Page 11 of Lying Lainey

“Mr. Norlund, I really think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot here,” Mr. Hays said, nervously fidgeting with his clothes. “This is all just one large misunderstanding.”

“Is that what you think it is?” I asked, peering at him over my reading glasses as I pulled up the video file I was looking for. “I suppose we’ll see if I’m overreacting or not in just a moment.”

With a few clicks and the hit of an enter button, I witnessed firsthand this shitbag assaulting my secretary outside my office. Sam escorted Hays to the seating area, and I watched him ask the man if he wanted anything to drink, which he turned down. Hays ignored the instruction to sit on the couch and went for my office door. Sam cut the man off, trying to explain quickly and calmly that he couldn’t go in there. This would be the moment Hays lost his proverbial shit and slammed my secretary into the door.

No wonder Sam was hurting. That wasn’t just a simple shove—the bastard used his whole body weight against a man who was half his size. Having seen enough to know this asshole had lied about everything, I stopped the video and turned off the projector. If I looked at it any longer, I was going to strangle the man.

“I think it’s safe to say this will be the last time you will ever be setting foot in my office or this building, Mr. Hays.” Flicking my gaze to the security, I waved my fingers carelessly at the man sitting before me. “Please ensure Mr. Hays finds his way to the exit without attacking anyone else.”

Hays shot out of the chair as the guard approached. “You can’t do this.”

“Why the fuck not?” I demanded. “This is my company, my building, and you assaulted my secretary. If I’m not able to do anything about that, then what’s the fucking point of being the boss of this place?”

Of course, the man was all bluster, and when I called him on his shit, he didn’t have anything more to say. The guard grabbed his arm and escorted him out of my sight. Glancing at my watch, I realized it was only eight fifteen, and this was how my day was starting. Scrubbing my hands over my face, I got up and went to the office door, yanking it open almost crashing into Quintin.

“What in the holy hell are you doing just standing there in front of my door, Quin?” I snapped.

Quintin raised a perfectly sculpted brow at me as he adjusted his glasses. “I believe it’s customary to knock before entering into someone else’s space, is it not? To do this action, one must come to a halt, plant their feet, lift their—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Quin, I know how knocking works,” I grumbled, cutting him off before he rattled off the seventeen muscles used in the motion of knocking. “I assume you needed something?”

“Two things,” he corrected.

I rolled my eyes. “How would I have known that, Quin? You know what, never mind. How can I be of help to you?”

“Are you all right? I was alerted there was a situation up here, and Fernando is on a rampage,” Quintin explained.

Seeing the worry in his dark green eyes behind his tortoiseshell glasses made my irritation slip away. I grasped his arm and squeezed it. “I’m perfectly fine. Sam is the one who got the short end of the stick in that encounter. Although I have a feeling when I tell you I just had the man removed from the building and banned, you’re going to be the one to watch out for.”

Quintin let out a heavy sigh and cocked his head. “You already told me you weren’t taking the contract, and I agreed. Also, why would you think I’d be upset with you tossing out a man who attacked one of your employees? There was no other option, and our people need to know they are safe here. Just think of the PR nightmare if the security company doesn’t provide any security to their staff.”

That was Quintin in a nutshell. He saw the world as checks and balances that needed to be maintained at all costs. It was one of the reasons he was the best person to run the finances in this company—nothing slipped past him. However, the downfall to that was he lacked empathy. He tended to see people as assets rather than living, breathing humans, which made for some challenging moments with the employees.

They couldn’t see past the crisp, starched suit, perfect hair, rigid posture, and resting unimpressed face he always had going on. He was a tough boss to be sure and expected excellence in all things at all times. What they didn’t realize is he imposed that rule on himself as well. If they removed the glasses and the suit he wore like armor, they’d see the man I knew, who’s stood by my side for almost twenty years, a man who feared failure and carried scars on his body as a result of past failures. Trauma created when you’re young is the hardest to overcome, and his mother literally beat it into him the consequences of failing.

“You’re absolutely right,” I agreed with a soft smile. “I shouldn’t have assumed you’d be upset at me for the fact that I’m going to call that man’s boss and get him fired. Our employees take priority, and they should know and trust that no matter who the asshole is, we don’t fear doing the right thing.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say you’re going to get that man fired?” Quintin asked, backtracking and growling. “You can’t mean that you’re going to call the Secretary of Defense about this, are you? He’s already pissed at us, so why are you trying to make it worse? This is exactly what I’m talking about, H. You can’t keep doing things like this if you want our company to expand.”

“Quin,” I cut in, taking him by the shoulders. “Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth, and count to five.”

You’d think after all the time we’d spent together, he wouldn’t be surprised when I pulled shit like this. The trouble was, even though he was a ball buster in our business, he panicked when it came to outside authority, especially higher-up authority like the Secretary of Defense. I wanted to kick myself for having told him in such a casual manner when I knew I needed to take the time to explain myself better. If he understood the why behind the choice—the repercussions we may or may not encounter and allowed him the chance to ask questions—we wouldn’t end up where we are now on the verge of a panic attack.

“Do you want to sit down and talk this through?” I asked, pained that in my effort to protect Sam, I ended up doing this to Quintin.

Closing his eyes, he breathed like I instructed, holding onto my forearms and grounding himself. You’d think with all my life experience, I’d be better at shit like this, but thankfully, I knew how to own my shit and fix it if I fucked up.

“I’ll be fine… there was just a lot all at once. Fernando said he didn’t know much, and then I saw Mr. Hays being escorted away, so I was thinking the worst. Now that I’ve seen with my own eyes you both are fine, I’ll be able to pull myself together,” Quintin shared as he dropped his hands and gave me a soft smile. “There is too much to be done today. I can’t afford to let my personal issues interfere.”

“You know I don’t give a shit how busy we are. If you need to take the day off, then do it. None of this is worth it at the cost of your health,” I argued. This wasn’t the first time we’d had this particular conversation, and it wouldn’t be the last. I was sure of it.

“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice called to us. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Price instructed me to bring Ms. Collins up once we got her security badge.”

Peering past Quintin, I spotted Sarah from our Human Resources looking a little nervous, wringing her hands. That was my fault—the last time she brought up an assistant who had been hired for me, I didn’t handle it well. I glanced at Quintin to make sure he was okay, but he’d already wiped away any sign of emotion and was adjusting his clothes—a habit and coping mechanism he had developed to give him time to collect himself.

Taking the lead, I stepped around Quintin, giving him the time he needed, and attempted a reassuring smile at Sarah. “Thank you for doing that, Sarah.”

Her cheeks flushed at my attention, dropping her eyes. “It’s not a problem at all, Mr. Norlund.”