Page 61 of The Bargain

“Dad, please,” I started again, speaking more slowly and with purpose, “I need you to calm down. You know Byron. He loves Courtland Enterprises, and he values all the people who work here. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. We don’t need to go to extremes. This was all my fault. I’m the one who hit on him.I’m the one who convinced him to date me. Why don’t you just punish me? Suspend me. Dock my pay for the year. Fuck, fire me! We can move Byron to be Declan’s assistant. He always needs someone, and Byron would be a great fit for Dec.”

“Have you lost your mind? This isn’t something that can be swept under the rug. You broke the rules. If we give you and Byron a slap on the wrist, how are any of your employees going to feel safe working here? How are they ever going to respect you as their leader?” My dad shook his head, looking more exhausted and disgusted than I’d ever seen him.

Stone after stone sank in my stomach as the sick feeling inside of me increased. This wasn’t the first time I’d disappointed my dad with my behavior, but this felt a hundred times worse. As if it were something I couldn’t come back from.

“The board has been calling for your resignation, but I’ve talked them down from it. You’ll take a brief leave of absence after you make a public apology, admitting your wrongdoing to the company and reasserting the importance of company policy to create a safe environment for everyone.”

I nodded. It was only fair. My recklessness shouldn’t hurt everyone else who depended on Courtland Enterprises for a paycheck. “What about Byron?”

“He’s out.”

My head snapped up and my heart stopped dead in my chest. For a second, I couldn’t even breathe or form a sentence. “What?” I rasped, still trying to get my body functioning.

“He’s gone. Fired. We let him go.”

“You can’t do that. This isn’t his fault,” I argued. It felt like the world was melting around me. My feet were sinking into the floor like I was stuck in a stinking bog that was sucking away all my strength. Every time I attempted to fight it, the pull on me grew stronger.

“He made the choice to date you, knowing the rules. The employee policy clearly laid out the consequences, and he agreed to it the day he took the job. We’re bending the rules enough for you. He has to go.”

“You can’t! I promised him I’d protect him. That he wouldn’t lose his job. We can just move him to another department, and everything will be fine.”

“If you promised that, you’re a fool, and he’s an even bigger one for believing you.” Dad slapped his hand on his desk and shoved to his feet. He leaned forward, staring holes straight through me. “Use your damn head! You promised to protect him? That’s the very thing the policy is in place to guard against! How is that fair to the thousands of other people we employ?”

The worst part was that what my dad was saying was making sense. Deep down, I knew he was right, and it was like daggers being thrust into my chest. How had I not seen it earlier? How could I have played so fast and loose with Byron’s life when he had so many people depending on him?

“But Byron…I love him…” I whispered. My brain kept turning in useless circles. I didn’t know what to say or do to fix any of this.

A heavy sigh drained out of my father, and he dropped into in his seat. “Go home, Sebastian. Take a day or two to get your head on straight. We’ll talk more after we’ve both had some time to think. This isn’t anything personal. I like the boy, and I don’t want this for him, but if we don’t take a stand, how can anyone work for us? We’re worse than that scum Wallace Barnes at Bluepoint with their years of embezzlement, lies, and cheating.”

I nodded and silently left my father’s office. My head was clogged with cotton and my throat was raw with the scream of frustration I was holding in. The only thing that was clear in my head was getting to Byron. If I could talk to him, explain how I’dfucked up, we could make a plan for him. This wasn’t the end of the world. I could support him, help him get on his feet.

As I walked down the hall, my eyes first lit on Kaylan, who was standing at his desk, glaring daggers at me. I almost paused to apologize to him and reassure him I’d fix things, but I forced myself to keep walking. I’d talk to Byron first and then Kaylan.

Byron was gone.

All the things he’d kept on his desk—the potted orchid, the stack of pens and legal pads for his random notes he took while he was working, his mug—were gone. A stranger sat there now. He looked like someone I’d met from the IT department. They were wiping his computer.

Byron was gone, and it was all my fault. I’d failed to save him.

21

BYRON GRAHAM

I didn’t knowwhat to do.

There were no more solutions. I was completely out of ideas.

Coming up with solutions and answers to unending problems had been my entire life for the past three years. Every moment of every day was fixing one problem after another, conjuring up money from thin air like I was some kind of magician with a white rabbit tucked in his top hat.

But this time, I had nothing left.

After leaving the office, I’d returned home, stripped out of my suit, which was still in a pile on the floor, put on some messy clothes, and crawled into my shitty bed. With the blankets pulled over my head, I could pretend that the rest of the world didn’t exist. I had no job and little hope of getting another one anytime soon. Who the hell were they going to call for a reference? Anyone my would-be employer talked to would find out about this entire debacle.

What was I left with? Try to cobble together three or four minimum-wage jobs so I could keep my mom and brother from being homeless while I gave up on things like sleep and any semblance of a life until…until what? Until my mom finally passed away and I had to support only Ronnie? Until everyoneforgot about this mess and I could sneak back into Corporate America with my tail tucked between my legs?

Hopelessness choked me. I couldn’t think of any way to get out of this.

Right now, I was avoiding thinking of Sebastian and all his pretty promises about protecting me and not losing my job, because rage would rise to choke out the despair. That wouldn’t last long, and I’d fall right into despair again.

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