Page 303 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“The big deal, sir,” she says, her face growing a deeper shade of red with every syllable, “is that you are the head of this company, and we are not in a stable position right now. You ducked away from the central office for two months with hardly any warning and almost no explanation.”

“Again,” I start, “what’s the—”

“It’s the timing,” Marly says. “The company’s on the verge of complete upheaval and you’re sending your girlfriend on a shopping spree. What do you think that does to investor confidence?”

“Where are we?” I ask.

“We’re holding steady this morning, but that’s just because we’ve found a new bottom,” she says. “Don’t fool yourself, this keeps up, and you don’t start doing some serious damage control with the company, and that bottom’s going to drop out from under you.”

“I see,” I say. “Marly, I need to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me.”

She shifts in her seat, but says, “Okay.”

“Did you tip off the press about Grace and where they could find her?” I ask.

“Of course not,” she says with a scoff. “Why would I do that?”

“Well, you’ve been fairly upfront with your feelings on the matter,” I say.

Marly rolls her eyes and, with a smirk, she says, “It’s been a bad idea from the start. You could have gotten to know this woman again without uprooting the company. Every inch of this mess is because you don’t know how to be discreet about shit.”

My eyebrows go up. Marly gets away with a lot when we speak in private, but she’s never been this outright disrespectful.

“Uh-huh,” I say. “Have you seen the new twist to the story yet?”

“Twist, sir?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I answer. “Apparently, a staffer close to me walked in on Grace and me in a, quote, ‘compromising position in the main room of Stingray’s new headquarters.’ The author of the article seems to think this is yet another indication that I’m putting my personal desires above the interests of the company and the shareholders. That wasn’t you?”

“You don’t understand what you’re doing to the company,” Marly says. “You’re gambling away the future of a lot of people by this stupid flight of fancy. The two of you reconnected, well that’s just fan-freaking-tastic, but this company was doing just great before she came along and if it has any chance of bouncing back, you’ve got to stop doing what you’re doing. Keep sleeping with her if you want, but get the company out of Mulholland now. I hear construction just started on the new building: You have to stop it. Then, put a halt to the money flowing to the new headquarters and get your head out of your ass, Zach. You’re killing the business, and the board isn’t going to put up with this a whole lot longer.” She’s on her feet now, saying, “Come on, Zach. I’m trying to protect you here. You need to meet me halfway.”

“You went behind my back, didn’t you?” I ask.

She furrows her brow and shakes her head. “I was trying to wake you up, Zach,” she says. “You have to stop pushing the board. You have to—”

“Marly, you’re fired,” I say.

“Make all the jokes you want,” she says. “I’m not kidding around here.”

“Neither am I,” I tell her. “I can handle people questioning me. I put you in your position because you have a particular talent in that direction, but Marly, you sent those reporters after Grace. I could have lived with the leak about her and I in the conference room back in Mulholland, but you didn’t just go to the press with your concerns, did you?”

“Sir,” she says in a tiny voice, “I—”

I slam my fist on my desk. “You sold me out!” I roar. “You went to the board and told them to give me one last chance to drop the Mulholland office before having me fired; well, congratulations. I just got the call from Reeves, and that’s what he told me. Of course, getting your name wasn’t all that difficult. I said to think of it as a gesture of good faith. It sounds like you didn’t say everything you could have. I appreciate that. Still, he insisted that I stop production at the office. There’s one minute detail you forgot to cover.”

“What’s that?” she asks.

“This ismycompany!” I roar. “You may have managed to turn the majority of the board against me, but you forget I still have some friends in this company. The office is being built, the board can’t do a thing about it, andyoucan consider yourself fired. Now get the hell out of my office.”

Marly takes a long, slow breath and walks to the door. She turns around and, shaking her head at me, and she says, “Most of the board was already against you, Zach. Before you said anything about Mulholland, they were trying to find a way to get rid of you. You don’t have the computer smarts Jacque had, and you’re so obsessed with this nobody you knew for like a week fifteen years ago that the one card you did have to play, your ability to close a deal and to run the company, started slipping a while ago.”

“Thank you for your concern,” I tell her. “Security’s going to throw you out now. Maybe if we all get lucky, you’ll bounce into traffic. Now get the hell out of my office and never come back.”

One of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do in my life is to hold a stern expression while my longtime mentor and confidant is escorted out of view. I’m furious, but I’m also hurt. For a man in my position, it’s only acceptable to show the first, and that rarely.

I get up from my desk and walk across the room to close the office door. Metering my breathing, I go over to my semi-secret liquor cabinet, located beneath all the plaques and certificates and pictures of me with notable people.

Doing my best to steady my hand, I pour two fingers’ worth of Glen McKenna into a tumbler and take a drink.

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