Page 52 of Inevitable Secrets

Todd huffed a breath, “I didn’t mean to—”

“I work here,” Taylor said. “I own this fucking place. I am in charge of hundreds of thousands of people’s livelihoods, including yours,” she informed him, looking him up and down. “That, Todd, is what I am doing here,” she said.

Todd was silent for a moment. “We just didn’t know you were arriving today,” he offered as an explanation.

“Well I’m here, don’t bother with a welcome back party now,” she said. “Let’s go to the meeting,” she ordered, grabbing her iPad and pushing past Todd.

* * *

Two hours later,Taylor left the meeting and felt infinitely better than she had going in. Numbers were good. Really good. Better than they had been in years. And Todd had not uttered a word.

It was going right. Finally something good was coming from all the mess that Cedric had left Preston Corp in. All the effort and changes were finally making a difference, despite all the madness that had been happening. Derrick had been right to push her to come here, as it was a great distraction.

When Taylor left the meeting she walked back to her office with the marketing department VP—a little to discuss the next campaign, a lot to further avoid Todd. She walked with the man until she got to her office door, Mick behind them the entire time, and then went inside and collapsed in her chair.

She felt like she finally had something under control.

She decided she should check in with Fletcher Enterprises, also. Derrick had not yet taken over completely, though the Fletcher business structure allowed for more autonomy in the departments so things were still forging ahead well. But Taylor was still in charge there, so she called Arthur.

“Hello, Mrs. Preston-Fletcher,” Arthur answered after half a ring.

“Hey Arthur, just checking in for the day,” Taylor said as she made a coffee at her office Keurig.

“Uh, yeah, everything is great,” Arthur said, sounding a little perplexed.

Taylor took a sip of her coffee. “That didn’t sound reassuring,” Taylor said to the man, laughing a little. Usually he would give her a daily rundown of calendar events at the company.

“Well, I am just surprised you are still checking in with Mr. Fletcher back at work.”

That made sense to Taylor. “Oh, well, I know he is doing some stuff from home but until he comes into the office—”

“He did,” Arthur interrupted. “He came in about an hour ago.”

Coffee spewed from Taylor’s mouth as she spit it out. “He what?”

“Um, well, see, he came—”

“Arthur, are you telling me my husband is in that building with you, right now?” she asked, biting out every word.

“Yes?” Arthur answered apprehensively, seeming to be unsure where his loyalty lay at the moment.

“Damn it!” Taylor shouted and slammed her desk phone down. She saw red and didn’t even think twice about what she did next.

Taylor wrenched her office door open and exploded through it, sending Mick and Ian jumping, and stomped down the hallway. She ignored people who called her name and walked into an open elevator, as her security detail hurried to catch up.

“Taylor, where are you going?”

Taylor turned her heated stare on Mick, silencing him. “Get me to Fletcher Enterprises. Now.”

And they did. They took her down into the connected tunnels, and moments later she was making her madwoman march down the halls of Fletcher Enterprises. The workers parted like something biblical as Taylor stared straight ahead at her destination—Derrick’s office door.

“Mrs. Preston-Fletcher, uh, Mr. Fletcher is in a meeting,” Arthur said as he saw her and ran to catch up with her from down the hall. When Taylor didn’t stop, Arthur reached out a hand to try and grab Taylor’s arm, and Ian had the man against a wall.

If Taylor had been in her right mind, she would have been appalled. Instead she was grateful Arthur was out of the way, and she continued on.

Taylor pushed Derrick’s office door open and walked past Claire, his wonderful secretary. The woman didn’t even look up from her computer screen. “Hello Mrs. Preston-Fletcher, I’ve been expecting you,” she said in a singsong tone.

Taylor continued through to Derrick’s inner office, and flung the door open, sending it slamming against the wall and creating a loud BOOM in its wake.

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