AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We . . . one our key, junior lawyers . . .” the middle guy starts, looking to the young guy on his left with a glare that could cut glass, “. . . made a basic error, which was then overlooked by the team that checked over the whole thing. To put in bluntly, the competition regulator is so far up my ass right now, I feel like a puppet.”
I stand there, stunned, as the information washes over me. Silence fills the boardroom and the lawyers watch me expectantly, three bodies frozen by tension. The young guy’s face is flushed red.
I take a step forward and point a finger at the most senior of the three. “First of all, you fucked up. Don’t bring me this bullshit, blaming one of your most junior guys and shaming him in front of me. He shouldn’t even fucking be here.”
I start to shake as anger wells up, unbound, within me.
I point at the junior guy and jerk my thumb behind my shoulder. “You, fuck off. Consider this a verbal warning, but the fault lies mainly with your manager, so don’t take this too hard.”
He leaves in a hurry, nodding his thanks and rushing from the room. I turn back to the other two, arms crossed across my chest.
“What the fuck do I pay you for? What sort of half-assed bullshit is this anyway? Missing out a key clause . . . I should fire you both, right now.”
My voice starts out low and cold, but rises in volume as I speak, scarcely able to believe what is happening.
Brock gestures for me to calm down, but a barely there smile curves his lips up. I get the feeling he’s enjoying this. Bastard.
“Calm down, Luke,” Brock coaxes. “This isn’t The Apprentice. Okay, they fucked up. It happens. It’s done now. But we can fix this, right?”
The senior lawyer nods stiffly, clearing his throat again. “We can fix this. We . . . I need to come clean to the regulator, explain what has happened. Chances are, they’ll give us a stay of execution . . . say a day, two if we’re lucky, to get the documents amended and resubmitted.”
He pauses to take a breath, looking like he’s recovered a little from the ear-bashing he’d just received. “I’ve got a friend there, very senior, a guy if I’ve been working with over the process, and he owes me more than a favor or two. Time to remind him.”
“I don’t care if you’re friends with the Queen of fucking England. If you don’t fix this mess, it’s your ass.”
Brock laughs at my words, and the lawyer’s eyes fly wide-open as I speak.
“No one leaves this room until we fix this,” I order. “Got it? Get in who you need, and what you need. I’m coming back in ten minutes, and if this room is not a hive of activity, with people working like busy little bees and looking suitably stressed, I’m going to rain an ungodly storm of shit down upon you. I’m going to kick you out of this building so hard, you won’t be able to sit down for a fucking week.”
The guys nod feverishly, one of them frantically pulling a cell phone from his pocket, the other scrabbling up the documents into a pile and taking out a pen to start making notes. Brock looks on, staring down at the pair, his expression cold and business-like.
I leave the room with an angry sigh, slamming the door behind me.
Marching down the hallway, I know my anger has mainly stemmed from what had happened with Tessa rather than the legal oversight. The guys had just been in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
But it felt good to let the anger out, and I figured they deserved it nonetheless.
In my office, I settle down into my plush, leather chair, checking my watch, deciding I’ll be kind and give the guys five extra minutes—fifteen minutes to start getting this mess fixed.
See, I’m a nice guy, really.
Tessa
I walk into my apartment and collapse onto the couch. It’s late and I’m exhausted. The meal was an absolute, unmitigated disaster . . . but really, it’s all my own fault.
Why, oh why, didn’t I just tell him earlier? Why did I keep putting it off, again and again?
If it was me in his shoes, would I be pissed off? Hell yes, I would, probably more than he had been. A secret like that? You just don’t keep that from someone, especially not your husband.
Because he is—my husband, that is. Whether or not I like it, whether or not that’ll change—and given tonight’s events, I fully expect the marriage to be annulled—we’re married. I can’t just pretend that we’re not, no matter how drunk I was.
I made that decision, and I have to live with the consequences. He didn’t deserve to be kept in the dark..
