She held on to that thought as she rode the elevator up to the office and took her seat behind her desk. When the morning deliveryman came by to drop off a bouquet of cheery daisies, she saw the card signed D and smiled, tension leaving her. See? Everything was fine now. A couple minutes later, Dane stepped in. She gasped. Dark puffy half-circles were under his bloodshot eyes, and deep lines bracketed his mouth. His usually neat hair stuck up. The only thing that said he hadn’t just rolled out of bed was his fresh suit.
His gaze sharpened at the sight of her, then at the daisies. He picked up the flowers and went inside his office.
Sophia followed him in and closed the door behind them.
“What are you doing here?” he said, not bothering to meet her gaze.
“I work here.”
“I told you not to come in.”
He tossed the bouquet in the trashcan with more force than necessary. Petals bruised and fell from the stems.
She dragged in a shaky breath. There went her theory that he wasn’t upset anymore. Her eyes prickled, but she composed herself. “Did I do something?”
He stilled in the middle of getting out of his jacket.
“If I did, just tell me. This kind of stuff”—she gestured at the daisies—“isn’t helping.”
“You did nothing wrong, Sophia.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Go home.” His voice was harder and colder than it had been when she’d first met him at Elizabeth’s function.
“No. I have a job to do here.”
“You’re wrong,” he said. “You have nothing to do here. You work for me, and I gave you an instruction. Unless you want to be fired, you’ll do as I say.”
She stiffened. “Isn’t that wrongful termination?”
“I don’t give a shit. Sue me if you don’t like it.”
There was no getting through to him. He wouldn’t even look at her, like he couldn’t bear the sight of her.
“Fine. I’ll go.” She pressed her trembling lips together. She couldn’t stop the bitter smile. “So this is what you mean by treating me fairly, huh? I should’ve known better than to trust that you’d keep your word if it involved some inconvenience for you.”
“It’s for your own good,” Dane said between clenched teeth. “So go.”
“For my own good.” She looked up at the ceiling in disbelief. “Of course. Excuse me.”
* * *
Sophia went to the garden and sat in the gazebo, staring at nothing in particular. She didn’t want to go inside the mansion. Al’s professionally reserved pity would be too much to bear, and in any case the thought of being around somebody right now was—
“There you are. Thought I saw your car.”
She tensed at Salazar’s voice. “I just want to be alone.”
“Nah. No one wants to be alone when there’s scotch.” She turned, and he raised an unopened bottle and two glasses.
Unlike Dane, he looked fresh and well-rested. His complexion was lightly tanned and clear, with only a few wrinkles fanning out from the corners of his eyes. The shirt and shorts he wore were freshly starched and pressed. It was unfair that he seemed fine while she and Dane weren’t. She couldn’t reconcile this nice Salazar, seen every morning, with the nasty one from the night before. She wanted to yell at him, but somehow she couldn’t.
He sat across from her and poured the amber liquor all the way to the rim.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not how you serve scotch,” she said, looking away.
“Screw the rules. You look like you can use it.”
She took the glass and had a swallow. It burned, but this time she didn’t sputter.
“Good stuff, huh?” He sipped his.
She continued drinking without acknowledging him. A small smile curved his lips as he gazed at the pond beneath them.
Somehow she couldn’t hold it back. He didn’t get to smile after having played a part in the previous night’s disaster. “Why did you say it?” she asked.
“Say what?”
“Those horrible things about Dane. That he destroyed everything, and that you wished your wife had aborted him. Not even my mother ever said that, and she’s no candidate for sainthood.”
“It doesn’t concern you.”
“But it does. Ever since you two talked, Dane’s been treating me like he doesn’t even want to be in the same building with me.”
“Has he now?”
“Yeah. He sent me home from work today. Said there was nothing for me to do at the office.”
Salazar had another sip. “It’s more about him than you.”
“Sure doesn’t feel that way.”