Chapter 25
SCARLETT
“He wants to see you in his office?” Dakota’s eyes rounded.
“In fifteen minutes.” I eyed the clock like it was a ticking bomb.
“What do you think he’s going to say?”
I dragged a hand through my hair. “No idea. Based on the look he gave me from the stage, he was as shocked as I was about this little plot twist. Probably wants to do damage control. Tell me to pack my bags.” My laugh came out hollow, the kind that belonged in a haunted house soundtrack.
“That’s the worst-case scenario bouncing around my panicking brain right now. ”
“He’s probably panicking a little bit too.”
“He has no reason to panic.” I started reorganizing my desk for the third time because nothing says I’m totally fine like alphabetizing your paper clips.
“He owns the company. I’m the one whose career is dangling by a thread.
Would it have killed him to give me one day to process before summoning me to his office? ”
Dakota tapped her fingers against my desk, a human metronome counting down to my demise.
“Was I imagining it, or were you more shocked than I was to see him?” I questioned.
Her lips thinned. “I should have recognized him at the bar, but it’s been so long. When he said his name onstage, it clicked. He’s … an old family friend.”
“Wait, you know him?” I practically shrieked.
“Not really,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “I think I met him a couple times, over a decade ago. Look, this isn’t the headline here, and it’s completely irrelevant to what’s happening now.” She shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. “Back to you and your crisis.”
I stared at her. Dakota knowing Jace, even barely, felt like too much of a coincidence. But something in her posture told me to back off, and honestly? I had bigger problems. Maybe I’d circle back to this when my world wasn’t imploding.
“Anyway,” she said, “maybe it’s good to get the awkward conversation over with?”
It took me a second to fully focus back on the problem at hand.
“What if it’s not just awkward?” I challenged.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m kind of a liability to him.” My stomach rolled with a fresh wave of unease. “What if he’s going to demand I resign?”
Note: She didn’t say that’d never happen. Instead, she took a beat. A long one. The kind of pause that made you wonder if she was mentally updating your résumé for you.
“Okay, look.” She finally spoke. “There’s no sense spiraling through worst-case scenarios.”
“I don’t want this to be the reason I lose my career, Dakota.
” My voice cracked. “I’ve worked so hard, fought against so many obstacles.
Put my heart and soul into this job. And now, what?
It all gets stripped away because the one time—the ONE time!
—I let myself have a carefree weekend, it blows up in my face? ”
I slumped back in my chair, staring at the ceiling.
“You know what’s really messed up? I didn’t even realize how much I needed that weekend until it happened.
Last night, I went to bed smiling. Woke up smiling.
Started thinking maybe I should let my guard down more often.
Maybe even—God, this is embarrassing—maybe even try actual romance.
” My laugh came out bitter. “What are the odds? Years I’ve worked at this company, and the one weekend I decide to live a little …
” I gestured helplessly. “It’s like the cosmos waited for me to finally have fun just so it could point and laugh. ”
“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Dakota leaned forward. “You said Jace seemed like a really nice guy. I doubt he’s going to fire you over this.”
I pressed my fingers against my temple, willing away the growing headache.
“Well, bright side? If Jace fires me, I won’t have to stress about that HR meeting anymore. Though, at this point, that feels like choosing between a root canal and a colonoscopy.”
“Speaking of which …” Dakota straightened. “What are you going to tell them about Grabby Hands?”
It took me a second to get out of my own head and transition from my thoughts of Jace to the very important meeting I had in front of me with HR. The one I had prepared for with the diligence of someone planning a bank heist.
I pulled out my carefully crafted bullet-point list on my phone, trying to ignore how my hands trembled slightly.
“Everything.” I tapped the screen with my pen.
“Starting with how he strategically scheduled the interview for four forty-five on a Friday. He had three months to learn the culture of the organization, to learn that the office clears out by four thirty on Fridays, virtually guaranteeing no one would be here to witness anything.”
Dakota’s eyes narrowed. “Calculated bastard.”
“Oh, it gets better.” I started checking off points.
“I’m going to describe every slimy innuendo, every lingering look that made my skin crawl.
