“I need to see you.”
Chapter 24
Ares
I was headingto the security command center when I nearly collided with Tashi in the hallway outside the ballroom.
She was moving fast, head down, hands clenched around a manila envelope. When she looked up and saw me, I caught the fury blazing in her eyes—and something else underneath. Fear.
“Tashi.” I caught her arm gently. “What happened?”
“Marcus.” She practically spat the name. “He served me with a sexual harassment lawsuit. He claims I propositioned him, created a hostile work environment, the whole thing.”
My blood went cold. “When?”
“Just now. I was checking the Selene Room setup, and he cornered me.” She held up the envelope like it was contaminated. “It’s perfectly timed. Hits right before the Gaming Commission hearing. More ammunition for Wilder.”
The protective rage that flooded through me was visceral and immediate. I wanted to find Marcus and break every bone in his body. Slowly.
“Where is he now?” My voice came out harder than I intended.
“Gone. He delivered his legal threat and left like the coward he is.” Tashi’s hands were shaking. “Ares, he said the mosthorrible things. Called me a whore. Said I was using my body to manipulate you three. Said my story is less believable than his accusations.”
“He’s wrong.”
“I know that. You know that. But will a jury know that? Will the Gaming Commission know that?” She pressed her free hand to her forehead. “I have eighty-five minutes to finish Frank’s decisions. Tomorrow night we’re throwing a gala that could make or break us. And now I’m being sued for sexual harassment by the man who actually harassed me.”
I pulled her into an empty conference room and closed the door. The space was quiet, private—somewhere she could breathe without performing strength.
“Look at me,” I said.
She did, those dark eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
“Marcus is trying to destroy you because you’re the strongest weapon we have. Not because of your body or your relationship with us, but because of your mind. Your marketing genius and your ability to turn disaster into triumph. He knows that if you stand on that stage tomorrow night and tell our story, we win. So he’s trying to break you first.”
“It’s working.”
“No.” I took her shoulders. “You’re standing here. You’re still planning the gala. You’re still fighting. That’s not broken. That’s courage.”
“I don’t feel courageous. I feel—” Her voice cracked. “I feel like everything I touch turns to disaster. You three lost your company because of me. Now I’m being sued. Marcus is threatening everything we’ve built. And I can’t—I don’t know how to fix this.”
“You don’t have to fix it alone.” I pulled out my phone. “I’m calling our attorney right now. He’ll tear this lawsuitapart within hours. It’s retaliatory, baseless, and designed for maximum psychological damage. But legally? It’s garbage.”
“You don’t know that?—”
“I do know that. Because I know you.” I texted our lawyer, Wilson Pryce.
Me:Marcus Talbor served Tashi with a sexual harassment lawsuit. Need immediate review and response. This case is priority one.
The response came within seconds.
Pryce:Send me the documents.
I turned back to Tashi. “Now. You’re going to give me that envelope. You’re going to finish your decisions for Frank. And you’re going to let me handle Marcus.”
“Handle him how?”
“However necessary.” I took the envelope from her hands. “You said he’s gone?”
