Damage control. Now. I threw the phone back at the man, who caught it after a few fumbles. “If you have a problem with any of this, now’s your chance to leave. Otherwise, shut your mouths and get back to work.” My anger overruled my common sense. There was a better way to talk to them and to deal with the problem. but in this exact moment, I had no thought for anything except keeping Harper safe from the fallout coming her way.
Men in our position were to be held accountable. I understood that. We would be painted as the bad guys. Fine. We’d take the heat.
But they’d better leave Harper well the fuck alone. I ran to the elevator and leaped inside, slamming my palm to the button for Dante’s office.
Seconds ticked too slowly, the elevator moving in tiny increments that made it all worse.
By the time the doors opened, sweat slicked my palms and gathered on the back of my neck. Bethany sat at her desk, legs crossed as she filed her nails. I barely glanced her way but barreled into Dante’s office.
“For fuck’s sake.” Anger boomed with the curse, but he took one look at me and horror took over his expression. “What happened?”
I rounded his desk and typed in the name of the newspaper that had blown our story out of the water. “That happened. And we have to do something right fucking now. Damage control. Immediately. We have to shield Harper.”
The door burst open and Julian kicked it shut before storming our way, a strange smile turning his face into a wicked mask. “Greg traced the phone. He knows who’s been threatening Harper, and you’re never going to believe who it is.”
37
HARPER
The remote slipped from my fingers and clattered to the hardwood floor.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything except stare at the massive TV mounted on Dante’s living room wall. My face filled the screen, a bold headline stamped across the top of my forehead.
Elevate CEOs in bed with their youngest employee
The headline burned into my retinas. I tried to look away, needed to close my eyes and pretend it was all a dream. Turn off the TV. I ordered my body to bend and pick up the remote. It refused to cooperate, my nerves and bones locked in place as the nightmare I’d been running from crashed over me.
This was it. Everything I’d feared played out in horrific detail as the anchor’s voice droned on in that detached professional way, like she wasn’t destroying our lives with every word that left her perfectly glossed lips. “The scandal rocking the business world today involves three of New York’s most prominent executives and their former assistant.”
Wrong. I wasn’t their assistant. I worked in marketing. They hadn’t done their research, but they’d been happy enough to blast this story.
She continued, a smirky smile tipping her lips. I wanted to punch her. I’d never been violent in my life, but right now, I’d happily smack that look off her face. Except it wasn’t her fault. She reported the news they told her to report.
“Sources say the relationship began shortly after Harper Bloom was hired at Elevate and culminated in a pregnancy that has raised serious questions about workplace ethics and possible abuse of power.”
I pressed my shaking hands to my stomach, protecting the tiny life growing there from the words cutting deeper with every passing second. “We’re going to be okay.” I had to say it, even if I didn’t quite believe myself.
The screen shifted to a series of photos. God. So many pictures. The first one of me at the gala wasn’t too bad, except I stared up at Alexander like I was already half in love with him. The next set flashed in a rush. Me sneaking out of the hotel room in a wrinkled dress and my hair a mess. Not criminal but obvious what I’d been doing.
Heat flooded my cheeks, and I bit the inside of my cheek as shame twisted my gut. I had no reason to feel ashamed.
Photos of us at the cabin came next, many of them with bits blurred out to keep them appropriate for TV. Those intimate, private moments I’d treasured were now displayed for the world to judge. The last one stole my breath as it filled the screen. The four of us lay in bed together, sheets a mess between us. Dante kissed my shoulder, and Julian’s tattooed arm lay across mywaist. Alexander cupped my face in both hands, tenderness in his eyes and a happy smile on full display.
Someone had been watching us. They violated our privacy and stole our most vulnerable moments. No one had the right to do that. No one.
Nausea whirled in my stomach and I rested the back of my hand over my mouth.
The anchor continued, her pleasant tone relentless. “Elevate’s stock has plummeted nearly fifteen percent in the last two hours as investors express concern over the leadership’s lack of judgment and potential legal ramifications.”
Shit.
Fifteen percent in two hours. Possible legal ramifications? We were fucking adults in a consensual relationship. Yes, Elevate had rules about the situation, but the law had no say in what happened. Fuck them. Anger began replacing the nausea, and my foot bounced up and down on the floor, my socked heel making no sound as I tapped out an annoyed rhythm.
I’d sent the text that started all of this. Course, I hadn’t meant to send it tothem,but I was still responsible. I’d decided to fall into bed with them. They’d given me the power and I agreed to sleep with them. I’d convinced myself we could keep it a secret.
Look what I’d done.
The TV switched to a panel of “experts” who had never met me, never met my men, but apparently knew everything about our relationship. A woman in a severe gray suit leaned forward, her expression grave. “We have to consider the power dynamics at play here. Three wealthy, influential men in positions ofauthority and a young woman barely out of college. The potential for coercion is undeniable.”
