“What?”
“No, you’re not!”
“Absolutely not, Monty!” are all blurted out by the advisory board members as they talk over one another.
“You’re not quitting,” Scott states, a bit of panic etched on his face.
“Yes, I am. No way in hell will I work for you.”
“That’s not part of the—”
“Part of the what?” I test. “Were you going to say it’s not part of the deal? Is that what you’re calling it now?”
“What is he talking about?” Phil asks, eyes shooting to Scott.
The room is uneasy. There’s an obvious confusion happening, from both me storming in here to quit my job as well as Scott randomly coming up with a vote to take Reese’s position out from under her.
“Emmett,” Reese says coolly, standing from her seat at the head of the table. “You’re not quitting your job. Take a seat. I’ve got this.”
“Yep. Great.” I do as she says, taking the chair next to Ed.
Ed smiles at me, as if he were welcoming me to a dinner table and not the battleground I just stepped into.
Reese looks absolutely lethal with the way she stands at the head of the table, hands flat on the top of it, blue eyes scorching Scott in his seat.
So fucking hot, I swear.
“We’re notvotingon anything here.”
He lifts a testing eyebrow. “You really want to play this game?”
“We don’t vote. That’s not how it works, and you especially don’t get to vote me out of my job. There’s only one opinion that matters, and it’s mine. This ismyclub. This ismyteam. Whatever I say goes.
“I’ve let the four of you intimidate me for long enough. You seem to have forgotten who signs your paychecks. You work forme, not the other way around. In this working relationship there’s only one of us that’s irreplaceable. And that’s me. Understand?”
“Reese,” Scott seethes. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Firing you.”
Fuck me, she is so hot.
“I’ll release them.” Scott stands from his seat as well. “Do not test me.”
“Release what?” Phil asks.
“Photos of Emmett and me,” she says simply. “Oh yeah, we’re together. Surprise! And Scott had us followed and photographed so he could blackmail me into giving him my position.”
Phil and the rest of the board, besides Ed, seem utterly shocked. Maybe over the news about her and me. Maybe over the realization of what Scott did.
“Go ahead, Scott. Release them.”
His jaw tics. “They’ll eat you alive, Reese.”
She shrugs so casually. “I can handle it.”
Reese has said that phrase to me so many times before.I can handle it, orI’ll take care of it. I’ve always insisted that she shouldn’t have to. And it’s true again this time. She shouldn’t have to deal with the shit the press is going to say about her, but that’s not the point here. The point is, Reese can handle it.
Of course she can.
