Page 69 of Moonstruck Kiss

“Did you hear the rumour about the conditions he wanted included in his employment contract before he accepted his position here?”

I take a second to scan my mind. “No.”

“Apparently, he’ll get an eye-watering bonus if he meets a certain high target during his first three months on the job.”

I raise my brows. “Is this on top of his signing bonus?”

“Yup. And I understand he’s well on his way to meeting that high target. I wonder if it’s because you’ve been doing a lot of the work for him.”

“But he can’t take credit for what I’ve done. That’s not how it works with our bonus structure.”

“Well, he hasn’t even mentioned you once during our meetings. He’s given everyone, including the big bosses, the impression that he’s been solely working on recent successful outcomes.” Tony mentions some client projects that Lando took credit for.

“Hey, I did most of the work on those!”

“Really? Fuck. I bet Lando’s added those figures to his targets so he could get his extra bonus.”

“Bastard.”

“And how is he gonna calculateyouryear-end bonus if he’s already taken credit for the work you’ve done while on vacation? You’ll be none the wiser if your bonus is less than what you really deserve because our contract forbids us from discussing remuneration with each other.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “It never occurred to me that he would stiff me out of some of my bonus.”

“Listen.” Tony pauses for a few seconds. “I know I can trust you, so keep this to yourself, okay?”

“Sure.”

“There have been rumours about Lando in his past jobs.”

“That he’s dodgy in his dealings?” I supplied.

“You heard that, too, huh? Apparently, some of his past bosses turned a blind eye because he brought in big clients. Anyway, no one has ever been able to pin anything on him so he’s lauded by the powers that be everywhere he goes.”

I sigh. “I didn’t put too much weight on those rumours, myself. But now that he’s taking credit for my work, I’m starting to see he’s not on the up and up.”

“What are you gonna do?”

I purse my lips. “I don’t know yet. I don’t want to accuse him of something that might not be true. I’ll think of something.”

“Okay. Good luck.”

“Thanks, Tony. I should have called you much earlier.”

“Hey, I want a boxing kangaroo stuffed toy for my son.”

“No sweat. I’ll even get you one, too.”

“Thanks, bro. See you soon. And enjoy whatever time you have left there. No sense helping the bastard get a bigger bonus.”

“I agree,” I say with a laugh. “See you when I get back.”

“Bye.”

I grab a cold drink from the fridge while I compose myself. If Lando thinks he can get away with what he’s done—if it’s true—then he’d better think again.

The worst thing is that I sacrificed so much of my time that I could have spent on Ollie and my family—and Joey—to get the blasted work done.

I’ll never get that time back.

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