Hurry.
“Lawyers are going over the paperwork, but I think it’s safe to say that as of tomorrow morning, there will be changes within upper management. Ms. McKallen is gone, and everything will go back to rights.” The room is quiet enough to hear a pin drop, but several eyes shift throughout the room.
Ekon is the first to break the silence. “What do you mean, Ms. McKallen is gone? Is it official?”
“Due to her gross misconduct,” I snarl at his words, and the bastard smirks, “she’s decided the best course of action would be to move on to…new opportunities.”
“Like hell she decided that,” I growl, rage coursing through every fissure of my body.
“She felt it was better for the club as a whole to nottarnish our image further by continuing to flaunt around like a sl?—”
“Finish that sentence, and it’ll be the last thing you ever say.” The words are on the tip of my tongue, but it’s Cavan who says them before I can.
I look to my friend, who’s vibrating with barely-leashed fury. The same man who’s slow to anger, who is always composed and unflappable, is seething with rage for my girl. I wish she could see it. As I look around at my brothers, I see Cavan’s outrage mirrored in their faces, and I wish she could see the impact she’s had on this team in such a short amount of time. The woman who never had any true friends to look after her has a whole team of them here.
“Nevertheless, the little stunt you all pulled today won’t happen again. Let this meeting serve as a warning to fall in line, or you’ll find yourself working at your local Nando’s come next season.”
“Why don’t you tell them the truth, Chapman?” I cross my arms and lean back against the shelves holding our things, trying to stall long enough for Harry to get here.
“And what would that be, Stone? That you’ve been boinking the boss?” He sneers derisively. “Is that why your game got good suddenly? Because you had someone to show off for? Or was her cunt just so magical, it gave you super powers?”
Myles adjusts his stance to position himself in front of me, reading my body language and deducing that the threads of my patience are fraying at a rapid rate.
Hold out, Tieran. It’ll be worth it when we wipe the arrogance off his mug.
I loosen my limbs, easing back onto the wall again to adopt a careless stance. “I was referring to the fact that you’ve been harassing Jade for months because you feel entitled to her job. A job you don’t deserve and would fail spectacularly at.” His face darkens. “See, the thing is, Lawrence, Jade has earned everything she has, unlike you. She’s smart, savvy, and works harder than anyone I’ve evermet. But you’re a raging arsehole, so you sit around and wait for people to hand you things because you’re a lazy sack of cow shite.”
“You would say those things, considering how hard sheworkedyou.”
“And when you couldn’t find a fault with her work ethic and everything she was doing to make this club better, you decided to invade her privacy.” He splutters, looking around at the guys who are all standing straighter at my revelation. “You violated her by having her watched, followed—filmed, and then you blackmailed her into handing her shares over to you.”
“And it worked,” he snaps. “Daft girl didn’t even care how it would affect her. All she was worried about was what this scandal would do toyou.”
I rear back as if he slapped me. “What did you say?”
“I used her love—” he spits the word out as if it's poison— “for you against her. When I showed her the evidence stacked against her, the only time she tried to change my mind was on your behalf.”
My heart thumps painfully inside my chest. It was so perfectly Jade, to be thinking of someone else as she was backed into a corner with no way out. God, I love her.
“Either way, she agreed to my proposal within hours. Seems she was hellbent on protecting you.”
“So then why the fuck did you renege on your deal?” I shout. “Why, when she gave you everything you wanted, would you still need to shove a knife in her gut?” I’m off the wall now, chest heaving as my breath comes in harsh gasps.
Jade. My Jade. Taking on the world alone because she didn’t want to burden anyone else. When we make it through the other end of this, I’m going to love her so hard, she doesn’t even remember the wordalone.
But not before spanking her arse raw for not coming to me for help. It would be a sweet sort of punishment, one we would both enjoy.
“I d—” Chapman starts but is interrupted when the door bursts open, and a stream of cops comes through.
“Lawrence Chapman?” one asks him.
“What is the meaning of this? We’re in the middle of a private meeting.”
“We’re detaining you for violating the Protection from Harassment Act. Please cooperate and place your hands behind your back.” The officers move in on him, but he steps out of their reach.
“You must be joking. You have no proof!”
Harry steps forward then, with Reginald in tow holding the large ring of keys that give him access to every office in the building. “Actually, they do.” He pulls a laptop out of his bag—Lawrence's laptop. “And if the laptop containing the images and video footage you used to extort Ms. McKallen isn’t proof enough, I’ll be providing them with the transcripts of our messaging.”
