Page 29 of Devilish Bully
Do it for her.
“Her?” I wonder, but I don’t press. Yet.
“I’m also working so hard so I can retire my mom within the next five years,” she says. “She double-mortgaged our house to put me through college and grad school, so…I owe her the world, you know?”
“That’s very sweet,” I say. “Very trusting of her to do that for you…”
“I’m shocked you know what ‘trust’ is.” She pushes my shoulder playfully, but her eyes flick down as if she’s not sure she should’ve said it. “Rumor has it you don’t trust anyone anymore.”
“I stopped getting close to staff and trusting people once I realized it was a weakness.”
“Liking colleagues is a good thing…”
“My father’s childhood friend was running the finances when I first started here,” I say. “He alerted me to the fraud by accident, and…” I shake my head, jaw tightening. “It didn’t take me long to discover that he was the one who was robbing my father blind.”
Her face pales. She folds the torn flower tag into smaller and smaller pieces in her hands. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be…But if you can’t trust someone like that in your company, how can you ever trust anyone?”
“I don’t know.” She steps back a little, putting distance between us. “Maybe it’ll come with time on your end then.”
I step closer, close enough that her perfume curls between us, close enough that one wrong move would have me kissing her instead of talking. “I trust you for some odd reason. Honestly.”
“Why?”
“Because according to an auditor Brian hired for me, you could’ve stolen from several of my accounts years ago like the ones who came before you,” I say. “And you didn’t.”
“Well, I would never.” She shakes her head. “That’s not where the missing three million went, though. That’s something different, but it’s not me.”
“I know.” I press my finger against her lips. “I know…”
I’m not sure what the hell the feeling in my chest is right now, or why I suddenly feel the urge to pull her close, but she must feel it too because she gasps and takes a step back.
“I need to pick up my daughter.”
“You have a daughter?”
“I mean niece…” She shakes her head, fumbling for her bag. “It feels like she’s my daughter at this point, though.”
“Where’s her mother, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I have no clue.” She tightens her grip on the bag strap. “My sister decided she couldn’t deal with motherhood anymore and left her with me, and I stopped waiting for her to come back.”
Wait a minute… My grip on my phone tightens, the glass creaking under my thumb. “Would her name happen to be Myra?”
“Yes.” She arches her brow. “How do you know her name?”
“We go way back.” I pull out my phone and tap the screen, holding it out to her. “She reached out to me last year & she sends me things every now and then.”
Myra (An employee’s daughter…)
You’re a MEAN ASS BULLY
No...A DEVILISH BULLY!
My Aunt K hates working for you. Actually, she hates YOU.
I hate you too.
