“It’d be better than working for a sick fuck who takes advantage of young girls,” he said dryly. “So how hard did you have to work for it?”
“Shut the fuck up,” I said in warning.
My mind was moving a mile a minute, trying to stay calm given the circumstances. I knew he was only baiting me for a reaction because he was jealous—that much was a given from both his attitude and his expression.
It’s just jealousy. Just let it go. Do not engage.
“What was it like when you popped her cherry? Did she scream? Bite your neck? I always imagined she’d be a biter.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled, undoubtedly drawing a ton of unwanted attention to my office. “Get out!”
He rose from the chair and met me on my way around the desk, getting up in my face as he hissed, “Just fucking admit it. Admit that you fucked her.”
The professionalism I was struggling to hold on to evaporated when he stabbed me in the chest with his finger.
I grabbed the lapels of his shirt and hauled him close as I hissed, “Fine. Yes. I did what you failed to do and I fucked her. Are you satisfied?” As soon as I finished speaking, I shoved him away from me and pointed to the door. “You’re fired. Get out.”
He stumbled back and pursed his lips together in a hateful stare. “You only did it because I told you she was a virgin, didn’t you?”
“You’re just mad that you didn’t get there first.” I narrowed my eyes at him and grinned. “Sorry, kid. She needed a man. She begged me to take her.”
Jeremy’s eyes didn’t leave mine as he slowly backed to the door. I was watching him like a hawk, which was why I caught a glimpse of dark hair moving in the hallway. He pulled open the door and fled from my office and my mouth fell open as Mallory came into my field of vision.
The expression on her face was all the confirmation I needed that she had heard way too much of the conversation. For fuck’s sake, her eyes were glassy.
The breath whooshed out of me like I took a punch to the gut.
“Mallory, I—”
“Don’t. Just don’t.”
She turned and ran. I raced after her, stopping when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Whipping around, I locked eyes with Janice.
Only then did I notice the swarm of people as they rushed back to what they were doing, pretending like they hadn’t been eavesdropping. Shit.
“Let her go,” Janice said slowly.
“But I—”
“She’s hurt and embarrassed. You need to give her space, Brian. Let. Her. Go.”
Giving her time was the last fucking thing I wanted to do. What if she spent the rest of the day twisting what I’d said into something I didn’t mean? Or worse—what if she thought I had used her?
“Shit,” I said with a long exhalation. “Shit! What am I supposed to do now?”
“My advice? Go to your office, get your work done, then go to her,” Janice said as she stepped away. “You also might want to consider pulling together a meeting to discuss the fact that you’re breaking one of your own rules. Some of the older employees might not be too happy about that.”
I scrubbed my hand over my jaw and nodded to myself. Janice took that as a dismissal, turning to walk away.
“What about you? How do you feel about it?”
She shrugged. “You can’t help you who you love, Brian.”
Love. Was that what this was?
“I don’t—”
She held her hand up to stop me. “Lie to yourself all you want, but don’t try it with me. You wouldn’t have gotten so enraged if you didn’t feel strongly about her.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked away. I stared after her for a long while, attracting some sympathetic stares from random employees.
Just as I was convincing myself that the best thing I could do was follow Janice’s advice, one of the new hires hesitantly approached.
“Mr. Wolfe?”
“Vanessa, right? What do you need?”
“Um, Mallory—Miss Jones—she asked me to give you this before she left.”
It was then I noticed the slip of paper she was holding up toward me and I felt my heart constrict at the sight of it. Deep down, I knew what it was going to say long before I snatched it out of the girl’s grip and opened it.
‘I quit.’
“Fuck no, you don’t,” I growled. Vanessa’s eyes widened and I stifled the urge to curse again. “What did Janice tell you to do this morning?”
“I’m supposed to assist Mark—”
“Tell Mark to fuck off.” Her mouth fell open, no sound coming out as I gently gripped her shoulders and led her into my office. “Your new task is answering my phone all day and rescheduling all my meetings. Okay?”