It took damn near all night but by the time the sun came up I had a workable plan, or at least, I hoped it was. I hurried through getting dressed, wanting to get to the office before Mia did.

My plan was to go into her office as soon as she arrived, close the door, and have a long talk about the allegations Piers had been all too happy to throw her way. The fact that I thought she was innocent would carry zero weight. I needed to talk to Mia in order to try and understand what the hell Benjamin Douglas thought he was doing.

Sara wasn’t at her desk when I walked into the office, but that wasn’t surprising since I was so early. I stopped by the break room to make some coffee before I started my wait for Mia.

Three hours later she still hadn’t arrived. Deep inside I knew something was wrong an hour and a half into my wait, but I decided to give her a little more time. When I could no longer pretend everything was okay, I walked back to the front to Sara’s desk.

She gave me a tentative smile. “Good morning, Mr. Butler, is there something I can help you with?”

“Yes, you can. Did Mia come in yesterday?”

She looked at him strangely, as if I’d asked her if she lived on Earth. “Yes, Mr. Butler,” she answered, but it sounded like she’d had to keep herself from adding, “Duh.”

“Was she sick or did she say anything about not coming in today?”

Again with the look like I’d asked the most preposterous question ever. “I have to be honest, sir. No one expected her back.”

I tilted my head trying to understand how what she said could possibly be a viable answer to my question. “What?”

“It was an assumption on our part when Mr. Worthington walked her out and she was carrying her stuff in a box.”

“He what?” My body shook as if it’d already comprehended what Sara was saying.

She looked at me in confusion. “Mr. Worthington was waiting in Mia’s office when she arrived yesterday afternoon. They stayed in there with the door closed for some time, and when they came out, she had a box of her things and he walked her out. Neither one of them have been back since then, sir. You didn’t know about this?”

Finally, I could at least understand why Sara was confused. How would it be possible in her mind for her employer, who was also the business owner, not to know his legal counsel had fired an employee? The words rang in my head and I had to clear them from my mind so I could think. Without answering Sara, I went back to my desk long enough to grab my keys and then left the office.

I had given only a fleeting thought to either calling Piers or demanding that he meet me. Neither of those would work, I realized almost instantaneously, because they would give him time to prepare and I wanted him completely off guard. Or as off guard as possible. Surely, he knew he’d have to face me eventually.

I drove to his office building, near the harbor, the overly congested roads doing nothing to soothe my temper. I pulled into the parking lot and quickly located his car, a racy little thing that would smash him like a bug if he ever got into an accident. Lucky for him I wasn’t able to park beside it. The exterior was far too perfect, I thought, and would look much better with a ding or five.

His office was on the top floor and the smile his own admin had for me quickly dissolved when she looked me over. I realized I had both hands curled into fists and I slowly released them.

“Mr. Worthington is meeting with a client, Mr. Butler,” she said, standing, but wisely not blocking me from the door.

“Then I suggest you call and let him know it’s over, because I’m going in and no one is going to stop me.” I didn’t wait for her reply, because honestly, it didn’t matter to me one way or the other what she thought about me breaking up his meeting.

When I found him, however, he wasn’t in his conference room with a client, he was standing just outside his doorway. Almost as if he was waiting for me.

“Tenor,” he said. “I’ve been expecting you. Come on in.”

We walked inside his office and he closed the door, but neither one of us sat down. It became very obvious, very quickly that he was not going to say anything before I did. That was fine with me. I had plenty of things to say to him.

“What the hell did you do, Piers?” I asked him.

He didn’t answer right away, but calmly walked over to his desk and sat down. “I took care of a problem that you refused to.”

I shoved the papers off his desk and leaned in. “What did you do to her? What did you say? Where is she?”

“I don’t know why you’re so taken by that little thief. Trust me, you and your business are so much better without her. You should be thanking me instead of storming in here like a mad man. Although,” he stopped to briefly touch his fingertip to his lips. “She never once admitted anything. In fact, she was still proclaiming her innocence when she started her car and drove away.”

I saw white spots dance before me. “Maybe because she is innocent, asshole. Did that thought ever cross your mind?”

He shook his head. “You should have seen her face when I mentioned Benjamin Douglas. She’s not innocent.”

“That wasn't guilt, you bastard, it was fear. He tried to assault her.”

“Don't call me that,” he said and I was glad to finally hear a little bit of emotion in his voice, but only because of the name I’d called him. Not because he felt bad about anything he’d done. “And I believe I already went over the consent thing.”

I wasn't going to go over semantics with him right now. There would be time for that later. “Tell me what you told her to make her leave.”

“I paid her off. Told her the loan would be forgiven if she left and didn't come back.”

Anger raged inside me. “That wasn't your deal to make.”

“And yet I did.” His tone was unapologetic, almost provoking, and his unasked question lingered in the air. And just what are you going to do about it?

“You’re fired,” I said. “As of right now, you no longer work for me and therefore, you are to have nothing to do with anything related to me or my business.”

“You can’t fire me,” he said, and his untouchable facade broke just a bit.

I kept my eyes on my best friend since forever so he’d know I meant every word I said. “And yet I did.” I walked out of his office without looking back.