“My what?” I snarl at her. She can’t know, can she?
Alarmed, my assistant jerks her hand back. The smile falls from her lips. “I’m sorry. I just meant—”
“You meant what?” I stand so quickly my chair crashes to the floor. Stepping around the desk, I advance on her. “You thought what? You think that just because you were practically flashing your tits at me on Friday that I’m spending my time, myvaluabletime, thinking about you, fantasizing about you? You’re nothing to me. You don’t even cross my mind except when you fuck up and cost me money.”
“I’m sorry about that,” she whispers, shuffling backward. “But everything worked out, right?”
I sweep one arm out and send my computer monitor, the stack of files, and the glass of water on its coaster crashing off my desk.
Mandy yelps.
“Everything worked out?” I move toward her.
She presses her hands over her mouth, watches me apprehensively.
“I bet there never was another date. I bet you just orchestrated the whole thing because you wanted a chance at true love or whatever relationship bullshit you’ve been watching on TikTok. You’re so fuckingpathetic.”
Mandy scurries around on the other side of the desk, keeping the barrier between her and me. “I wasn’t lying.” Her voice is trembling. “Honest, I did have someone.”
“You disgust me. Trying to sleep with your own boss because no other man wants you.”
“It’s not true.” She sounds so small and sad.
I do not care.“I should fire you just for that. Clean up this shit, then get out of my sight.”
Mandy immediately kneels down on the floor to start picking up the papers that have been soaked by the water.
Instinctively, I want to pick her up in my arms before she cuts her hand on the glass, unzip my fly and grab her hair and make her suck my cock, sit her on the couch and pet her hair, give her one of those coffees she likes. Make her smile again.
Instead, I turn on my heel and leave my office.
“Asshole,” I hear her friend say under her breath as I pass.
Even the dog looks at me like I’m a monster.
Well, I am.
And it is all because of Mandy.
Forget surviving the rest of the week—how am I going to survive the next fewyearsworking with her?
15
MANDY
“Ijust don’t understand how he has the right to do this, to treat me like this,” I say. “It should be illegal.”
No, not Salinger. Sure, he’s flown into a rage in the past, but it has never been directed at me like that. His hatred for me was shocking, deeply unsettling. It probably would have kept me up at night with anxiety and worry if I didn’t have the threat of Pepper being thrown in dog prison looming on the horizon.
“How can Jaxon have Pepper taken? She was just trying to protect me.” I blow my nose. “She was just doing what dogs do. He attacked me.”
Randy, my lawyer, grunts from where he sits texting someone on his phone.
“Did you get everything down?” I ask Randy, who has barely made any notes on his legal pad. “I have a timelineand a copy of all of Jaxon’s recent text messages to me.” I push the folder with all my documentation closer to him.
He looks up, giving me a slimy smile.
“Don’t worry, little lady—I’ll make sure you keep your pooch.” He reaches over to pet Pepper, who curls her lip, exposing her teeth.
