Page 150 of My Only

“It’s fine.” Bryant shook his head. “It’s more than fine. But listen…” He sat back down, his gaze serious. “I can’t fix anything outside this office in your personal life. But I can reassign Harper. Just like I did when she tried to cross boundaries with me.”

I frowned. “Why not just cut her loose?”

Bryant met my gaze.

“I mean…” I cleared my throat. “Respectfully, I don’t want to be the reason someone gets fired. But if she’s done this before with you, and someone else here told me she did the same thing to him… why not just let her go?”

Bryant exhaled, shaking his head.

“Because Harper is calculated, and that makes her dangerous.” He chuckled bitterly. “She’s the kind of woman who wouldn’t hesitate to flip the script.”

My frown deepened.

“It’s one thing if she only sabotaged the project. If that was the case, firing her would be a no-brainer. But the moment you bring in the affair proposition? That’s where things get messy.”

I clenched my jaw.

“She can easily flip this on you, Hassani.” Bryant’s voice was firm. “She could run straight to HR, claim you propositioned her, and start screaming discrimination.”

My stomach sank.

“If I fire her immediately after she invites you to have an affair? She can claim sexual harassment. And you better believe she’d be loud about it.” Bryant shook his head. “And I am not trying to tie up my firm with lawyer fees. Not on this project.”

I sucked in a deep breath, gripping my knees.

“I want everything clean with Greene Gardens.”

“Yeah.” I leaned back in my seat. “I wouldn’t put any of that past her.”

Bryant nodded. “That’s why I’ve been playing the long game with her. Reassigning her every time she steps out of line. Keeping distance. She’s a liability waiting to happen, but I need her to do something concrete. Something that gives me grounds to fire her without it blowing back on me.”

I gritted my teeth. “She just gave you something. Intentionally delaying a project as big as Greene Gardens? That’s concrete. It’s totally unprofessional.”

“It’s absolutely unprofessional, but it isn’t concrete.” Bryant shook his head. “It’s not enough. If I fire her outright, she’ll spin it, Hassani. She’ll say it’s retaliation. Maybe claim you came on to her. She’ll say whatever the hell she needs to say to protect herself. And trust me, you don’t want to be in the middle of that. You already said she’s caused problems in your marriage. Allegations of sexual harassment will not help. Even if they’re bogus. You can’t un-ring that bell.”

I dropped my head back, exhaling hard.

“A man like myself knows all the tactics.” Bryant chuckled grimly. “I’ve seen it used on people I know, and it’s enough to make me very protective of anything with my name on it.”

I shook my head.

I didn’t want Harper to get fired, but it wasn’t right that she could pull this shit again without any real consequence. No one else should have to go through what I was going through.

But Bryant was right.

If Harper was slick enough to manufacture issues on a major project, then she was smart enough to weaponize any situation.

“I’ll reassign her to a project I’m heading in Boston.” Bryant nodded. “She’ll be faced with a decision that’ll be a win-win for us. Either she takes the transfer, and we never have to deal with her again… or she quits.” He gestured with his hands. “Either way, she’s out of our hair.”

I nodded, then dropped my head into my hands.

“Hassani, you’ve done an excellent job on this project,” Bryant continued. “I’m blown away by how much you’ve accomplished in just a year. And while I appreciate the hard work, you look like you could use some rest. A lot of it.”

I lifted my head to meet his eyes.

“Because you look like hell, man.”

I exhaled, rolling my shoulders back.

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