I feel sick to my stomach, but there’s no other choice. I have to do this.

Doing it means admitting she made a fool of me, but it also means refusing to be made a fool of any longer. I have to remember this. If there’s any hope of regaining my self-respect, it’s in this action. About time Weissman finds out I’m onto him, that I’m not so easily fooled.

But you were easily fooled, you idiot. Look what she did to you. Look how easy it was for her to find a way into your life. Into your pants. Into your heart? That last bit is a question, taunting me. Making my skin crawl. Into my heart? Did she get there? I don’t know and I’m not sure I want to ponder that just now, as I take the elevator down to the lab.

Accompanied by two security guards who will escort Miss Weissman out of my premises.

Getting rid of Regina was easy, but getting rid of Sam is another matter altogether. Her claws are deeper in my flesh. God, I hate this.

But I’m the boss, and it’s my job to make the tough calls. She’s lucky I believe in discretion, or I would’ve had her meet me in my office and paraded her through the top floor, so everyone would see, whisper and gossip behind us.

We stop outside the lab and I take a deep breath. I know she’s in there. The security logs tell me she just entered not five minutes ago, and the door hasn’t opened since. I use my card key to get in, swinging the door open with determination.

She lied to me.

She thought she could get away with it. Nobody gets away with trying to make a fool out of me. My hands clench into tight fists as I catch sight of her. I can see she’s been deep in thought over something. The sight of her sends waves of nausea rolling through me.

Sam looks up at the sound of the door, her gaze flickering over to where the two guards are standing, one over each of my shoulders. Her frown deepens, her eyes darken. “What is this?” she whispers.

“What do you think it is?” I’m in the presence of two other employees. There can be no personal exchange here. Thank God, because seeing her again, makes me doubt my own eyes. How can she look so innocent? Yet, I saw her get into Weissman’s car.

“I don’t understand.” She rises.

Wasn’t I just inside her less than two hours ago? Wasn’t it good? The best?

“It’s time for you to go. Now. You’re fired.”

A host of emotions play upon her face, her expression shifting back and forth. “Wh-what? Fired? What did I do?” Her eyes bore holes into me, as though asking the question she doesn’t dare give voice to. Am I firing her for turning me down for lunch?

Does she think I’m that petty?

“Come on. Let’s go.” I’m at the end of my tether as it is, barely holding on to the last shreds of self-control. She used me. She lied. And lied. Again and again. Every damn thing was a lie. She even used my daughter to get closer to me. This realization is the final straw. I can’t even look at her.

“Hurry up, please,” I bark.

She fumbles for her purse, still obviously shaken by this turn of events. Did she think I would never find out? Well, I did. Weissman took a clever gamble by choosing her, but he underestimated me.

“What’s going on, Lincoln?” she asks, her voice a hoarse whisper, pleading with me as she crosses the room. Not with words. With her eyes, as if she believes she deserves better than this. As though she deserves anything.

What a laugh.

“We’re leaving. Now.” I wave to the guards, who flank her as we exit the lab and walk down the hall. It’s empty, most people probably still taking late lunches, or hard at work. Good. I don’t want a scene, no matter how vile she is. I find it hard to hurt her.

“Can I at least—”

“No. You have no options here. You have no rights. You don’t seem to understand how something like this works.”

“How something like what works?” She turns to me as we arrive at the elevators, eyes searching my face. “What is this? What is it, really? Please.”

She’s a good actress. A damned good one. I can almost believe she’s truly stricken with grief over this turn of events. Her eyes, when I dare to meet her gaze, are wide with emotion and sparkling with unshed tears.

Yes, she’s a good actress, and she fooled you. In all probability, she’s his lover. Don’t forget the way his hand moved to the small of her back when he picked her up.

My heart hardens.

“I’ll take it from here,” I advise the guards.

They exchange a dubious look but fall back, allowing me to accompany Samantha into the elevator. Alone.

The second the doors slide shut, she whirls on me. “I know why you’re doing this, but you’ve got it all wrong! I’m not the one who leaked the design to Weissman!”

“Ah, so you know it has to do with a leak,” I snarl, eyes trained straight ahead. I won’t look at her again.

“Please, please, you have to listen to me. Everything depends on this! I’m not the mole. It was Ryland all along. You have to believe me! It’s Ryland, Lincoln. I didn’t know it until this afternoon.”

“You mean when you had lunch with Weissman?” I ask.

Sam gasps. “You know about that?”

“How else do you think I know what you’ve done?”

“No, no, it’s not like that at all. Vince Weissman is—”

“Please, spare me the lurid details,” I spit, cutting her off. “I don’t need to know who you are to each other, and I don’t want to know. All I know is, you took this job in order to steal the plans and give them to your boss. And then, you go ahead and blame one of my best people? My best friend, for Christ’s sake? What? Did Weissman warn you that I might be getting closer to the truth? That you might have to throw somebody under the bus soon?”

“No, that’s not it at all, why won’t you listen to me?”

“Because you’re only going to come back at me with lies, and more lies,” I snarl, sounding vicious even to my own ears. But it feels good to let go of the stinging pain of betrayal. I want her to hurt, too. “You disgust me. Is there anything you’ll stop at to get what you want? What your boss wants? Did he tell you to fuck me again if I got suspicious of you?”

Her head jerks back as if I’d slapped her. “How dare you?” she breathes, eyes like saucers. Hurt.

The incredible hurt I see on her face confuses me. I blink, then remember myself and force a laugh. It comes out sounding like a bark. “How dare I? That’s rich, coming from a whore like you. You make me sick. Just be grateful I’m not involving the police.”

She swallows, and her face pales.

Suddenly, I just want to hold her in my arms. My own weakness shames me. I lash out, “Did you use that body of yours to get in with Weissman? Is that why you’re so good at it? Because you’ve had so much practice?”

And that was too much. I knew it when it was coming out of my mouth, and yet I let it out. I’m ashamed of myself for saying it, especially when her chin starts to quiver. My heart feels like there’s a knife in it. I’m better than this—at least I thought I was. Maybe I don’t know anything at all.

Sam stands her ground. “I would rather be a whore than a pig-headed idiot like you who refuses to see the truth when it’s right in front of him.” A solitary tear rolls down her cheek, but she doesn’t brush it away. It’s an accusation of my cruelty.

I shouldn’t have said it. I wish I could take it back, but it’s out. I frown. What the fuck am I doing feeling bad about hurting her feelings? She betrayed me. I owe her shit. If she doesn’t want to be called names, she shouldn’t do the things she does.

Even so…

When the elevator doors open, I realize this is it. I’ll never see her again. I’ll never get the chance to take back the awful things I just said. My body has a mind of its own, because before I can stop myself I’m reaching for her, wanting to apologize for my brutality.

Sam looks down at my hand and sneers, shoving it away before bolting from the elevator and running through the lobby.

I can’t exactly call out to stop her, so there’s no other choice but to watch her retreating figure as she runs out of my life forever.

The doors slide shut.