Five
Work was interesting. Rose was only human, after all; there was some expectation that something would happen. It was always possible that she’d had another classic Bryce Kilpatrick wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am experience.
But there was a big difference between a night of fun between two people at a business conference, and a bit of workplace blackmail… even if there was more than a little complicity on her part. Complicity that he hadn’t recognized at the time, and the law certainly wouldn’t.
When you’re in a position like that, with the tiger by the tail, there’s only one thing you can do: keep holding on. There was no reason that he was going to walk away this time, because the minute that he walked away, she sued for enough money to live more than comfortably for the rest of her life, and if there was any justice in the world at all, then she would probably win it with no trouble at all.
In fact, it was so obvious that she would probably win that Kilpatrick would want to settle out of court before they even got to the part where she did more than have a lawyer file some paperwork. And even that sum would probably be enough to keep her a very long time.
Which was to say, simply, that there was no way that was what would happen. She would be so lucky. So whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen today or soon, and it was going to be more than a little bit nuts. And, of course, she was looking forward to whatever it was, because she might have been a slut, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew when things were about to go well for her.
Rose sucked in a breath and stepped off the elevator. They had the entire fifth floor of the Fisher building. Her cubicle, which wasn’t a particularly special one, was placed prominently in the exact opposite side of the building from Bob’s. Well, Bryce’s, now. So when she didn’t see him, it wasn’t a surprise.
Everyone gave her curious looks as she walked in. That was normal. Maybe she had something to talk about. Maybe interesting gossip. Maybe not. It was always hard to say. But the one thing that was absolutely certain was, everyone had something to tell, and everyone had something to hide. That was what made the grapevine run.
Someone’s secret is another person’s gossip, and the circle goes around and around. Of course, she’d been on the chopping block yesterday, and that meant that there was certainly a secret, and someone was certainly gossiping about it. It was just hard to know how much was which, and where the gossip was going to be coming from, when it came. And it would come, she knew that.
Marcus was her direct manager. There were others above him, and likely, there were others above them, as well. Somewhere at the very top, Bob had sat, and now, apparently, somewhere at the top was a new man. The father of her children, as it happened. Bryce Kilpatrick. If only he knew about it himself.
She looked over at Craig. He kept his eyes on the computer screen. He looked busy. It was possible that a big order had just come in, and he was rerouting something. Or maybe he was doing a ton of research for a client.
But that wasn’t all that likely. It was much, much more likely that he was avoiding her. And if he was avoiding her, then something else was about to drop on her head, unforeseen. Or at least, that was what he expected to happen. And while Craig was lazy, a gossip, and prone to blame other people for his own failures, he was anything but a fool.
So she was on the lookout, and this time, Marcus didn’t surprise her.
“Rose?”
“Sir?”
“Is this a bad time?”
“Not at all, sir,” she said. It was always a bad time.
“You ought to come with me.” He said it with the sort of grim voice that a cop uses to tell a bank robber that they ought to just come quietly.
“Yes, sir,” I said. There was one possibility, I had to admit, I hadn’t really considered. The chance, however slight, that what was going to come down on my head wasn’t to be ignored. Maybe I’d get fired after everything.
And that was going to be even worse than the alternative. For Bryce Kilpatrick, that is. He ought to have realized that you don’t get rid of a blackmail victim by firing them. You give them a nice, cushy job and hope to Heaven that they go away with time. That’s the only way you could do it, as far as Rose knew. Otherwise, they come forward, and they reveal what you did. What you made them do.
Which meant that either there was some misunderstanding, or Bryce Kilpatrick was just ready for a hell-storm to come down on his head, or worse still, he was too short-sighted to see the hell-storm coming down on him for what it obviously was.
Marcus looked back at her as they walked, and kept his voice low. “You should have been more polite, I told you.”
“I did everything was asked of me, and I did it with a smile,” Rose said. “If there’s a complaint, it’s not about something I did wrong.”
He shrugged. “If that’s how you want to play it, go right ahead. But I told you.”
“I know.”
He knocked on the door, opened it a moment later, and guided Rose inside. She looked around. It was dimly lit, and the blinds were mostly shut to the outside.
“Miss Sewell?”
“Sir?”
“Good to see you again.”
“Is it, sir?”
“Of course. I’ve got a bit of a business… kerfuffle.”
“Oh?”
“And I had to ask you again. Which are you more committed to? Your income, or your fiance?”
“I’m not going to do anything until I know where I stand.”
“I’m not asking you to get on your knees again. I think you’ll find what I’ve got for you quite… interesting.”
“I’m listening.” Rose shifted from one foot to the other, hoping to look standoffish, because otherwise she wasn’t sure she could avoid hiding how bad she wanted him.
“Good. You had better be.” He leaned onto the desk. “Because I’ve got a much bigger, and much better, offer for you today.”