Page 70 of Moonstruck Kiss

Or…

Could I?

I look out the window as I toss an idea in my head. It might work if Lando is indeed guilty of being a total scumbag. Only one way to find out.

I call him.

“Braxton! Great to hear from you,” Lando greets. “How’s everything going?”

“Good. How are you?”

“Busy. So have you checked the last email I sent you?”

“I’ve read it. I have a problem, though.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t have time to do any work today. I’ll be busy spending time with my family.”

“I’m sure you can slot a short prelim report in there somewhere, can’t you? I’m counting on that to help win this new client.”

“So you can get your first three months performance bonus?”

Silence reins for a long moment. “What are you talking about?” Lando finally asks.

I smirk. Too late for him to play dumb when his reaction told me the truth.

“Let’s not beat around the bush, Lando. I know about your special bonus and, no, I won’t tell you how I knew. I’m just disappointed that you got me working so hard during my vacation when it seems you’re taking all the credit. How is that fair when I did more than seventy-five percent of the work? And that’s me being generous with my calculations.”

He barks out a laugh. “Braxton, if I remember correctly,you volunteeredto be on call during your break. That’s the only reason I agreed to your request for alongtwo-month leave—because you were happy to do some work. As for the bonuses, you’re not at work. You’re on vacation,” he says insistently as if what he’s saying makes sense.

Steam is coming out of my ears but I try to keep my cool. “Want me to check with HR how it all works?”

Lando huffs. “I don’t think there’s any need for that. Of course I’ll take into consideration everything you’ve done there when it’s time for your year-end performance review.”

“And the restructure,” I say.

He takes an audible breath. “Yes, and the restructure.”

Ha-ha.What a speedy turnaround. How could I even trust this guy again?

“You know what, Lando? You can take all the credit for my work here so you can bank your performance bonus. I’ll keep my mouth shut on how you didn’t earn them. I just have one condition.”

“What’s that?” he asks slowly.

“I want my vacation time back. Since I’m not going to get any sort of remuneration for all the work I’ve done while I’m here, I want to extend my annual leave by another two months. Fully paid. And this time around, I’ll only work the equivalent of one day a week. That should balance out the unpaid work I did in the last two months.”

“Another two months?Are you kidding me? I can’t afford to give that to you.”

“Well, when I talk to HR, I’ll make sure your special eye-watering bonus won’t be the only thing you lose.”

“Damn it, Brax!”

“Your choice, Lando.”

The pause is so long that I wonder if he’s still on the other end of the line. “Lando?”

“Okay. You take another two months off, fully paid, but working for the equivalent of one day per week. I expect you not to breathe a word of this to anyone, you hear?”

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