“Sorry, it’s been a crazy day. But I’m in my office now. We need to talk.”
“Boy, do we.”
Charli had never made it to her boss’s office so quickly. She swung open the door, her story ready to burst from her lips, but Trey’s grim expression halted her in her tracks.
He already knew. She could see it all over his face.
“Shut the door.” He pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “And sit.”
She clicked the door shut, then sank into the chair, her limbs half numb. “So Pete told you anyway.”
He looked to the ceiling, as if counting to ten in his head to calm down. “I told you to back off that fucking story, Beaumonde. But you had to keep pushing. Always pushing.”
She frowned. Wait, this wasn’t about the audiotape? “What are you talking about?”
He leaned onto his forearms, his gaze trapping her. “Any sane person would’ve dropped a story if they’d been run off the road and threatened. But no, you’re like a goddamned bulldog who keeps breaking its leash.”
Her blood chilled beneath her skin, her muscles going taut.
“You know anything about the company you work for, Charli? In all that dogged research, did you ever look at what percentage of the board of directors graduated from Dallas U?”
“Why would I research that?” She couldn’t wrap her thoughts around his question, her mind spinning, putting all the pieces in place.
“Because, those are the people who cut our fucking paychecks, Beaumonde,” he barked, his cheeks going ruddy. “The people I answer to. Men who would do anything to make sure their good names aren’t sullied and that their team keeps winning.”
Her stomach lurched as her brain caught up with the conversation, rage welling up inside her. Her own company had tried to shut her up—hurt her.
Trey shook his head, resignation settling like dust in the creases of his face. “I’ve always liked you, Charli. May have even loved you once upon a time.” He sighed. “I wanted to keep you out of it, tried to. But you couldn’t leave well enough alone. You were never good at listening.”
She wanted to yank him up by that collar of his and shake him. How dare he act like some martyr who’d tried to help her? “I was doing my job, Trey.”
“It’s not your job anymore, Charli. You’re fired.”
“What?” Red flooded her vision, his words like glass shattering in her brain. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and am.” He grabbed a sheet of paper from his printer and slid it across the desk. “We had Pete destroy all of your notes and facts. So, you have no proof of your story anymore. Plus, he got us the added bonus of your phone interlude with your boyfriend. Legitimate grounds for termination anyway.”
All she could do was stare at the notice of termination.
“Oh, and we talked to your source this morning, so don’t bother going back to him again. He no longer has any memory of speaking to you.”
She gasped, looking up from the document. “You hurt Rodney?”
He shrugged. “Hush money and a well-placed threat are much more effective than physical violence.”
Well, now she knew where Trey had gotten the money for that new Mercedes he was driving around. But apparently she wasn’t worth hush money. They were just getting rid of her. “So I’m just supposed to walk away?”
“If you don’t cause a fuss, we’ll just say you resigned. And believe me, Charli, you spill anything to anyone, you’re taking your life in your hands.” He rubbed a hand over his jawline, looking more weary than she ever remembered seeing him. “Their original plan was to get rid of you. They knew you didn’t really have any family around. It would take a few days for anyone to even notice you were gone. That accident on the road was just their first try.”
The cold wash of fear went all the way to her bones this time.
“If you hadn’t hightailed it to your boyfriend’s place, I’m not sure we’d be sitting here today.” His eyes shifted downward, some glimmer of guilt surfacing. “I convinced them to give me a chance to get some dirt on you, a way to get you out of this without them hurting you.”Author: Roni Loren
She wrapped her arms around herself, wondering if she was going into some stage of shock. “Why are you doing this?”
He twisted his college ring round and round his finger. “I haven’t changed that much since we dated. The stakes have just gotten higher.”
She thought back to all the times she’d lent him a few bucks here and there, the time he needed rent money in their junior year but really spent it playing cards.