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“Harsh?” I ask, turning an apologetic smile on Calla, my work buddy.
She shakes her head. “No, that was epic. Erica can be a bit of a cunt, but you didn’t hear that from me,” she stage whispers.
Yolanda, in a cube nearby, snorts. “You can say you heard it from me. She’s nosy as fuck, and if she finds out some dirt, everyone in the office will know about it.”
“I still can’t believe she asked if I was pregnant. That’s so rude.”
“Forget about her, what are you doing after work? Some of us are going out for a happy hour...wait, are you twenty-one?”
“Yes,” I say with a grin. “But I actually have plans...” I trail off. Here’s where I used to bend over backward to make things better, doing whatever I could to ensure people weren’t mad at me. “Next time?”
“Oh, yeah. No worries, it was a last-minute decision.” She sighs and tips her head. “By the way, I came over because Mr. Wallace wanted to see you.”
“Oh, the new girl is already getting spanked by Daddy Wallace?” Yolanda asks.
Curse these short and paper-thin cubicle walls.
Calla’s eyes sparkle with delight. “I heard she likes it.”
“You guys suck.” I laugh and stand, smoothing my business casual black-and-purple dress. “I swear, if Erica hears that and a rumor starts, I’ll strangle you both.”
“Kinky. I like it,” Calla murmurs.
I shoot her a warning look and head into the boss’s office. His door is propped open, but I rap my knuckles on the wood anyway to let him know I’m here.
“Come in.”
I push the door a little wider and step inside, nodding at Mr. Wallace. He sets some papers aside and smirks at me. If it wasn’t for the vicious rumor mill that every office has, I’m sure he’d ask me to shut the door. As it is, he gestures me over.
“Did it work?” I whisper once I’m perched on the edge of the seat.
He picks up the succulent that’s blocking part of my face and sets it to the side. “We picked up three new clients today.” He speaks just as softly, eyeing the open door. “I have four meetings set up tomorrow too. Tell your brother I said thanks.”
“Stepbrother,” I say quickly, cringing when I realize it might sound like I don’t like Brady.
“Right, sorry. He’s a great guy.”
“He really is.” I smile and lean back in my seat. “So, this is the plan...take his business bit by bit?”
“No. We’re destroyinghimbit by bit. My PI has enough dirt on him to ruin his reputation, but I don’t want to do it all in one go. I want to draw out the torture. I want him to lie awake at night and panic. I want him to have anxiety attacks.”
“Dick move,” I murmur, lips tipping up. “I like it.”
“I thought you might approve.” He glances at the clock. “You should head out. It’s five.”
“Has anyone mentioned that you’re a pretty okay boss?”
He barks out a laugh and shakes his head. “You remind me of my daughter. She’s a smart-ass too.”
“She sounds like a gem.” I stand. “Let me know how I can help.” I already provided a list of clients that he didn’t know about, mostly smaller fish, but that’s where he’s started poaching. The big fish will come later.
“If you have any evidence of what he did to you, that would be great.”
I give him a look.
“No, not because I don’t believe you,” he says quickly, putting his hand on his chest. “I believe you, but if we could show the world what he did...well, let’s say it’ll be like icing on the cake I’ll make him when he hits the bottom.”
“You’re ruthless.”
