Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
K ent worked steadily on his cases all morning. He only stopped working twice to take two phone calls. The conversation with DA Fisher didn’t last long. He was satisfied after talking with him that Garrett had done what he’d asked him to do.
After finishing the lunch that Mrs. Boward had gone out to get him, he was throwing the bag away when Jackal called on his burner phone.
“No luck finding out who accepted the hit on Sage. Still working on it.”
“Then why did you call?” Kent asked him impatiently, looking at the mound of paperwork on his desk.
“I might not have found who accepted the contract on Sage, but I found out something else you should know.”
As he listened to the information Jackal had found, the work piled on his desk took on less importance, and he started fully listening to what he was saying.
“Are you one hundred percent positive?” Kent asked placidly when Jackal finished. He wanted to shout out a litany of profanity, but he had to remember Mrs. Boward would be able to hear him.
“Put it this motherfucking way.” Jackal, on the other hand, didn’t have the same problem; he could release his anger without any qualms. “I had Shade look at the reports I managed to get a hold of, and he agreed with me.”
“When do you and Ice plan to go back to Queen City?
“Tomorrow,” Jackal snapped, his anger still evident.
“I need you and Ice to stay a few days longer. Where are you staying?”
“We were crashing at the Best Western.”
“Check out of there. I’ll reserve two rooms for you and Ice at the Casino Hotel. The rooms will be in my name. Just stop by the desk when you get there, and the keycards will be ready for you.”
“We can’t afford to stay there.” Jackal’s anger had subsided.
“Don’t worry about the cost,” Kent assured him. “It will be my treat.”
Disconnecting the call, he worked on getting Thad Wilson’s case dismissed.
He had spent numerous hours studying the case documents and transcripts of testimonies given to the grand jury.
An hour ago, he had found a way to get the case dismissed.
He was going to need the continuance for Thad to come back to the United States without facing legal charges.
Flipping the folder closed, he called Mrs. Boward into his office.
“Yes, sir?”
Kent gestured toward the stack of files on his desk. “You can return those back to the file room.”
“I’ll take care of them now. I was on my way in to see you when you called. I just received an email from Mr. Hollingsworth’s office. There will be a mandatory meeting in an hour. All the firm’s employees are expected to attend.”
“Thank you. I’ll make sure I’ll be there.”
Mrs. Boward gathered the files then left his office.
He wondered who Garrett had chosen to take over the firm. He really didn’t care one way or the other who it would be. Regardless of whether he was chosen or not to head Hollingsworth, he wouldn’t be leaving for Queen City anytime soon. Too many people needed him here, regardless if they wanted him.
He was used to being a villain. Heros were given all the fame and glory for catching villains, while villains were hated if they won a battle.
Luckily, he had thick skin. What people didn’t get was that sometimes, despite all the hero’s strength and courage, a villain could still get away to create havoc.
Sometimes, it took another villain to destroy them …
or like what gamers liked to call them—anti-heroes.
Giving up finding a seat in the overcrowded conference room, Kent spied Sage standing next to Mrs. Boward on the opposite side of the room.
Assuming Garrett had fired her already, he found it curious she had come to the meeting.
He found a space to stand between Jeffrey and his assistant, when Kent saw Garrett walk into the room from the doorway near where Sage was standing.
Striding confidently toward the front of the conference table, instead of sitting down, Garrett raised his hand to draw everyone’s attention.
“I want to apologize for the late notice on this meeting, but as my employees, I’ve always thought of you as my extended family. I felt it imperative to make an announcement concerning Hollingsworth before you hear the news from another source.”
Bullshit , Kent thought, his mind more on Sage than the crap Garrett was about to spew.
“In the best interest of the business I created, I have reached a settlement with the DA so as not to tarnish the reputation I have tried so hard to attain in the legal field. To this end, I have also decided to step down and allow my successor to restore Hollingsworth to the sterling reputation the firm had before several mistakes, which I had no knowledge of but, as head of the firm, I felt it was my responsibility to take accountability for. I will also be atoning for those mistakes to the best of my capability. To achieve that goal, I have carefully chosen my successor, who will lead Hollingsworth into a bright future, ensuring the firm’s doors will remain open for those who need our legal expertise.
Kent Bryant, I am sure, will make that possible.
Congratulations, Kent! You are the new head of Hollingsworth! ”
Kent bet a grand that Garrett had to have drunk a full bottle of brandy to have choked that speech out.
Finding himself inundated with congratulations, he saw Sage slip out of the room.
He was forced to stay and accept several well wishes, so he couldn’t chase after her immediately.
He made an excuse as soon as possible, not bothering going to the file room to find her.
Instead, he decided to take the risk she would be at the bus stop.
Downcast, Sage was just sitting on the bench, staring off into space, as the bus pulled away from the curb.
