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Panic seized me. I had to do something. It wasn’t just my career at stake. Suddenly, I dropped my bags, grabbed him by the shirt, and pushed him against the wall. “How did you get this last picture?”
Some of the suits walking by stared at us, but I ignored them.
Mr. Reed’s sneer grew bigger. “Does it matter? I have it. I dare say that this proves that not only was there inappropriate behavior between an executive and his intern, but there was a gross misuse of company furniture. Desks weren’t made for fucking, you whore. You and that arrogant prick are done.”
Wewere done. Had he shown the pictures to anyone yet? How could I stop him from revealing them? “And what about you?”
His grimy hand wrapped around my wrist, making my skin crawl. He yanked on my arm, but I tightened my grip on his shirt.
“I’ll be promoted once I get rid of that asshole,” he said, still pulling on my wrist.
Steven will get fired. He’ll hate me. Oh God, I’ve ruined his career. “You idiot. You think Mr. Cox will go down without a fight? He’ll take you down with him. And if he doesn’t, you’re done anyway.”
His nails dug into my skin. “I’ll be a hero in the eyes of the chair.”
What do I do? He wants Steven gone. He wants to be buddy-buddy with the chair. How do I convince him this isn’t the way? “You think the company wants a man like you, a man who spies on his superior and conspires against him? How did you get this picture? You broke into your superior’s office and planted a hidden camera, didn’t you? Not only did you break company rules, but you broke the law too.”
His smile faltered.
I was on the right track. He just needed more convincing. “They’ll never trust you. If you show these to anyone, you’re signing your own letter of dismissal. And your arrest warrant.”
He shook his head, but there was doubt in his eyes. “No. The chair would protect me. He’ll be happy to get rid of the Hellhound,” he said in a way that sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Even if I could successfully convince Reed to drop this, he could change his mind any day, and then he would hold this over Steven’s head forever. I needed to get my hands on those pics. “Ha! You fool. Wake up. He’ll be happy to get rid of you too. He’ll want to tidy up the loose ends. That’s you. Then you’ll be done.”
His brow furrowed, and he looked away for a moment. I had distracted him enough that he dropped his guard. Now was my chance. I let go of his shirt and grabbed the phone out of his hand.
“Hey, give that back!” His nails scratched my skin as I turned away.
He tried to grab me, but holding the phone out of his reach, I sidestepped him, then bolted to the women’s bathroom.
I locked myself in one of the stalls, hoping he wouldn’t barge in. My fingers shaking, I deleted the pictures and the copies he had saved in the cloud. Then I checked his emails. It looked like he hadn’t sent them to anyone yet, so I checked the draft folder and there it was. An email addressed to the chair. I deleted it. Then I tapped on the delete folder and cleared those.
I checked his texts. His social media.
After checking everything I could think of, I dumped his phone in the toilet and flushed it. I knew it was too big to go down the drain, but it felt good anyway. Was water enough to destroy a cell?
I wasn’t taking any chances. I fished it out, threw it onto the floor, and stomped on it a few times until it cracked. It was probably pointless, though. He likely had copies somewhere else. But I had to try.
For Steven’s sake.
I wasn’t even thinking about my career anymore. All I could think about was Steven.
If that picture leaked, things would be worse for him than for me. He was in a position of authority. People would see a powerful executive taking advantage of his intern and fucking her on his desk.
I had ruined both our careers. And for what?
Lust?
My heart ached, and pain spread through my chest.
No. Not lust. It was more than that. But still. Whatever it was, it couldn’t go on. I had to protect him.
I wouldn’t let that leech Reed ruin Steven’s career. He had worked so hard to get where he was. I wouldn’t let anyone bring him down. Not because of me.
I could pick up the pieces and start over. I wasn’t known yet in this industry. But Steven was. Everyone on Wall Street knew his name. He would never live this down.
I couldn’t stay here with him. It would be impossible for us to stay away from each other if we kept working side by side. The hunger we felt was too intense. The desire for each other, too magnetic.
