“And I’m the CEO.” She headed for the door.
“You’ll regret this.” Noah’s voice followed her out.
Becky was there to meet her. “Are you okay?” She took the tablet from Angelica’s hands.
“I’m fine. Really fine.” A weight felt like it had been literally lifted from Angelica’s shoulders.
“Can I get you anything?” asked Becky, her glance going furtively over her shoulder to where security was escorting Noah and Ken the opposite direction down the hallway.
“I’m heading down to twenty-one. Can you free up my next two hours?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you.” Angelica pushed the button for the elevator.
She made her way to the twenty-first floor, to Reece Ogden-Neeves’s office.
“Angelica?” He looked surprised, but quickly asked the man and woman in his office to excuse them.
“I’m sorry to barge in,” she began as he closed the door behind them.
“Not at all.” He motioned to a chair at the meeting table next to his picture window.
Angelica couldn’t help but note that L.A. was moving along as normal. Traffic was brisk. The flags were blowing. And clouds were moving in from the ocean. It was going to be another beautiful afternoon.
She sat down, and Reece took the chair opposite.
“I’ve just fired Noah and Ken,” she told him without preamble.
The surprise was clear on Reece’s face.
“Louie is next.”
“I see.”
“I’ve decided to create two senior vice president positions, one for core operations and one for new ventures and expansion. My initial thought was you for core operations and Max Truger for expansion.”
“So, you’re not firing me?”
Angelica cracked a smile. “No, I’m not firing you.”
“I wasn’t sure there for a moment.”
“Did I bury the lead?”
He grinned. “You did. And Max Truger?”
“What do you think?”
“I think he’s great. He’s smart, innovative and fearless.”
“Is fearless bad or good?”
“Depends on your tolerance for risk.”
“High,” she answered.
Today it was very high. She was taking risks at Lassiter Media, starting now. But she was about to take an even bigger, personal risk right afterward.
“Then Max is your guy.”
“I need people I can trust,” she told Reece. “People who see the future the way I see it, and in whom I can put a lot of faith and decision-making power. This isn’t a one-woman operation.”
“It’s not,” Reece agreed.
“Are you up for the challenge?”
“I am.”
Angelica rose, and Reece stood with her.
“I’m going to fire Louie now,” she said. “After that, you want to come to Cheyenne and help me promote Max?”
Reece reached out to shake her hand, his smile going wide. “I’d like nothing better.”
“The car will be out front in half an hour. It’ll be a whirlwind trip. I have something I need to do in L.A. tonight.”
* * *
Evan was in no rush to get home. His flight left for Frankfurt at nine in the morning, and he didn’t feel like facing an empty apartment tonight. Instead, he levered himself into a high leather seat in the Sagittarius sports bar. The chair was comfortable. The brickwork detail and low lighting gave a pleasing ambiance. And a major league game was just getting underway on the big screen.
He ordered a beer from the bartender. Barry was the man’s name, and Evan had spoken with him a few times over the past week. But tonight, Evan didn’t want to chat. He wanted to think. He wanted to sort through his emotions fully and finally, and leave it all behind when he got on the plane.
Maybe he would have a fling in Paris. Why not? Celibacy wasn’t a realistic long-term strategy. He might as well get started now. Get that first encounter under his belt, and maybe it would become easier with time.
“This seat taken?” The soft voice sent a shot of reaction up his spine.
He turned slowly to see Angie standing beside him. She looked gorgeous and uncertain. Her hair was half up, half down, softly curled. She was wearing a pale pink dress with spaghetti straps and a layered skirt.
“Can I get you a drink?” asked the bartender.
“Brandonville Chablis,” Evan quickly answered for her, hoping she’d feel obligated to stay for a while.
She climbed up onto the seat. “I was on my way home from work.”
“Dressed like that?”
“I changed before I left the office.” She set a small purse down on the bar. “I...uh...well. I wanted to give you something.”
