“Exactly. And I thought I could let this co-worker in, but now she’s holding all of this over my head when I thought we were just venting about work and bitching about our pasts, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
I flickered my gaze over to JoJo and his face softened again. He went from angry to attentive as his hands slid into his pockets. Ever since Tommy had been hauled off in handcuffs, I’d seen this side of him. This attentive, considerate side that listened more than it talked. And while part of me was afraid of him because of the total asshole he’d been to me from the start, I knew there was something more going on.
Especially when Maggie, of all people, refused to talk about what happened all those years ago.
Glasses started typing on her computer. “So, here’s my advice: tell Mr. Ryker what’s happening. Make sure he’s not blindsided in case she does come down here and try to file something. Do you feel comfortable giving me her name?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I don’t want to make it a big thing if she’s just trying to look out for me. I just sort of feel… stuck.”
She nodded. “I understand, one hundred percent. So, my advice is to talk to Mr. Ryker, keep him up to speed, and let me deal with any woman that comes down to file a report. We here in H.R. know very quickly when someone is trying to file something on someone else’s behalf. We’ll be able to sift through it.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”
She giggled. “Nonsense, it’s always good for you to come down here and talk. That’s one of the main reasons why we’re here.”
I stood to my feet. “That was it. I just… felt a little lost and didn’t know where to turn.”
She stood and held out her hand for me to shake. “Talk to him, okay? I know he’s grizzly to some, but he’s fair. Tough, but fair. And he never asks anything of anyone else other than what he knows they can deliver. So, if he’s riding you that much? It means he knows you’re capable of more.”
I shook her hand. “That helps a lot, actually. Thank you.”
I took one last look over to where JoJo had been standing, but he was gone. Shit. I was in seriously deep shit at this point. I left H.R. and made my way back to my desk, making a show of walking by Brit’s desk and eyeing her to let her know that I had done it.
So that hopefully she’d stop her damn tirade before she made things worse for all of us.
23
Rebecca
As I sat back downat my desk, I closed my eyes. I only had thirty more minutes before my day was over and I knew that JoJo would come to see me. Whether it was to give me more work, or bitch me out for even attempting to go down to H.R. in the first place, I sat back and waited on my punishment.
But the longer I waited, the lonelier I felt.
I really don’t want to get him fired.
My heart raged out of control as I clutched my chest. It grew hard to breathe as I sat up in my chair and stood onto my wobbling legs. I paced my office, trying to calm myself down before he inevitably burst into my office and pinned me against another wall.
And while part of me wanted that, the other part of me wanted to not exist.
Even if I wanted to talk to H.R. about what was happening, there wasn’t a point. Everywhere I turned, there he was. It was as if he were stalking me, like Tommy had been doing, and it made me sick to my stomach.
So sick, in fact, that I raced to my trash can beneath my desk and vomited up my lunch.
“Jesus Christ,” I choked out.
After relieving my stomach, I felt a bit better, but not well enough to go home. Even though the clock had struck five in the afternoon, I still sat in my chair with my eyes closed. Storm clouds rolled over the sun, blocking out its rays and darkening my office. And as I sat there, alone with my thoughts, I knew what I had to do.
I had to keep things to myself.
Otherwise, everything would change. He’d get fired, he’d come after me, and any chance at digging through the mire of his lost soul would be gone forever. And yes, I understand that rationally, it’s not my job to fix any man. That’s for him and him alone to do. But I knew my sister. I knew how ruthless and cold-hearted she could be.
Hell, even I had things she had done to me that I’d never fully get over.
Like the time she played an April Fool’s prank on me so big that I ran all the way home from school. Four entire miles with my legs rubbing together, and by the time I got back home my thighs were bleeding. Her and her stupid little cheerleader friends had filled my locker with all sorts of rotten fruit and eggs and vegetables. And the second I opened it, all of it came tumbling down upon me.
With half of our graduating class laughing at me in the process.
Then, there was the time she exchanged my shampoo for hair removal cream, causing most of my hair to fall out. I had to sport a fucking wig my entire junior year of high school because she was “working through her anger” when it came to being rejected from every college she had applied to.