Quietly, he walked toward her. “Sage.”
She bitterly glanced up at him. “Please, go away.”
“You missed your bus. Let me drive you home.”
Turning her head sideways, Sage stood up from the bench, looking at the street in the direction the bus had gone. When she took out her cell and started scrolling through her apps, he knew she was about to order a ride.
“Let me drive you home,” he repeated.
“I wouldn’t let you drive me home if I had to walk barefoot over hot coals to get there.”
Wincing, he shoved his hands in his slacks’ pockets. “I know you hate me—”
Sage jerked her eyes to his. “I more than hate you … I loathe you.” She took a step toward him as if she wanted to scratch his eyes out.
He hadn’t seen this passionate side of her when he had fucked her. He wasn’t surprised, though. Betrayal did have that effect on some people. The more closed off they were, the more sense of betrayal they felt.
“I understand that’s how you feel,” he tried to assuage her feelings, aware it was going to be an uphill battle, but he had never backed away from a fight, and he wasn’t going to start now.
“You’ll never understand how I feel nor care enough about me to have any inkling of how badly you’ve hurt me! Not only did you deliberately chase after me to encourage me to fall in love with you, you used my feelings to get something you wanted.”
He didn’t flinch at the contemptuous way she was looking him over from head to toe.
“You got every thing you wanted, and some of what you took, you didn’t want at all,” she insinuated furiously.
Kent frowned at her. “What in the fuck are you implying?” He snapped his mouth closed as one of two passengers waiting to get on the next bus, who were raptly listening to their argument, shifted. The man was subtly trying to record them.
“Implying? If you don’t understand what I said, let me make it clearer for you—”
“We’re being recorded.” Kent lowered his face. “Do you want what happened between us all over the Internet? Let me drive you home, and you can say anything you want to me in the car.”
Stricken, Sage turned her head toward the two men waiting a few inches away. The one recording them quickly lowered his phone and began talking to the other.
Unashamedly taking advantage of her embarrassment, Kent grabbed her arm lightly before walking her away from the bus stop.
“I hate you.” She fervently shrugged away from him.
When they reached his car, he opened the door for her. “Please, Sage, get inside.”
Inwardly sighing when she finally climbed inside the SUV, he shut the door before walking around to get inside.
“I’m done talking to you. Just take me home.” She pointedly ignored him as she stared out the window, not even glancing at him as he drove out of the garage. However, he took a longer route to her apartment.
“You might not want to talk, but I do. I admit I lied to you. I did use you. I used Livvy as well. I feel regret I used you. I don’t where Livvy is concerned.
I needed a file out of the file room. Glenda would have dragged her dead body to work if she had to before she retired.
I admit Desmond and I saw how Livvy and her posse treated you at lunch the day she stiffed you with the lunch bill.
I could tell from the way you reacted that you’re …
” Kent tried to think of a delicate word that wouldn’t hurt her further.
“That I was a pushover,” she cut in sharply.
Grimacing, he nodded. “I put the bug in Garrett’s ear what Livvy had done, and Desmond wasn’t happy that she had taken advantage of you. That’s why you were given the promotion.”
“I see.” Sage still refused to look at him as he talked.
“That’s when I started pursuing you. You’re just as conscientious as Glenda. I had to give you a good enough reason to want to take off for the day.”
“Congratulations, you accomplished your mission. Are you finished? I only listened so you’ll leave me alone once I step out of this car. I don’t want your explanations. There isn’t one thing you can say to make me forgive you.”
She was right. No explanations from him were ever going to make her feel better or heal the breach between them.
“You have whatever file you wanted, which I assume is why Garrett stepped down. At least you let Livvy do that dirty work for you. From what I heard, she was much better fulfilling all your needs.”
Yeah, Sage wasn’t going to be forgiving him anytime soon, if ever. Still, despite that thought, she deserved an explanation.
“Garrett has been stealing from his clients for years. He was going to win the fraud case brought against him, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Are you trying to make yourself out to be the good guy?” Unable to help herself, she swung her gaze toward his.
“No, I’m not a good guy,” he admitted, finding it easier to talk when she wasn’t staring at him as if he were a slug.
He pulled into a parking spot in front of her building and cut the engine off. “What I am is a man who can save your life,” he said when she immediately reached for the door handle.
“You think I was so in love I can’t survive without you?” she scoffed at him. “You’re delusional if you believe that I can’t survive without you.” The contemptuous look she gave his crotch would have had him covering his dick self-consciously if he were a less confident man.
Not wanting to be drawn into an argument about his sexual performance, which he considered above par since she had never been with a man before, it was quicker to get to the point he had meant.
“Not without me, you won’t. Sage, Victoria Ashwood has put a contract out on your life.”