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What is going on here? I’m either getting punked, am in some weird-ass episode of Twilight Zone, or an having the strangest dream ever.
I look around Cameron’s office. All the stuff hanging on the walls, photos of exotic places he’s travelled to, as well as framed newspaper articles mentioning his name—gone. In their places are little holes in the wall where the nails have been pulled, like tiny little pockmarks.
Also gone is Cameron’s super-fancy office chair, the one he told the company hehadto have because of his bad back. It’s been replaced by Ralph’s standard issue one.
“Oh my God. Are you stealing Cameron’s chair?”
Jesus. Talk about asking for trouble. You don’t just steal the boss’s office chair. Ever.
Ralph places a hand on my shoulder. “Amalia, Cam is gone. He’s been fired. I’ve been promoted to take his place.”
I feel dizzy and lean on Cameron’s desk for balance. “Okay, this is weird. Is everybody playing a joke on me or something?” I look around, waiting for the big reveal.
As if I’ve not already been going through enough.
Ralph laughs. “It’s not a joke, Amalia. I promise you. Sit down for a sec, please.”
I glance in the direction of the conference room and see the guys talking and laughing. Are they in on this?
“You know the manuscript you found in your desk a few weeks back? The Ryder Night manuscript?” Ralph asks.
I nod.
“Well, I planted it there. I wanted you to find it and be able to keep your job. You’re smart and a hard worker, and I wanted to help you out. I’ve always admired your talent.”
“What? Are you kidding? Why didn’t you just give it to me?” I ask.
He shrugs one shoulder. “Look, it was clear I was not your favorite person. I was afraid if I gave it to you, you’d blow it off or wouldn’t accept it. I didn’t want to see you leave the company just because Cameron was an asshole and didn’t know how to build out the romance division.”
“And… Cameron was fired? But I just saw him, minutes ago.”
Ralph nods. “Yup, he’s gone. It happened pretty fast. I knew it was coming down for a few days, I just didn’t know when. I couldn’t say anything to you, sorry. And when Wyatt asked me to take over?—”
“What? Did you just sayWyatt?”
“Oh. Right. Well, Wyatt bought Empire. He’s now the owner and is cleaning house. He started with Cam.”
“Wyatt Zimmerman? Bought Empire Ink Press?”
MyWyatt? Like, faux-vegetarian Wyatt?
“Yeah. He was looking for an investment. Sounds like Henry and Levi convinced him it was a good place to put his money. I guess now we’d better work hard to make his bet pay off.” He laughs, and I like him. He’s a good guy, who I never gave the time of day to because I was so freaking miserable.
He props a framed photo of his wife and kids on his desk after admiring it with a smile.
“So… I’m not being fired?”
Ralph shakes his head. “You are not. I’d like you to handle the work Levi Maverick sends our way.Ifhe and Henry still want to work with us after how Cam screwed them over.”
“Do they… do they know everything now?” I ask. “You know, about Cam and Julius?”
“Oh yeah. And in even better news, it looks like Julius has pretty much put himself out of business. It got out that his book reviews weren’t objective and that he was playing favorites.”
Yeah, well, no shit on that one.
“Ralph,” I say in a hoarse voice, “thank you. Thank you so much.”
I walk out of Cameron’s—I mean Ralph’s—office, each step I take a little lighter, until I reach the conference room, where I face all three guys, hands stuffed in their pockets, waiting for me with huge-ass grins.
