Chapter 20

Sierra

I DON’T KNOW which one of us moved first — our voices were a jumble.

“Oh my God—”

“We were just—”

He held his hand up, his expression stony. The room went silent.

“Don’t,” he said, in such a cool tone it sent a shiver through my body. “Don’t bother.”

“Please,” I began to plead, standing up, but he cut me off.

“Tom warned me something was going on between you two,” he said, shaking his head. “I thought it was just an act. Damn. I should’ve listened to him. I’m such a fool.”

The only thing scarier than being caught was his total calm. The calm of a man who’d moved past anger into a terrifying rage. In my years of working for him, I’d never seen Joe like this.

“How could you?” he asked, directing his attention towards me.

“Now wait a minute,” I began, but Jacob interrupted as he finished zipping up his pants.

“It was me too, sir,” Jacob said forcefully. “You can’t just blame Sierra.”

“Like hell!” Joe shot back, his forehead turning red and veins beginning to pop out. He turned to me and shouted, “I tell you to try to get more professional, and this is your response?”

“It was one mistake,” I seethed through gritted teeth. Jacob gave me a sidelong glance, confused, but moved past it.

Joe laughed at my excuse. “You accidentally posted a video of you and your buddy talking about vibrators on our company’s Instagram and you think that was just, what, one mistake?”

Now Jacob was fully facing me, his brows furrowed with confusion. “Buddy?” he repeated.

“Not like that, Jacob, my—”

But Joe cut me off. “I couldn’t believe you posted that. Couldn’t believe it! But sure, because you fought so hard to get back, because you said that it was ‘one mistake’ the first time, I bought it, decided, y’know, we all make mistakes. I’ll be benevolent, see how that suits me. And then you go and do this, you screw a fellow employee instead of doing your work, in a client’s house! His own house! I should’ve known better.”

“Jacob, please,” I begged, turning to the man I’d just been intimate with. “Please explain our history. Joe won’t believe me.”

I waited expectantly, knowing that Jacob would do what he always did — jump in to save me.

Except then he didn’t.

He stood there, silent, for several aching seconds until at last saying, “Are you dating someone else?”

Oh my God. I wanted to explain that the Instagram messages were between Flo and me, that it was all a huge misunderstanding, but then Joe was launching in again.

“I don’t care about who you are or are not dating,” Joe hollered. “Pillers doesn’t care, and I don’t care. What I do care about is that this company is well represented, that we are perceived as a family values company. It’s pure luck Charles didn’t see that post, or we wouldn’t be here.”

He took a breath, and tears slipped from my eyes. I struggled to get words out, to justify all my actions, or at least explicate them, but I found that the sobs choking my throat prevented me from doing so much as forming a single syllable.

Jacob seemed to have mentally left the building — his eyes were vacant, hollow, the eyes of a tortured man. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but knew that would only make everything worse.

Joe shook his head. “I oughta fire both of you,” he said, then broke off.

I held my breath, hoping and praying that this pause meant he was going to forgive me, that I would get one last chance to prove myself, to straighten up and fly right in the eyes of Joe and Pillers.

And then he continued, “But I can’t let my head framer and timber supplier go, not with a job this big. We’ll never get it done without you, Jacob.”

A sick knot of dread coiled in my stomach.

Joe pivoted to face me full on, and in a low, dark tone, concluded, “You’ve already finalized the pitch. Which means I have plenty of time before the next major job to find a new head of marketing.”

“What are you saying?” I managed to whisper.

“I’m saying… you’re fired.”

I felt, distantly, as though in another’s body, my shins hit the floor as my legs buckled beneath me.

“Please,” I mouthed. “Please don’t.”

“I’m sorry. You’ve left me no choice.”

I turned my head to Jacob, who was hovering above me like a cold, unfeeling statue. He hadn’t even tried to help me up, to console me. I should’ve known better, known that the man who dumped me via text after a year of dating would hurt me again. That’s what guys like Jacob do — they hurt, they wound, they pierce, they shatter. They tear you down from every angle, all while convincing you that what happened before can never happen again. He broke me.

Against all odds, I found my ability to speak up, to make one last argument for mercy.

“Joe,” I said, in a quivering voice. “You need me for this pitch. The presentation is finished, but nobody can deliver it like I can. Please. Let me give the pitch, and if you still want to fire me—”

“Enough,” he said harshly. “You’re done here. Pack up your things, and get out. We’ll find someone to get you a ride to the airport. Your severance package will be sent to you after we return.”

So it was really over. Two years of work. A newly blossoming romance. All over in the blink of an eye.

Joe opened the door. “Sierra?” he said, gesturing towards the exit. “You know the way, I believe.”

Fury swelled in my chest, subsuming the back-breaking sorrow. Who the hell was he to snap at me, like I was some kind of dog? I would not be kicked by a master. I was a strong, independent woman, goddammit, and I didn’t need to take this shit. Not from him, not from Jacob… not from anyone.

Slowly, I found my feet and began to rise from the ground. I had fallen out of misery, but I rose with rage.

“Joe,” I hissed as I found my footing. “You’ve treated me like shit. And in doing so, you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life.”

My eyes blazed righteously and I felt strength flowing through my veins.

“Get out,” he sighed, exasperated. “Just leave.”

“Fine. But first…” I turned to Jacob, jabbed a finger out, and said, “I gave you a second chance and you fucked up again. You, Jacob, are a sham of a man. Burn in hell.”

The color drained from his face as I turned on my heel and stormed out of the door. I didn’t wait to see their reactions. I was leaving on my own terms.

As I exited the room, I slammed the door behind me. The noise echoed around the empty hallway. Tears of fury streaked down my fast, hot and slow and devastating.