Chapter 34
Andi walked into the conference room in San Francisco, her eyes fixated on the diamond ring and not on the glorious view outside the windows. The Bay Bridge was off in the distance and there were about a hundred small sailboats dancing about in the bay.
Life was pretty perfect.
“You’re late again,” a male voice snapped, interrupting Andi’s happy contemplations.
Andi looked up to find Jonas sitting at a desk outside Laith’s office.
Sick of Jonas’ snide tone, Andi refused to accept his bad attitude any longer. “Well, aren’t you just a bundle of sunshine today!” she teased. She walked over and perched a hip on the corner of his desk. “Why do you hate me so much?”
Jonas rolled his eyes and pointedly moved a stack of files further away from Andi’s hip, as if her proximity might contaminate the documents.
“Because you’re just a slut who slept her way to the top.
” He glared at Andi. “It’s not going to work, you know.
This affair you’re having with the boss is going to end soon, and you’ll be fired.
” He sneered at her. “Women don’t know how to work hard to get the job done properly .
” He pulled back, but maintained his glare.
“Maybe, if you kept your legs closed, you could get a job without sleeping with the boss.”
Jonas turned away from Andi to pick up his tablet.
“Jonas,” Laith’s deep voice broke through the tense silence. “You’re fired.”
Jonas turned around, his mouth falling open. Then his expression turned into anger. “You can’t fire me because I’m telling her the truth!”
“I can,” Laith replied calmly, leaning a shoulder against the frame of his office doorway.
“And I just did.” He pushed away from the door.
“Drop the tablet, grab your gear and get out of my building. I’ll provide airfare back to Philadelphia, but after that, you’re on your own.
” He leaned forward, bracing his hands on Jonas’ desk.
“No one should speak to their co-workers like that!”
“But…!” Jonas started to argue, glancing between Laith and Andi.
Laith lifted a hand, stopping Jonas from continuing.
“I don’t care what you think of the employees in my businesses.
You treated Andi unfairly. And because you deliberately shifted her out of first class, you will be provided economy class fare back to Pennsylvania.
” He lowered his voice, his eyes furious. “Now, get the hell out of here!”
One of Laith’s bodyguards stepped up to Jonas’ desk, putting a hand on the man’s upper arm. “I’ll escort you out, Jonas.”
Jonas tried to pull his arm away, but the guard tightened his grip and dragged him out of the office.
Andi turned to Laith, her smile a bit tremulous. His hands were heavy on her hips as she said, “I had no idea that he held that much animosity towards me.”
“The team’s job is to figure out the bad elements so that, once my brother and I hire a director to run the company, everything will run smoothly.
” He kissed her. “After the revelations about Lawrence’s sadistic hobbies and Jonas’ misogyny, seems like you’re doing an excellent job.
If Jonas was treating you poorly, he was probably treating other women badly too.
You just brought his disrespect out into the light. Thank you!”
Andi chuckled and kissed him back. “I love you.”
He grinned and pulled her closer. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that. But keep on thinking about how much you love me. Because this weekend, I’m flying you home so you can meet my family.”
“Are they that bad?”
He sighed heavily, his expression grim. “They are that overwhelming.”