Page 88 of The Secrets We Treasure

His hand on the small of her back, Greer navigated Treasure to the table where Ethan, Cricket, and Kyle were sitting.

Kyle stood out of courtesy, but Ethan remained seated.

“About time,” he mumbled as Treasure and Greer sat down. Ethan motioned. “So you two are now connected at the hip?” he sneered.

Greer chuckled. “Not the hip, necessarily,” he said casually. “The mouth, yes.” He leaned over and gave Treasure a thorough kiss on the lips. Then, he draped his arm around her shoulder. “Now, that’s a connection I can appreciate.”

Treasure swallowed a chortle before it could escape. Few people could get anything over on Greer. He knew exactly how to handle Ethan.

Ethan’s face turned redder than a ripe tomato.

Kyle and Cricket looked at one another in surprise.

Kyle was the first to speak, addressing his remarks to Treasure. “Ethan was just telling Cricket and me about your engagement and how the two of you planned to be married in Italy.” Amusement lit his eyes. “I take it that’s not happening.”

Treasure was too astonished to even be angry. She looked at Ethan, wondering how she’d allowed him to have free rein over her for so long. Well, not anymore. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

“What?”

“The lies. Manipulation.”

He tugged at the collar of his shirt. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Treasure spoke to Kyle and Cricket. “There never was an engagement. It was all a hoax, dreamed up by Ethan. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I had no idea the two of you were coming to film a documentary about me.”

Cricket tipped her head. “I thought it was odd that you would plan to film during a time when you were looking after your mother.”

“What’re you doing?” Ethan growled at Treasure.

“What I should’ve had the courage to do a long time ago. You’re fired.”

His jaw fell. “What? You can’t do that.”

“I can and I will,” she fired back. “My attorney will be in contact.”

Ethan smirked. “You don’t even have an attorney.”

“But I do,” Greer cut in. “A dang good one.”

Panic laced Ethan’s voice. “Do you see what’s happening here?” He pointed at Greer. “This guy has gotten in your head. He’s manipulating you.”

Treasure sat up straight. “No, that’s what you’ve been doing. Shame on me for letting you get away with it for so long.” She squared her jaw. “Not anymore.”

“You won’t last a day without me,” he said smugly.

“I’ll take my chances,” Treasure replied. “In case you’re wondering, I’ve already spoken to Alice and informed her that she’ll report directly to me. We had a nice conversation, by the way. She seems to be doing a good job of managing the lines. I did set her straight on a few things that I want changed, but we’re working through those. Oh, and I contacted the social media team and let them know about your departure. Since we schedule our posts a month in advance, I’ll have plenty of time to sort through that. I did give them express instructions on the post that will go out today, setting the record straight about our supposed engagement.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “What else?” She held up a finger. “The bookkeeper. I’ve informed Gloria to cancel all your credit cards and take you off the bank accounts. In fact, it should already be done. Furthermore, I’m calling in an independent auditor to check the books. If you’ve been stealing from me, then you could face criminal charges.”

Ethan’s face turned an ugly purple. “You won’t get away with this.” He jumped to his feet, throwing down his napkin. “See you in court.”

As he stormed out of the restaurant, Treasure felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from her. A smile curled her lips as she took in a deep breath. “That felt good.” She turned her attention to Kyle and Cricket. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.”

A grin split Kyle’s face. “No problem. It ain’t no biggie. We used to work in reality TV, remember?”

“I’m sure you’ve seen worse,” Treasure laughed.

Cricket rolled her eyes. “Much worse.”

“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing. All your expenses will be covered, of course. Feel free to stay through the remainder of the week.”

---