How he implied the promotion was mine if I did whatever he wanted.
” My throat tightened. “I’m going to detail exactly where his hands went, what he said while he was at it, and especially his charming parting threats when I walked away. ”
“Welcome back.” Dakota smiled. “This morning after the company meeting, you seemed rattled. It’s nice to see you back to your strong self.”
“I’m not stopping there,” I clarified. “I want them combing through his employment history. Every company, every boss, every HR department.” My finger tapped on the side of my phone. “Because I’ll bet my next three paychecks, I’m not his first victim. But I’m damn well going to be his last.”
Dakota shook her head in pride. “Thorough.”
“Oh, I’m not done.” I leaned forward. “I’m requesting interviews with every other candidate who applied for the promotion. Give them a safe space to come forward, you know? Because if he did this to me …”
“You think there are others here?”
“I think we’re about to find out.” I tried to ignore the knot in my stomach.
“And if the company doesn’t fire him?”
“Then I walk.” The words came out firmly, despite the way my heart clenched.
“I can’t work somewhere that treats sexual harassment as a corporate perk.
The higher up you are, the more responsibility you have to set an example.
If they let this slide …” I shook my head.
“That’s not a culture I want any part of. ”
Dakota stared at my list. “You’ve really thought this through.”
“Hence the cheat sheet.” I waved the digital list. “My memory tends to get spotty when I’m fantasizing about throat-punching someone.”
“You’re doing the right thing, you know.”
“Yeah, well …” My phone buzzed, and I froze mid-sentence, staring at the company-wide announcement. The blood drained from my face as I pieced it together.
That merger everyone had been whispering about? Turned out, several new hires were actually from our parent company, Lockwood Holdings.
Including one particular handsy executive who’d gotten way too familiar with my personal space.
“What?” Dakota leaned forward. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
I let out a sigh that sounded more like a wheeze. “Guess who’s actually a Lockwood Holdings executive?”
“No.” Dakota’s eyes went wide. “Mr. Grabby Hands works for—”
“The company that literally owns us now? Yep.” I stared at my meticulously crafted bullet-point list. All those perfectly planned words suddenly felt like a loaded gun pointed at my own head.
“But Jace wouldn’t let—”
“Jace?” I barked out another hollow laugh, leaning in to whisper, “Dakota, all I really know about Jace is that he gives spectacular orgasms. A company that size? He’s not running it alone. There’s a board, probably armies of lawyers who specialize in making problems disappear.”
“You’re not a problem,” Dakota hissed.
“No? Because from where I’m sitting, I’m about to accuse a high-ranking executive of sexual harassment right in the middle of a bazillion-dollar acquisition.
” My hands started to shake. “You know what corporations call people like that? Liability. Risk. Threat. The corporate equivalent of finding a cockroach in your fancy restaurant meal.”
I slumped back in my chair, the weight of reality crushing down.
“And now the timing looks suspicious as hell. They’ll say I’m trying to sabotage the merger, or extort money, or, God, I don’t even know what they’ll say.
But guess which story’s easier to believe: the lying opportunist trying to cause trouble or the poor, misunderstood executive who’s just trying to smooth the transition of power? ”
Dakota reached across the desk and grabbed my trembling hands. “So, what are you going to do?”
I looked down at my list again. The right thing to do was so clear an hour ago. Now? The list might as well have been titled The Complete Guide to Career Suicide: A Memoir.
“I don’t know.” My voice came out unsteadily. “But I have a feeling I’m about to find out exactly how deep this rabbit hole goes. And whether I’m Alice or the sacrificial rabbit.”
The fact that she couldn’t come up with something to try and reassure me was quite telling. She absolutely thought I was screwed. If not from Grabby Hands, then from Jace himself. Speaking of which …
I glanced at the time.
“Crap,” I said. “I have to head up to his office. Maybe I should stop by the bathroom first and practice my I’ve seen you naked, but now I’m totally professional face.”
Dakota swallowed, trying to pretend she wasn’t nervous for me.
“Good luck,” she managed.
“Yeah.” I stood. “I’ll need it.”