Chapter 26 #2
“You own a multibillion-dollar company. You didn’t get there by having to ask people what belongs in an NDA.
” I repeated part of what he’d said before.
“But if you need specifics, I want it in writing that I can’t be terminated, passed over for promotions, or face any other professional repercussions because of what happened between us.
I want assurance that any complaints I make about harassment or misconduct will be taken seriously and investigated properly, regardless of whom the complaint is against. And I want a clause that prevents either party from using this weekend as leverage against the other. Personally or professionally.”
“You’re immensely intriguing, you know that?
” I hated the heart in his eyes and the way that his lips continued to curl slightly in apparent admiration.
“I will have my lawyer send it to you by the end of the day, but before I do …” He rubbed the side of his face.
Which I totally ignored how sexy that looked.
Nope. “As far as what happened between us, I suppose I’m curious what your thoughts are. ”
Even his word choices this morning were totally different. I guess your tone was very different when you were holding someone’s sex to your face versus, you know, whatever this was.
“What my thoughts are?”
He looked at me. Guarded, apprehensive. “If there wasn’t a policy against it, would you want this weekend to never be spoken of again?”
“It’s the most professional course of action. In fact, after this meeting, we shouldn’t be seen together again. Someone could get the wrong idea and cause a lot of trouble.”
That part about us not seeing each other made his face tighten. “Is that what you want?”
This was exactly what I was talking about. This was what I wanted to avoid. Every conversation, every word was a power play.
“There is no good way for me to answer that question. If I tell you that I want to continue, that’s inappropriate and violates company policies.
” And puts the ball in your court to potentially reject me.
“If I tell you that I want to move on and never think of it again, your ego could get bruised. So, respectfully, I choose not to answer that question.”
“In my presence, I prefer you to be unfiltered.”
“That’s unfortunate since you’re the boss of the entire company. Every word I speak needs to be filtered.”
“I disagree. I want you to be at ease around me.”
“All right then. Consider me at ease.”
But he looked displeased, sensing the wall that had come up around me. “You needn’t be worried around me, Scarlett.”
Needn’t. The fact that this dude was someone who used the word needn’t in a sentence told me I absolutely needed to be worried about him.
“Sure. Okay then.” I smiled.
Again, he looked annoyed. It was like he could hear my professional words but was frustrated that he couldn’t decipher what I was really thinking in my head.
“Is that all?” I asked in a very polite and friendly tone. “Because I have a meeting I need to attend to.”
“Your meeting with HR.”
I tried to keep my smile, but, goddammit, the blood decided to drop from my face. “How do you know about that?”
“I took the liberty of looking at your calendar.”
“For what purpose?” I demanded.
“I wanted to see who you had meetings with today.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t strike me as the type of woman who backs down from a fight. And after what you confided in me this weekend, I figured you would come in Monday morning swinging.”
I wanted to tell him that he knew nothing about me. I had given little crumbs, that was it, and even that felt like a violation now. How dare he think he knew me well enough to know what I would do today about Grabby Hands?
It pissed me off even more that he was completely right.
“You’re nervous about the meeting,” he sensed.
“I’m not,” I lied.
Jace looked down at my red nails, which had entire bites taken out of them. Seriously, a couple of them probably looked like I put them in a wood chipper.
“You don’t chew your nails.” His tone was soft.
I hated that he knew that about me. Every glimpse into my soul felt like something he could hold over me, evidence or an asset he could use as collateral.
I didn’t want him to know anything about me.
I wanted to take it all back; every morsel of anything he’d garnered about me was mine and mine alone.
“Maybe I do,” I suggested.
“You don’t,” he pressed, which had me clenching those nails into my palms. “You didn’t chew them once this weekend.”
Well, a) I was too busy having him lick my sex until I orgasmed all over his face. And b) FYI, he was the reason I’d ruined my manicure, not Grabby Hands. But I didn’t say that.
Instead, I went with, “Well, if you’ll excuse me.”
“I’m not finished.”
The formality and domineering tone of his voice stopped me cold.
“Give me his name,” Jace insisted.
“Pardon me?”
“The man who put his hands on you. He works at this company. I want to know who that is.”
I swallowed, shock and fear battling it out in my chest. My heart started pounding, and my palms started sweating.
I had spent last night thinking about what I would say to HR, and already, there had been a huge complication, learning that Grabby Hands was actually part of Jace’s organization.
I needed to talk to somebody I trusted about this, somebody who didn’t wield immense power over me the way that Jace did.
In short, I needed to figure out my exact play because once I uttered the words, pointing an accusing finger, there would be no taking it back.
I’d have no control over what happened next. I was far too protective of my career to allow that to happen.
“You’ll tell me who did this to you,” Jace pressed.
“Will I?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Because you’re my boss?”
“Scarlett—”
“I don’t even have an NDA protecting me yet,” I pointed out. “Once I have that, I’ll take this under advisement, but for the record, HR is the department responsible for fielding concerns over employees. Not the owner.”
“HR reports to me.”
“Then you can rest assured they will handle this.”
“I don’t want them to handle it. I want to handle it.” Jace’s jaw tightened, his voice bordering on anger.
“Why?”
“Because he did it to you. He put his hands on you.”
Everything crystallized into a single, frozen moment.
The air between us charged with electricity, time suspended, preserving his revelation as his eyes darkened to forest green, blazing with a possessive fury that stole my breath.
My heart began thundering again, this time so hard that I wondered if he could hear it.
Because that tone? That wasn’t just a boss protecting an employee.
That was pure, primal male, protecting what he considered his.
And, God help me, some deep, primitive part of me responded to it.
“I’ll consider giving you his name after I have agreed to the terms of the NDA.” The minute I reported the guy, Jace could find out anyway from HR. Hell, he might even have his entire HR team on alert for any complaints. You know, under the guise of smooth transitions.
The thing was, while I wanted to be offended by the power play, I liked how protective Jace sounded when he demanded the guy’s name.
I liked the look of vengeance that flashed through his eyes, the tension in his jaw, like he was imagining what he’d do to the guy when he found him.
I liked that the thought of someone hurting me bothered him.
What did that say about me?
“I’ll uncover the truth. One way or the other.” His voice carried the weight of absolute certainty.
“Perhaps I’ll reschedule my meeting with HR.” I kept my tone light. “You know, until I have that NDA.”
His chest expanded with a sharp intake of breath, jaw tightening. Poor billionaire. Probably the first time today someone hadn’t jumped to fulfill his command.
“Even if you don’t report him, how many bosses can you have?”
I smiled, slowly and deliberately, before raising an eyebrow.
The old owner had loved his “horizontal” org structure, which meant, technically, I had quite the collection of bosses.
Eight, if you counted “dotted line” reporting relationships.
Seven of whom were men. And let’s not forget, Grabby Hands, who wasn’t even officially one of them.
The power shifted back to my court like a perfectly executed chess move.
“More than you think,” I replied sweetly. Good luck solving that puzzle, Mr. Lockwood.
“I will find out who did this to you.” His words came out like a promise. Or a threat.
We’ll see about that.