpet for a moment. “Is she okay?”
I feel sick to my stomach. “No, she’s not okay, you fucking idiot. She’s having to travel to the other side of the world with a four-month-old baby on her own.”
“She doesn’t have to go,” Renée says.
I look at him, not her. “Maybe she felt the need to see her parents, to have some support after her husband walked out on her, you know?”
He lifts his gaze back to me. “It’s easy to pass judgment when you don’t know the whole story.”
“No, I don’t, because you haven’t told me. I thought we were friends. I thought you’d talk to me if you were considering something as serious as walking out of your marriage.”
“And have you lecture him about duty and responsibility?” Renée snorts. “Mr. Self-Righteous.”
“Renée,” he snaps.
“Oh, grow a pair,” she tells him. “Stand up for yourself.”
He meets my eyes and then drops his gaze again. And it’s then that I understand.
“This is your doing,” I say softly, looking at Renée. “What did you do, tell him you wouldn’t see him unless he delivered MOTHER to you?”
I can see from the look on her face that I’ve guessed right.
“And now you’ve failed,” I tell Craig. “And you’ve walked out on your wife. I don’t think she’s going to take you back. You’ve burned your bridges there.”
“He doesn’t want to go back,” Renée says. “Why would he want to live with that fat, grumpy old bitch?”
I look at him in surprise, waiting for him to tell her to mind her mouth, but he stays looking at the floor, sullen and unresponsive.
“Oh, I see,” I say softly. “Saxon was right. This is about her doing great things to your dick. Don’t tell me you enjoy being humiliated. You didn’t need to leave the office for that.”
“Don’t mock him,” she says, getting up and coming to stand in front of me.
I look down at her. “And don’t talk to me like I’m one of your subs. What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business, and so is his marriage. But you bring it into the office, it makes it my business. Did you target him on purpose? Because you wanted the software for yourself?”
She shrugs. “I was willing to pay a small fortune for the software. Still am.”
Disgusted, I look back at Craig.
She grabs my arm. “Don’t you turn away from me.”
I look at her hand where she’s holding my arm. Then I lift my gaze to hers. She glares at me, refusing to back down, eyes blazing. I wait. Eventually, after about twenty seconds, she slowly lowers her hand and drops her eyes.
Lips curving up a little, I turn away from her, back to Craig.
Now that I understand what’s going on here, I think I have an insight into his problems with Chloe. Craig obviously enjoys being dominated, and Chloe is too quiet and gentle to take on that role, which was probably why he was so cruel to her when he left.
“I don’t care what you do in your private life,” I tell him. “It takes two to tango, and I’m sure there are reasons why your marriage with Chloe hasn’t worked out. But cheating on her when she’s pregnant, and when she’s just had a baby, is deplorable. I don’t think you need me to tell you that, though. I think you know that already. You’re obviously under the sway of this woman, and… whatever. I don’t give a fuck. But promising her that we’d sell MOTHER to her… I can’t overlook that. I want your resignation in my inbox tonight. No lawyer is going to find in your favor once all this comes out.”
He inhales, looking genuinely shocked.
“If you resign, I’ll give you a decent reference,” I tell him. “But if you don’t, I’ll fire you, and I’ll tell everyone I know just what a piece of weak shit you are.”
