The doors opened with a ding, and a woman was standing there.
“I’m the secretary,” she blurted out. “Harper called me and told me what happened.”
Winter just nodded.
“Mr. Monster is in there with him now. You can go right on in. You don’t even need to knock, okay?”
“You didn’t tell him I’m coming?” Winter asked.
“Nope,” the woman shook her head. “Just go on in, okay?”
“Okay.”
Winter walked to the door the lady had pointed at, and she stood there for a second. This was it, she realized. This was her moment. She was about to make an impression with Mr. Monster, and it probably wasn’t going to be a good one. Still, she had to warn him that Leon was a double-crossing piece of shit, and she needed to save her professional relationship with Monster Brothers Security.
She was the one who had been working on the article, after all. She was the one who had wanted this piece to happen.
Winter turned the knob, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
Then she gasped.
Dragon – her Dragon – was standing with his foot on Leon’s chest. Leon was sprawled on his back on the floor, and Dragon was staring at him. They both turned to look at her as she walked inside.
“Coconut?”
“Winter!”
Dragon turned to Leon.
“Winter?”
“That’s Winter! That’s the writer!”
Dragon’s eyes swung back to hers, and that was when Winter realized who he actually was. He was in Brian Monster’s office, and he was standing with his foot on Leon’s chest, and he seemed royally pissed with Winter’s former boss.
“You’re Brian,” she whispered.
“And you’re the writer.”
Winter stood staring at him, letting everything sink in at once. The entire weekend had been pure and total magic, and now she was here. The man she’d come to see on Sapphire Island was the man she’d spent the weekend getting to know. It was the man she’d dropped to her knees for.
“I, um, I came to warn you,” she whispered.
“Mr. Leon informed me that he had come in your place,” Brian said drily, looking toward the man.
“No,” Winter said, shaking her head. “He informed me on Friday afternoon that he wanted me to give him negative information about you. He said anything that came up during the interview that could be perceived as negative could be sold to Dragonette Daily. I refused, and I quit my job,” she said.
She still couldn’t really believe that she’d done it.
“I stayed all weekend and came here today to warn you,” she said. “I wasn’t sure who he would send, but I didn’t want you to accidentally give an interview where you shared personal information that he used against you.”
“Well, when this asshole walked in, he practically reeked of anxiety,” Brian said, stepping back. He gestured for Leon to get to his feet. Leon did, sputtering the entire time.
“I wasn’t going to sell your information,” he said.
“That’s a lie,” Winter called him out.
“You don’t even work for me!” Leon hissed. “And you’re a terrible team player. I’ll make sure you never work in writing again! Ever! By the time I’m done making phone calls today, I’ll make sure nobody wants to hire you.”