Page 24 of The MC's Surprise
“Answer me, Justin! I can’t believe you! I was gone for a month and you decided to be this reckless? And now I’m forced to work with someone who will try to leverage that connection and get away with murder! This is why I wanted you to talk to me before hiring someone!”
A knock at the door interrupted us before I could get a word in edgewise. We both glanced at the door, and I couldn’t decide if it would make it worse to answer or if giving her a minute to cool off would be better. The knock sounded again and workplace obligation took over. I headed for the door, opening it to find Theo, my IT guy, standing on the other side. His frown said he’d heard at least part of the shouting on Charlotte’s part, but he was polite enough not to say anything about it.
“What’s up?”
“Pretty sure we had a meeting set up for right now.”
A quick glance at my phone proved he was right. We were supposed to meet to talk about a few system upgrades he wanted to do after some complaints from guests about spotty wifi.
“Uh, sure. Can you give me–”
“Don’t bother,” Charlotte hissed as she stomped past. “I’m leaving. I’ve got work to do.”
My heart sank, but maybe this was for the best. I’d been pining over Charlotte for years. She never gave me the time of day. Maybe if she hated me, I could finally get over her. I couldn’t chase after her forever. Not with a kid on the way. I had to focus on what was important.
With a sigh, I let her go, stepping back to make room for Theo to join me instead. When I sat behind my desk, I slumped a little in my chair. Theo gave me a commiserating look.
“Women, huh?”
I huffed a laugh, shaking my head. “You’re telling me. So what’s up?”
He went over the upgrades he wanted to install, most of which went right over my head. The little I did understand sounded good, though. And it would help with our shitty wifi situation by a lot.
“I’ll have to shut down the internet for a little while, though, while the patches are put in. I’ll make it as quick as possible, but it won’t be instantaneous.”
I waved away his concern. “That’s fine. I’ll offer vouchers to the guests for the inconvenience. Any chance I can pay you overtime to do it overnight? That way we’ll disrupt as few people as possible.”
He nodded easily, which was a relief after the shitshow I just had with Charlotte. “I can do that, boss. I’ll aim for a Tuesday night. It’s our slow night.”
“Sounds good. Let me know if you need anything from me.”
Out of habit, my gaze shifted to the monitors pulled up on my computer as he finished up. When I saw Charlotte cornering Sierra, alarms went off in my head and I was on my feet before I even made the conscious decision to move.
“Sorry, Theo, but I need to handle something.”
I ran out of the room without a backward glance, racing down the long hallway to the main floor of the casino. I couldn’t run through it without causing chaos, but I walked as quickly as possible to where I’d last seen Sierra on the monitors. When I arrived, Charlotte was gone, but Sierra didn’t look happy.
“Hey, are you alright?”
She turned from where she’d been wiping down the serving trays, her lips pursed to hide her frown. “I’m fine. Why?”
How creepy would I come off if I said I saw Charlotte cornering her on the monitor. I’d have to admit I was watching her, which definitely upped the creep factor by a lot.
“Is this about Charlotte?” she asked, like she could read my mind.
I grimaced and nodded. “Yeah, I guess she wasn’t happy about me hiring someone behind her back and I didn't want her taking it out on you.”
Sierra raised an eyebrow, her expression bland. “I hate to say I told you so, but I did warn you.”
“Yeah, well… I’d rather have her pissed at me and my kid nearby than worry about you moving away for work.”
Her lips twitched and I could tell she was fighting a smile when she finally turned and gave me her full attention. When she stepped closer, I felt my breath freeze in my lungs. What were the chances I managed to piss off both women in my life on the same day.
“I promise unless I had no other choice, I’m not leaving town. We might not be together, but I want this kid to know both their parents. I wouldn’t have come out here and told you if I didn't want that.”
“Yeah, you would,” I murmured. “You’re too good a person to hide a pregnancy. Pretty sure you would’ve called and told me you were getting an abortion if you knew any earlier.”
She twisted her mouth in a sad attempt at hiding her smile. “Okay, maybe. But that’s just because I believe in open communication. I’m not going anywhere, Vegas. Even if I can’t work here.”
