Page 59 of Stick to the Plan
Anger pops like a balloon and my stomach twists with despair. Brianna didn’t abandon me. I still have no idea where she is or what happened, but she wouldn’t betray me. Where the hell is she, though? “You keep Brianna out of this.”
“All that effort and what do you have to show for it? No life changing new product. No profits. And no girl.” As Chris talks, he keeps getting closer.
I stand to my full height and turn to meet him straight on. He doesn’t stop until we are almost chest to chest.
I will give it to the bastard. He has balls. I easily have three inches and fifty pounds of muscle on the guy, but he just keeps coming. “Watch it, lad.”
Ignoring my warning, Chris’s eyes turn hard and his smirk more sinister. “You should be thanking me,mate.“ Chris emphasized the word with a terrible imitation of a British accent and taps me on the chest. Does the guy not realize I’m fucking Irish? “Brianna really is a crappy lay. More of a robot than a woman. I know - I’ve had her plenty of times.”
With a roar, the last threads of my self control snap. My fist connects with his cheek with a satisfying snap of his head. I barely hear the thud of him hitting the tile floor over the rushing in my ears. Panting, I try to rein my temper back in. The sound of laughter finally breaks through my harsh breaths. Why the fuck is this guy laughing after I punched him?
“You’re so fucked.” Chris touches his cheek and examines the blood on his fingers. “I’m going to get you fired, just like I got Brianna out. And her stupid mentor. You should have let me in when I approached you.”
I look down at him, completely lost. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“God, really? They all said you were so smart, too. You really haven’t figured it out yet? The leaked plans to Synergenics. The stock shifts. It was all me and Rachel. She got the documents off your laptop and I brokered the deal and the trades. I’m going to be one rich bastard and you’re going to be blacklisted at every engineering firm just like Brianna when I’m done with you.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” A voice startles me. I turn to see Johnson just over my shoulder, holding a cell phone out. He must have been in thefar stall when I came in. His smile is smug as he stares down at Chris. “Got your whole villain monologue on video, dipshit.”
All the color drains from Chris’s face and his eyes widen as he looks at Johnson behind me. His mouth opens and closes a few times before he finally manages to reply. “Then you also got this bastard punching me! You report me and I’ll sue him.”
Johnson steps forward to stand next to me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chris. I was still in the stall. Didn’t see any punch. When I started recording, you were already on the floor.” Johnson taps on his phone a few times. My phone buzzes loudly from my pocket, the sound harsh in the sudden silence. “And now that video is with both CEOs and the in-house counsel. How did you put it? Oh yea. You’re so fucked.”
Without breaking his stare down with Chris, Johnson holds his fist up to me. Chuckling slightly, I return the fist bump. Chris is still sitting on the floor sputtering as we leave the bathroom and head to the executive suite.
Chapter forty
Begging the Bestie
Colin
It’s been a week since I last saw Brianna, and I’m going out of my mind. I called her dozens of times since getting my phone replaced. I even camped out at her house until a neighbor called the police on me. No one at C.A.E. knows where she is, just that she doesn’t work there anymore. She’s completely disappeared. I’m confused, worried as hell, and desperate to find her.
That’s why I am now standing in front of Pop. I have no idea what sort of reception I’ll get, but I bet Anna knows where she is. I just need to convince her to tell me. With one more deep breath, I open the doors and walk in, looking for a familiar face.
It is early; the restaurant has barely opened and the lunch crowd hasn’t arrived yet. I immediately see a familiar blond head behind the bar talking to a man seated at a stool, and head over. My long, determined strides eat up in the distance. Halfway across the room, Anna looks up and sees me. Her chocolate eyes - usually warm with humor - burn like hellfire. If lookscould kill, I’d be a dead man. I really hope Nic is nowhere around here if Anna looks this pissed.
Throwing a bar rag on the top, Anna plants her hand on her cocked hip. “What in the Sam’s hell do you think you’re doing here?”
“Anna, please. I just want to talk. I don’t know what happened.”
“We all trusted you, and you turned out to be a snake.” She practically spits the last word in my face in her rage.
The man on the bar stool to my left stands, and I spare him a side glance. He’s in green slacks and shirt with a badge on his chest. As he eases closer, he moves his hand to a holster and gives me a calculating look. “This man giving you trouble, Anna?”
“Bless your heart, Billy, but the only one in trouble here is him.” She continues to glare me down.
Ignoring officer Billy, I lay my hands on the bar top and lean towards her. “Anna, I’m begging you. Is Brianna OK? Where is she? I just want to talk to her.”
She slams her hands on the bar top and leans into my face. “People in hell want ice water, but that don’t mean they get it.”
I close my eyes and my shoulders droop in defeat. Anna had been my last hope. My throat constricts as I realize it truly is over. My eyes burn and my heart aches. After a shaky breath, I look back up to meet Anna’s glare with my beseeching gaze. “A week ago, I told her I love her. I leave on a business trip, come back planning on telling her I want to move here for her and the locks are changed! She’s not at home. She’s not at work. No one has spoken to her. I’ve been so worried that I even called local hospitals!” Something besides unrelenting anger flickers in Anna’s eyes.
Clinging to that last bit of hope, I take another shaky breath before laying it all on the table. “Brianna is it for me, Anna. If she doesn’t feel the same way, I completely respect that. If she wants me to go back to Irelandand never see her again, I will.” I swallow as my voice cracks. “I just want to hear it from her.”
She looks unsure. Her lips purse and her eyes narrow as she studies my face. I just hope she sees how genuine I am. “Ok. I’ll give you 15 minutes to convince me.” She walks over to the kitchen doors and props one open with her hip, calling for someone to take over the bar service before turning back to me. “Well, you coming?”
“Are you sure you are OK, Anna?” Billy is still standing guard and eying me like a threat.
