Page 81 of My Office Rival

“You did it.” He grabbed my face and kissed me, gripping my waist and delving his tongue into my mouth. “Brilliant woman.”

He let me go, and I breathlessly pulled out my phone to start snapping photos. We worked as quickly as we could and then started putting Gene’s office to rights. Now that we’d found what we needed, my heart pounded. Gene could walk in at any moment, despite Jason’s assurance that he wasn’t in the office. We had stolen materials from him. We were such idiots.

“Jason, faster.” My throat was tight with anxiety.

“I know, I know.” His hands flew over the shelves as he alphabetized the files exactly the way Gene had left them.

A door banged, and I froze.

“Was that the front door?” I hissed. Gene’s office was right next to the entrance.

“Go, just go. I’ll stay.” He slashed his hand through the air.

“No, I’ll help.” We stuffed documents back into folders, moved files. Jason practically shoved me out the door when we were done, right into Gene’s chest.

50

JASON

“What the fuck were you doing in my office?” Gene’s meaty fingers closed around Cynthia’s upper arm, and she winced. His brows were drawn low and his voice harsh.

“Take your hand off her,” I spat. Cold rage filled me at the sight of his fingers squeezing her flesh.

“Answer my question.”

Cynthia jerked her arm out of his grasp, and I stepped in front of her. “We were waiting for you. We need the deeds for the properties owned by the company.”

Gene made a derisive sound and shoved past us. “Always with the requests. Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“This is our job,” Cynthia shot back.

“You’re not my lawyer. I don’t have to listen to you.” Gene gave her a smug, cold smile, and she stepped forward as if to get in his face. I stiff-armed her behind me. She was way too aggressive, and Gene was not to be trifled with.

Gene’s eyes flashed to where I held her back. His brows rose and his lips twisted. “So that’s how it is. You two are a thing. I wonder ifyour bosses know about this? Stay away from me, Red, or I’ll ruin you.”

My fist clenched. “Shut the fuck up.” My voice sounded foreign to me. It was hard, cold. Gene’s brows rose in surprise. I’d kept my cool thus far with him, but I was done.

“Or what, pretty boy?” His voice dripped with venom.

The name made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Memories assaulted me. Fights behind the bar, broken bones, spit on my face. I bared my teeth.

“I’ll fucking ruin you.” I refused to show our hand to him, but I couldn’t stand for this bullying. It was the one thing that made me drop the mask and lose my cool, even after all these years.

I whirled and grabbed Cynthia’s hand. She was silent, possibly stunned, as we rushed through the hall.

“Get your documents and meet me in the parking lot. We need to leave.”

She gave a short nod and hurried off, her heels soundless on the beige carpet. My heart thudded in my chest. Fucking Gene. I wanted to punch something. I scooped up my laptop and my files and met her at the door. We took the back hallway to the parking lot, silent, hoping that Gene wouldn’t come after us. Time slowed until we burst into the sunlight.

“Get in the car,” I said roughly.

Cynthia’s gaze darted to her rental car.

“We’ll call the rental company,” I bit out, already unlocking the doors. “I want you with me. Who knows what these guys will try? We’re going to the house and then straight to the airport.”

“Okay, sure.” She buckled in and I sped off, focused on getting home, on not being followed. I checked the rearview mirror every few minutes, almost compulsively. I’d done this before, been just as eager to escape, just as paranoid about being caught. My hands tightened on the wheel.

“It’s okay,” she murmured. “No one is following us.”

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