Page 40 of Mr. Wrong
“Andyou’re still here, aren’t you?” He sighs and looks at his watch. “Ms. Pierce, I have no intention of firing you if that’s what you’re worried about. My brother is a bit of a drama queen at times and as much as I love him, I have a responsibility to my—”
“In that case, I’d like to tender my resignation.”
Landon stares at me for a moment before he cocks his head at me again. “You want to quit?”
I nod. Hearing him say it, I realize what I’ve just done and I feel the bottom drop out completely. “Yes.”
“Per our contract, if you quit within the first 72 hours, I owe you nothing.” His tone is careful, like he’s trying to remind me that I can’t afford to walk away from what he’s offering me.
“I know.” No backup plan. My safety net ripped to shreds. For the first time in my life, I have no idea what comes next. Forty-eight hours ago, the thought would’ve terrified me. I’m still scared but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I think is right. “But I’m not who your daughter needs. Lex is completely capable of—”
“No.”
“What?” I feel my shoulders stiffen. “No.” I shake my head, fast and tight. “You can’t just…I don’t think you understand, Mr. Trask,” I say, hoping that this is just a simplemiscommunication. “I quit. I’m tendering my resignation,effective immediately.”
“I understood perfectly,” he says, somehow keeping his tone light and friendly. “But accepting your resignation isn’t something I’m willing to do.” While I blink at him like he just slapped me in the face, he continues. “I’m getting on an airplane in a few hours so I can spend the next several weeks bouncing around Europe doing location shoots for my next movie.” He crosses his arms and his movie star grin slips away. “Do you know why I’ll be doing that, Ms. Pierce?”
Because you’re afraid of spending any kind of real, quality time with your daughter and you use your career to hide from her?
I just shake my head, thankful because my brain stops my mouth from blurting it out loud.
“Because I signed a contract,” he tells me, leaning into my personal space just enough to make me uncomfortable. “I have responsibilities to uphold. I made a commitment and Ihonormy commitments.” He drops his arms and shoves his hands into his pockets. “And if I chosenotto do those things, I’d be held accountable. I’d possibly develop a reputation for being unreliable. Hard to work with. It could potentially become very hard for me to find work in my chosen field.” He cocks his head, offering me a tight-lipped smile. “Are we understanding each other, Ms. Pierce?”
I stare at him for a few seconds because I’m not sure I heard him correctly. “You’re not letting me quit.”
He doesn’t answer me but he doesn’t have to. I understand just fine.
“And if I try to leave, you’re going to make sure I never work in my chosen field again.” I hear myself say, suddenly feeling like I’ve been dropped into a Landon Trask action thriller. “You’re blackmailing me.”
“I never said that.” He gives me a grin, his teeth flashing bright white in the dark. “I was simply reminding you of how important it is for us to honor our commitments and fulfill our responsibilities—and that when we choose not to, we could potentially be faced with life-altering consequences.” Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he mounts the stairs and I have no choice but to move, shuffle myself across the steps and down until we’ve traded places. “Goodnight, Ms. Pierce.”
“Wait—what about Le—your brother?” I ask, stumbling over his name because it suddenly feels too familiar. Too close. “Like you said, he’s made it clear that—”
“Lex? Again?” he asks me, moving to punch in his code to open the back door. When the door lock disengages, he reaches for the knob to push it open. “I don’t understand why you continue to worry so much about my brother.”
“I’m not,” I say defensively, thankful that it’s dark enough to hide the embarrassed stain Lex’s name leaves on my cheeks. “But—”
“Leave my brother to me,” he says. “All you need to worry about is upholding the commitment you made to my daughter—do you think you can do that?”
“Do I have a choice?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Not really,” he says, tossing me another quick smile over his shoulder. “Good night, Ms. Pierce.”
Before I can say anything else, he moves through the door and shuts it in my face.
Twenty-Eight
Lex
“Lex.”
Cracking an eyelid, I tilt my head and look up to find Landon standing over me, hands dug into his pockets, a worried expression on his face. As soon as he sees me looking at him, the worry is chased away by a look of impatient annoyance. “Did you sleep out here?”
Sitting up with a sigh, I swing my legs over the side of the chaise lounge I’m stretched out on and look around. It can’t be more than 5AM, which means I’ve been camped out by the pool for only a few hours, but because I don’t really want to answer questions about where I was and what I was doing, I just nod. “Yup,” I tell him, reaching up to swipe a rough hand over my face. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be halfway to London by now?”
“They’re holding the plane,” he tells me, obviously unhappy about it. Even though he owns the plane and can leave any time he wants, he’s a stickler for schedules. Hates it when he has to make adjustments. “We need to talk.”
“No,” I say, dropping my hand with a sigh. “We really don’t.”