She reached out her hand, opening her fist.
He looked down and saw the circle of his engagement ring sitting in her palm. His heart froze, sending a sharp pain through the middle of his chest.
He’d known it would hurt. But he hadn’t expected to feel like he was drowning. For a split second, he wondered if he’d ever breathe again.
“Charade’s over?” he managed.
“Charade’s over.”
When he didn’t take the ring, she set it on the bar in front of them. He couldn’t bring himself to look at it.
“I fired Noah today,” she told him conversationally.
The bartender set down the glass of Chablis. He glanced at Evan, looking like he might join in the conversation. But Evan’s expression obviously warned him off, and he moved briskly away.
“Probably a good call,” Evan told her.
“Then I fired Ken.”
That got Evan’s attention.
“Well,” she continued. “I actually fired them both at the same time.”
“What happened?”
She toyed with the stem of her wineglass. “You were right, and I was wrong.”
He gave his head a little shake. “Excuse me?”
She looked at him. “Are you going to make me say it again? Because it’s embarrassing. It seems you can run Lassiter Media better than me.”
He struggled to wrap his head around her words. “What happened?”
“They were sabotaging me.”
He paused. “Somehow, that doesn’t come as a complete shock.”
“I mean, it’s one thing to disagree with your boss. And it’s one thing to press your point. But to try to make something fail? To waste the company’s resources? No. That wasn’t going to happen. I fired Louie too.” She lifted the glass to her lips.
“He was in on it?” Evan asked.
“Thick as thieves. I’ve never done anything like that before.” She took another drink. “I need this.”
Evan resisted an urge to take her hand. “I’m proud of you, Angie.”
“Thank you. I’m a little proud of myself.”
“You should be.” His glance went to the diamond ring on the polished bar top.
“I promoted Reece.”
“Reece is a good man.”
Evan realized that Angie had finally come to her senses. The woman he loved was back, but she was breaking up with him all over again. The pain in his chest radiated out.
“We went to Cheyenne together.”
“You and Reece?”
She nodded, and Evan felt a stab of jealousy.
He reached out and picked up the ring. That was it, then. It was over. He dropped the ring into his shirt pocket. He was going to have to stay away from Reece Ogden-Neeves for a while. Otherwise, he might end up with an assault charge on his record.
“I wanted Reece to be there when I promoted Max Truger. I’m really going to count on the two of them.”
“You promoted Max?” Evan couldn’t help but be pleased about that.
Angie turned and looked him in the eyes; hers were soft and fathomlessly dark. “You were right, and I was wrong. I need help at the top. I need it from people I can trust. And then I need to back off and let them do their jobs, so I can have a life.”
He loved her. He loved her so much it hurt.
His throat was raw. “But you’re giving me back the ring?”
“The engagement was fake, Evan.”
He knew that. But it didn’t change how he felt.
“I don’t want a fake engagement.” Her gaze fixed on his shirt pocket. “If I’m going to wear that ring again, it has to be real.”
It took a moment for her words to penetrate. When they did, he couldn’t believe it. “Are you saying...?”
She nodded.
He came to his feet, his body all but vibrating with joy. But this couldn’t happen here. It couldn’t happen in a sports bar.
He drew her from her chair, then out of the bar, down the wide hallway. It took him a moment to figure out where to go. But then he used his access key to let them into the dim, closed spa. He pushed the door shut, locking it behind them.
“Marry me,” he told her, wrapping her in his arms. “Marry me, marry me, marry me.”
“Yes,” she answered simply, her dark eyes shimmering.
He kissed her then, deeply, thoroughly, passionately.
“I love you, Angie.”
“I love you, Evan. I never thought I’d get to say that again.”
He scooped her into his arms. “Say it as much as you like. Say it every day.” He started to walk.
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know.” He made his way down a narrow hallway. “I’ve never been in here. But I’m betting there’s something back here that resembles a bed.”