Chapter 2
Logan
Iwake up to the alarm beeping. Groaning, I know it’s time to get up. I don’t often feel the need to lie around all day, but something about last night has left me feeling a bit off-color.
I pick up the phone to shut the alarm off, and immediately a text comes through.
It’s from Quentin.
Get rid of your assistant today.
That’s it. Whatever favor he wants, it has to do with me removing Dolores from my employ. I sigh and rub my hand over my face, climbing out of bed. My semi bounces in front of me, eager for a release, but I ignore it in favor of grabbing a shower and getting ready.
Choosing my clothes carefully, I pick up a navy-blue suit and a white shirt. I go commando as always and choose a tie. Checking my reflection in the mirror, I straighten my hair after my shower and clip diamond-encrusted cufflinks to my shirt.
I hear the door click open downstairs and check my Rolex—time to go.
Slipping my jacket on as I make my way down the stairs, I smile when I see Rose.
“Morning, gorgeous.”
She looks up and giggles. “Mr. Carter. Such a tease.”
“Never, you are a goddess.”
“So smooth. Be gone with you.” She flaps her hands, thrilled with the compliments. She is about fifteen years older than me, in her mid-fifties, but has the Irish complexion of a woman much younger than her years.
She reaches into the hall closet for my black cashmere, three-quarter-length coat and shakes it out. “It’s chilly out there this morning.”
“You know you don’t have to be here at this time,” I point out. “It’s way too early for normal people.”
“No, you’re up at this time; I am as well. Someone needs to remind you to eat.”
“Pass, but I appreciate it.”
She tuts as she helps me on with the coat. She brushes off the shoulders and turns me around, giving me a critical eye. “You’ve lost weight, Logan. I’m going to make you a nice hearty stew tonight, and you will eat it. I’ll leave it in the oven.”
“Promise,” I lie. I’ll probably forget. It’s not that I don’t want to eat; it’s just that I’m usually too busy.
Running Carter I can see her from here. She is the office manager and runs this ship like Nelson.
I give her a half-wave, which she returns and goes back to her work. I don’t expect her to be here at 6 AM. No one should be. Except me.
Pausing at Dolores’s desk, I reach over and flick the computer on. I use her log-in, which is updated at regular intervals, and where the IT guy, also a member of Solitaire due to his hacking skills, keeps me in the loop. You never know. And look, today, I need to know.
Glancing up at Allison, she can’t see Dolores’s station from where she is sitting.
I leave the computer to whirr into action and then walk past to my office. It’s gross misconduct to leave your computer unlocked and unattended. Due to the privacy issues that surround the law and the clients within this firm, it’s a necessity to keep everything as secure as we can.
Dolores has two choices. She can either come clean about leaving it unlocked, and I can fire her. Or she will pretend it never happened, and then I will have to confront her about it. The latter makes me sigh. The less interaction I have with her, the better.
Now, I just need to sit back and wait.