“Yes,” Grant says at the same time I say, “No.”
Emmett looks from one of us to the other. “Why don’t you give us a minute, Aspen?” he says finally.
“Sure.” I give him a sweet smile full of the respect he deserves as my superior. “I’ll be right outside. Just holler if you need me.” Then I give Grant a fuck-you glance and leave.
But once I’m out, I lean against the wall next to the door and let out a sigh.Fucking Grant.I thought I had most of my money problems sorted, but I know he’s going to fire me, which means I’m back to square one.
Shit. Is it too late for me to call my managers and ask for my jobs back? I should’ve known better than to think a good thing could happen to me. Ever since I found out about Grant’s bet, my life’s taken one bad turn after another.
A few people walk past. I try not to burn with envy and sadness for myself. If none of those things had happened fourteen years ago, I could’ve had a job like them. Not at this firm, of course, but somewhere. And maybe I wouldn’t have had to worry so much about my finances.
But there are things you just can’t recover from, and life dealt me three powerful punches, back to back to back.
So I continue to stand here, mentally composing what I’m going to say when Grant’s annoyingly smug face tells me I’m fired.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Grant
The second the door closes behind Aspen, Emmett takes one of the couches. “What the hell was that about?”
“She can’t work here,” I say, sitting on the other couch. I’m shaking with the need to strangle her as I scream at her for betraying me. I clench my hands to hide the tremor.
“Why not?”
“She’s an unreliable, money-grubbing bitch!” I’d rather die than tell Emmett what happened in college. It’s so damn humiliating. I still can’t believe how naïve and stupid I was.
“For a money-grubbing bitch, she doesn’t dress like she has any money.”
Because she auctioned the good stuff off,I think bitterly.
“Look. If you have a history with her, that’s fine.” Emmett raises his hands, palms out. “I’ll take her.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to fire her. She’s good.”
“How do you know?” I almost ask if she let him fuck her, but Emmett’s crazy about Amy, and he’d never betray her.
“What do you think I was doing after I hired her? I had Marjorie train her, and she did some work for me. She’s quick, does everything I ask and more. She’s getting up to speed and sometimes knows what needs to be done even before I tell her. Great attention to detail.”
Emmett is picky, so if he liked her work, she did pretty well. “You just think she’s amazing because nobody’s as bad as Marjorie.”
“Fine. I’ll have Aspen replace Marjorie.Youcan take Marjorie. Or hire somebody else. Whatever works.”
Except I don’t want that. I don’t want Aspen working for Emmett. She’ll do whatever it takes to latch on to him—he’s young and rich. She’s not going to care that he’s married. People like her don’t worry about anything or anyone other than themselves. “No.”
Emmett gives me a look. “No? You can’t tell me who I can or can’t have as my assistant.”
“She’s going to wreck your marriage.”
He goes still. “Do you know something I don’t?” His face slowly collapses into suspicion. “Oh, no. Did she fuck Dad? Because that’s really gross.”
Ugh.Now he’s making me want to throw up. “No. She didn’t do Dad.” At least, I don’t think she did. But who knows what she’s been up to over the last fourteen years? “But I just know the kind of thing she’d do, okay? Trust me.”
Emmett nods reluctantly, but I take comfort in the fact that he’s on my side.
“I’ll have her work for me.” I need to protect him from unnecessary drama. And I like Amy. “But I promise you she’s going to quit within three months.”
