“I’m here to meet with Jimmy.” Not many people were bold or close enough to my boss to call him Jimmy. My eyes narrowed because I hadn’t been made aware of an appointment today. In fact, he’d made it clear that he’d be taking a half day because his schedule was light and his newfound romance left him with a desire to work a lot less than the ninety hours he put in a week.
“Your name, Sir?” I asked, inching closer to the reception desk, hoping to create some distance between us with a barrier, but the man wasn’t taking the hint and mirrored my every move.
“You don’t remember me?” He tilted his head slightly and smiled a little too much.
“Should I?” I questioned. He reminded me of Mr. Keaton’s perverted brother, and I didn’t want this man anywhere near me. I’d seen James’s calendar this morning, and there was no meeting. Security wouldn’t have let this man up without proper clearance, so maybe it was a last-minute schedule adjustment. I knew that James wasn’t in yet.
“I’m Councilman Greenlee.” He tugged on his cuffs and smirked with too much confidence that attempted to exude some level of flirtation, but that had no effect on me. He stuck out his hand for a shake, and it would be rude for me to refuse so I was obliged, but when he took mine, he pulled me extremelyclose. His grip was so tight that I couldn’t yank myself away, and our bodies were touching.
Even though I had nothing left in my stomach, I was about to have a round two. He leaned in by my ear and whispered, “Even without all that makeup, you’re stunning. It’s no wonder Hernandez was willing to spend the money on you. Or maybe he just wanted to add to the torture he’s putting your father through in prison.”
“Unhand me right now, Sir.” He did so just as Mr. Keaton entered the lobby.
“Councilman Greenlee, my security told me you were here. I had no idea that you’d be arriving so early.”
“Yes, well, your lovely assistant was well worth the early arrival.” His eyes rakishly roamed over my body. My stomach lurched again, but I managed to contain my need to vomit. What did he mean about my father and Diego?
“Join me in my office, Councilman.” He led him away from me. Then he turned back to me. “Miss Glenn, we’re going to postpone our morning meeting.”
“A pity. I’m sorry to disrupt your fun,” he added, giving me another passing once-over.
“We run a business, and I’m happily engaged,” Mr. Keaton gritted out while attempting a friendly demeanor as he led him away. I wanted to rush back to the bathroom. Instead, I turned toward my office.
My hands shook as I closed my office door. The man was a fucking disgusting pig, and a part of me lost some respect for James. How could he work with a man like that?Washe working with him? And did Diego do the same? What was his relationship to my father?
A message came through my computer screen from my boss. It was our interoffice chat.
My apologies. Take the day off.
Ok.
I’d been honest about not recognizing him until he made that comment about my makeup. He’d been at the party. We hadn’t even spoken, but he’d pulled the woman who invited me to the side. Kara said she worked for a councilman, so I supposed it was him. Still, this was a little more than uncomfortable to me.
Mr. Keaton didn’t take random appointments unless there was a good reason, so I was only partially angry with him. At least he was telling me to leave.
My phone rang on my desk, startling me. I hoped it wasn’t James needing me to go in there for anything. “Elizabeth Glenn here. Can I help you?”
“There are many ways you can help me, beautiful.” A sigh of relief fell from my lips. “But first, I’m going to ask you to grab your things and walk out of the building as quickly and calmly as you can.”
I had no problem with that request. I wanted to run out of the building and never come back. As long as I’d worked there, I’d never felt so unsafe. “Okay. Is something wrong?”
“Baby, do what I tell you; Vasco is waiting for you.”
“Okay.” I grabbed my things, as he said, and left without saying anything to Mr. Keaton. I had no idea why this was happening, but I trusted Diego completely. As I stepped outside, Vasco rushed me inside the SUV, and we drove off quickly.
“What’s going on?” Vasco didn’t bother answering me.
“I have her, Diego,” he said into his Bluetooth on the dashboard.
“Good. Bring her home. I’m going to bury that son of a bitch.” I’d heard Diego angry before, but he’d never raised his voice. His rage had been cool and collected. He wanted to kill my boss.
I gasped at his threat. “You can’t. Please tell me you’re not going to hurt my boss?”
“No, not him, baby.” How could I be so soft when it came to Diego when I had my doubts?
“Good, because Ava is my friend.” I was the one to introduce them and they were so unbelievably happy together.
“I happen to like Keaton, and that’s the reason why I got the tip-off that the asshole just showed up. No, it’s time to get that bastard. Vasco, I held off on the photos. Send them to his wife now, and to the newspaper. Anonymously, of course.”
