Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
This is the last damn time this guy’s giving me an order.
“Jake,” I tell him, my eyes on my screen. “You may have been on my payroll for a solid decade, but I’m telling you now, you tell me what to do again, and I’ll fire your ass.”
“Please,” he says, pleading. “You hired me to tell you what to do. And I made that contract for you. I know you’re with that girl who’s spearheading this.”
A choked sound comes from the other room, but if he hears it, he doesn’t react.
“She’s an instigator,” he mutters.
I swivel to look at him and clench my jaw to stop from hauling him by the fucking collar over my desk. I take in a deep breath then let it out slowly. This guy is on my last damn nerve. I’m closing this deal that’s pending, then having Mandy scout another lawyer next week. I’m done with his bullshit.
“I do not hire you to tell me what to do,” I say, my voice tight with anger. “I hire you to defend me in court when necessary. I know what to do. What I do not know is the ins and outs of the legal system.” He opens his mouth then closes it and sighs, but I have the distinct feeling his attitude is fake, and he’s simmering hot under that collar.
“Sorry,” he says. “But I’m worried about the ramifications of this.”
“Why? Who the hell cares?”
“I care,” he says, slamming his finger on the paper, and I finally look at the headline. When I do, I feel like someone’s just dumped a bucket of ice water down my chest.
It’s a picture of a pink square thing that says Instagrammer on Crusade Against Big Business, and beside the image is a picture of Cora.
Jesus.
Did this have anything to do with why she stormed into my office this morning?
I grab the paper out of Jake’s fat hands and spread it out to read it.
Last night at midnight, college student Cora Myers began an online petition that went viral. Protesting what she calls “Wall Street’s Pompous Elite,” Myers and half a dozen of her environmentalist counterparts filed a complaint last month with the New York City Counsel of Ecological Advancement and Agriculture, but a judge dismissed their petition before it went to court. Undeterred, Myers and her friends decided to take it a step further than court and brought their axes to grind on social media.
I continue reading the article in stunned silence. I told her to continue her crusade, because I didn’t want her fight to interfere with our relationship. But this still takes me by surprise.
Last night at ten o’clock, she was trussed up in the navy room at Verge, my rope criss-crossing under her breasts and thighs like she was a present under the Christmas tree, before I fingered her pussy and fucked her ass. She came harder than I’ve ever seen her come and passed out in my bed.
According to this paper, she put this petition up an hour later?
If the papers knew anything about our personal relationship…
Jesus.
“Well, I don’t know what they can really do,” I tell him. “The deal is all but signed.”
“All but signed,” Jake says. “For Christ’s sake, Liam. Aren’t you listening at all?”
I don’t respond because I’m trying to prevent myself from breaking his goddamn nose.
“They’re preventing the signing. This petition’s gotten the attention of the most prominent public figures, and they’re trying to put an end to this.”
I don’t give a shit about paving the fucking Greenery.
I do give a shit that she posted this online right after I fucked her perfect little ass.
“On what grounds?” I ask him. “It’s a solid deal.”
“On the grounds of the physical health of the city’s citizens,” he says, rolling his eyes. “This girl has stepped in where she doesn’t belong despite your contract.”
“The contract is almost up,” I tell him, trying to end this discussion. “And anyway, the truth is, it’s void anyway. Screw the contract.”
It could be my imagination, but I think I hear a sound in the other room.
“Good. I thought you’d come to your senses,” he says. “So she’s a non-issue.”
He doesn’t know how I’ve wrestled with this. Non-issue? Ha.
It’s everything else that’s become a non-issue.
I clench my hands under the desk. God, how satisfying would it be to deck him. Yeah, she’s made my job infinitely harder and I want answers, but that doesn’t give him the right to say a damn thing against her.
He sighs and shakes his head. “Still, I’m not sure I can stop this, Liam.”
“Good. Don’t.”
He blinks and gets to his feet, his red face turning purple. “So, you’re really going to just let this slutty girl come into your life and wreck things?”
I get to my feet and plant my hands on the desk to prevent myself from breaking his nose. Assaulting a lawyer like him would not be good. “Wreck things?” I ask in a deadly calm voice that belies the fury that rips through me. Hell, she hasn’t wrecked anything. She’s fixed what I didn’t even know was broken. “Get out,” I order. “I expect your resignation by noon. Drop the case, and invoice me for your time.”