“From you? I don’t want anything, but Rian needs to know all about you.”
“Rian knows everything about me. I work for him, remember?” Sorcha said with a bite to her voice. She knew Rian had done a background check on her, as would any employer. She wasn’t hiding anything, and if this woman thought she was going to bust her out on something she was sadly mistaken. “I have nothing to hide.”
Beatrice fixed her little ivory gloves and pursed her lips. “No, maybe not, but even if Rian doesn’t know about your breeding, I plan to show him what white trash really looks like.” Beatrice narrowed her eyes at Sorcha.
“You fucking cunt.”
The outraged gasp that left Beatrice had Sorcha smiling.
“How dare you,” Beatrice said, and reared her arm back, intent on hitting Sorcha again.
Hell. No.
Sorcha grabbed Beatrice’s hand before it make contact, and brought her own plan right across the bitch’s face. The slap of her hand hitting flesh filled Sorcha with satisfaction, but then she head the ding of the elevator and knew Rian was about to witness this little cat-fight for himself. Sorcha pushed Beatrice back, and the other woman instantly put on a horrified expression. Rian stepped off the elevator, a giant bouquet of flowers in on hand, his briefcase in the other, and his long black suit jacket hanging around his legs.
He stopped when he saw them. “What the hell is going on here?” He looked between her and Beatrice. “Sorcha, are you okay?” He started to look angry, set his briefcase down on the floor, and took a step forward.
Beatrice started crying harder. “Rian, this little piece of trash hit me.”
Was this woman for real? It was okay for her to hit Sorcha, but when the tables were turned she was acting like Sorcha had just beat her ass. In all honestly the slap hadn’t even been hard enough that her hand stung afterwards. Sorcha had gone easy on the bitch.
“Sorcha, is that true?”
She stood up straighter, gritted her teeth, and nodded. “It sure as hell is. And I’m not about to apologize. In fact, I’ll do it again if she wants to insult me more.” She stared at Beatrice, and the other woman was barely reining in her anger, and keeping up the little charade. Beatrice ran over to Rian and pretty much threw herself in his arms, but he didn’t wrap his arms around her, and instead kept his gaze on Sorcha.
“Rian, didn’t I tell you she was trash? I mean, she hit me.”
Rian scowled and pushed Beatrice away, and Sorcha watched in surprise as the man she had always cared about deep down, but just finally let the emotions out, was clearly about to put the snob in her place. He turned toward Beatrice and stared at her with this blank expression on his face.
“You should fire her on principle alone.”
Sorcha didn’t bother correcting the cunt that she had been insulting her. Besides, she needed that damn slap like she needed to breathe.
“Leave, Beatrice.”
Beatrice took a step back, looking outraged. “You’re going to let the help treat me like this?” Her voice was rising to this obnoxious tone.
He took a step closer to her and said in a low voice, “You’re going to leave, and never come here, call, or try to see me again, or I am going to go to your father and tell him I am perilously close to breaking off ties with the family because his daughter is assaulting my woman.”
“Your woman?” Beatrice asked in that high-pitched voice that probably attracted dogs. “Since when does a fuck-buddy constitute as ‘your woman’?”
“Since she isn’t bat-shit crazy like you. Now get out, or I swear to God everyone will know exactly how crazy you are.”
Beatrice was nearly shaking with her anger, but with a hard look at Sorcha, and an even harder look at Rian, she straightened and headed toward the elevator. “If you want what’s at the bottom of the pond, then by all means swim with the garbage.” And then she stepped into the elevator, and, Sorcha hoped, out of their lives.
For several minutes they just stood there, neither speaking, but their focus trained on the other.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said with a bit of regret in his voice.
“It’s not your fault.” She was so exhausted all of a sudden, and leaned against the desk.
“That should be the last time we see her, especially since the prospect of me outing her to everyone that thinks she’s normal would ruin her reputation,” Rian said and walked up to her. “That is something she won’t risk.” He handed her the flowers. “For you.” He gave her this cocky little half smile, one that she had seen several times, but right now it made her warm all over.