Page 78 of Protecting his Secrets

“Again, why?”

“He left me a Dear John note.”

Felix’s face crumpled. “God, I’m sorry, man.”

Nick grinned. “I’m not. It wasn’t him. Find Kai. Make sure he’s okay, and then we can look at this and figure shit out.” He waved the note. “Because whoever wrote this thinks I haven’t read every word Kai has ever written. They finally made a big fucking mistake.”

And they were going to use it to find the fucker.

****

Chapter 25

Malachi

After Malachi had sent the Tarrant emails to Felix, he collected his belongings and gave a fond smile of farewell to the suite. He doubted they would use it again, especially as they both had homes they could visit each other in.

Exiting the suite, he found Darius waiting for him. “Thank you for this.”

“It’s no problem at all. Happy to help. So, what’s the plan?”

Malachi sighed. “I need to visit my boss first, and then we can go to Grandma’s house. After that, I guess it’ll be home.”

“Simple. I like it.”

Malachi snorted, and they headed for the car. Darius drove—because of course he did—and they headed for the Windsor Chronicle office building. His stomach churned at the thought of what he was going to do, but it needed to be done. He had no choice now, and though the future scared him, working for Tucker had become a no-go any longer. It was time he stood on his own two feet and listened to his heart instead of his head.

On the trip up in the lift, Darius asked if he was okay.

“I’m just about to quit my job, and I expect some hurtful words and pushback. I’m a little stressed.”

Darius clasped a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be with you in the room. All will be well.”

“Thanks.”

He felt like he was walking to his doom when the doors opened onto the busy office floor, and with the looks some of them gave him, he knew his time had come, no matter the decision he’d come to on his own. He knocked on Tucker’s door.

“Enter.”

Malachi headed inside, Darius following him and closing the door behind them.

“Well, if it isn’t the quintessential royal backer,” Tucker said with a smile. “Or should I call you Kai?”

“You have no right to call me anything. As of this moment, I no longer work for you.” He sounded a lot more confident than he felt.

Tucker snorted. “You have to follow the process the same as everyone. One month’s notice.”

“Actually, I don’t. My contract states, as I found out when I requested someone to check it, that it’s a rolling monthly contract which can be ended at any pointwithoutnotice. Remember? You put that in yourself, in case you wanted to get rid of me. Well, it works both ways.”

Tucker’s face grew a darker shade of red with every word, and Malachi took great pleasure in it. He had Felix to thank for the information. He wasn’t under the impression that Tucker would let him go without a fight, though.

“You have commitments to uphold.”

“No, I have whatever you deem necessary for me to write. That’s not the same thing. And as I said, I no longer work for you.”

Tucker stood, placing his hands on the desk and leaning forward. It was a pose he often took to make him feel superior and whoever was on the other side of the desk feel inferior. It used to work, but then Nick showed him what life could be like if he just stopped being scared of what-ifs.

“You still owe me three articles.”

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