But now is not the time for that.
He pushes over a stack of folders. “Look through these and give me the five you think are the most qualified.”
I pick up the stack, opening the first one to a resume. “Ah, are you asking me to pick out an assistant?”
“More like a replacement.”
“But I’m not planning on quitting.”
“Then I guess I’m going to have to fire you. You can finish your research into Randy’s subscription box and train your replacement, but after that, you’re packing up your desk and hightailing it out of the barn.”
“But that’s not legal!”
He leans back in his chair and lifts his brow. “So sue me.”
“I will!”
“Yeah, but you won’t win.”
“Because you have better lawyers?”
“No, because your severance is going to be bigger than if you’d worked here for the next fifty years.” He slides an envelope across the table. I pick it up, open it, and pull out a check.
“Five million dollars?”
“Do you think I low-balled you?”
“No! It’s just not necessary.”
“The way I see it, it is.”
“How so?”
“Because if things are going to work out between us, it can’t be because you’re desperate. I can put you into contact with people who will help you invest it if that’s your prerogative, but that money is yours and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
I hate the giddy feeling I get when I look at all those zeroes written on the check. But I know that while money can take away stress, it can’t buy happiness.
“Thanks, Grey. I’ll take the check with me and think on it.”
“Take the files, too.”
As much as I want to argue with him, there’s no point. I’m having his child, and he’s dead set against me working.
“I’ll look through the files today and give you my thoughts.”
For a long minute, I sit, willing him to look up from his desk at me and take me as he had, but his eyes stay glued to the papers in front of him, and when I finally get up to leave, the only words he utters are, “Be ready by six.”
10
GREYSON
Throughout the day,my every thought lingers on Penny, making me good for damn near nothing. Thankfully, Duke picks up the slack and I’m able to coast through work on autopilot.
Soon, we’ll be a family, going to doctor visits together, designing a nursery. It’ll all come together. I just need to give it time.
As I head into Prosper Manor, where I’ve been staying, Axel stops me, his expression hard with betrayal.
“We need to talk.”
