His new assistant stuck her head in the door. “Mr. Tremaine, Kyle Bradshaw is here.”
“Send him in,” Ethan said and sat back in his seat.
Carrie was older and very efficient, but she was no Mya. At least she had learned his routine quickly, so it would work out. A minute later, Kyle walked into the room with a cocky strut to his step. Ethan watched that step falter when he met Kyle’s eyes with a direct cold stare of his own.
“You asked to see me?” Kyle said and sat down.
“Did I ask you to sit?” Ethan asked directly.
“No, but I assumed this was a meeting…”
Ethan raised his hand to silence Kyle. “Your problem is you assume. Your next few answers will decide what happens when I fire you. Not if but when, because trust me, you won’t be working here past today.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re getting rid of me because of Mya and the kid.” A short laugh escaped Kyle, and Ethan made a fist on the desk, willing himself not to pull the little prick over the desk and punch his face in. “In that case, we are talking business meeting because if you fire me, I will go to the press and ruin this sweet deal that Mya has going on. She landed hard under you, didn’t she? You like that hot number in your bed? Well, I’m getting paid and a promotion.”#p#分页标题#e#
A cold smile crossed Ethan’s face. “Really, you think that’s going to happen?”
Kyle rocked back in the chair. “Yes, it is. I already told my story to a reporter, and she’s ready to jump on it in detail.”
Ethan opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a file. “This is the life of Kyle Bradshaw in this folder. You may wonder how I amassed such a thick file? Well, let me tell you how. It started when Mya came in and resigned and I found out you were the scum that got her pregnant. I subsequently called in a resource of mine to find out about you. My, my, my, you have been very busy, haven’t you?”
Kyle looked at the file warily. “What’s in there?”
Ethan met his eyes. “Everything, Kyle, the gambling, the trips to Taiwan for those sordid little excursions on my company dime. Oh, the wife that lives in Spokane you’re still married to, and the two kids. How much do you owe her in child support now, twenty thousand? I wonder how the authorities can’t find you to deduct this money from your account. How did you get another social security number to your name, Kyle? You’ll have to explain that to the authorities, I suppose.”
“You can’t do that to me. Th-Th-Th-That’s blackmail,” Kyle stammered.
“And what you were trying to do is what exactly, offer us a pie?” Ethan snapped. “If you’re going to try to play the game, play it well, and don’t have this many skeletons in your closet.”
“I’ll retract everything,” Kyle said hastily.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Too late for that, a reporter will never give up on this meaty bone. But I will discredit you, and I will give the authorities this file because you do disgust me in every possible way. Taiwan and underage girls, hiding from taking care of your children, plus trying to hurt Mya by scaring her about her baby. Even if you hadn’t sent the story to the reporter, I’d still turn you in.”
Kyle stood and leaned over the desk, his eyes pleading. He was practically trembling. “It was your stepmother. She approached me. Lurlene said we could make a lot of money, and I was going to pay my child support with that.”
“Uh-huh, and I have a stable of unicorns,” Ethan said dryly.
“How would you know? You’re a Tremaine. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and never had to work for anything in your life,” Kyle said in a rage.
“There’s where I’m going to stop you.” Ethan stood and pointed at the slimy punk in front of him. “I know how to work because we sure as hell were taught to do it by my father and grandfather. We certainly weren’t taught to be a dickhead fucker who runs out on his wife and kids. We were never told, hey, go take advantage of people in Third World countries who need help, not more sick fuckers exploiting them.”
Ethan slammed his hand down on the desk, and Kyle jumped like a scared rabbit.
“And we sure as hell were never taught to terrorize pregnant women for a quick payday. I’ll deal with Lurlene Purdy in my way. You should worry about yourself. Security is waiting outside my door. They’re going to escort you back to your cubicle, where you will take only what belongs to you. Then you go home and sit in fear, waiting for the authorities to arrive to pick you up. I hope you run so they can chase you down and drop you in the deepest, darkest cell they can find.”