She stiffened, everything in her rejecting that statement. ‘Jeremy has been with The Royce for more than thirteen years. I trust him implicitly.’
‘That’s a mistake.’
The certainty in his voice sent a prickle of unease down her spine. ‘How would you know that?’
‘I know that Jeremy Turner got drunk in a cocktail bar several weeks ago and talked to someone about your father’s financial problems.’
Shock stole the air from her lungs for a moment. Jeremy had been drunk? Had been talking about her father’s private affairs in a bar? Divulging information she had shared with him in confidence? She leaned back. Her hands shook and she fisted them in her lap. ‘To whom?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘It does to me.’
Ramon expelled a breath. ‘To a woman with whom I’m acquainted.’
Acquainted? As in, lovers? For some reason the idea turned the taste in her mouth bitter and she promptly redirected her thoughts. She tried to think of a reason Ramon would fabricate such an allegation and drew a blank. He had no reason to lie, and she had to admit it did make a horrible kind of sense. Why else would he have suddenly set his sights on The Royce, if not because he knew they were vulnerable?
A sense of betrayal knifed under Emily’s ribs. She hadn’t socialised with Jeremy beyond the occasional work-day lunch, but for the last few years she’d considered him a close colleague. A confidante, of sorts.
She rubbed her forehead. ‘I’ll talk to him.’
‘No.’ The hard edge in Ramon’s voice brought her gaze sharply back to his. ‘Turner goes,’ he said. ‘No compromise.’
Even as she nursed a sense of hurt over Jeremy’s misdeed, Emily balked at such a merciless stance. ‘He has a right to put his side of the story forward, surely?’
‘It’s irrelevant.’
‘He exercised poor judgement—’
‘He shared personal information about his employer with a stranger. That’s indefensible.’
Jaw flexing, Ramon stood, the ruthless businessman emerging from behind the easy charm. The glimpse of arrogant intractability should have repelled her. Instead her pulse quickened, her heart pumping faster.
‘I need to be able to trust the people who work for me,’ he added. ‘As should you. There’s no room for soft hearts in business, Emily. Not everyone deserves a second chance.’ There was a quiet ferocity in his voice that suggested he truly believed it. ‘Cut him loose,’ he finished. ‘Or I will.’
His ultimatum delivered, he turned and walked out before she could articulate a protest.
Emily dropped her head in her hands.
She’d awoken this morning grimly resigned to yesterday’s outcome and consoled herself with the thought that at least this week couldn’t get any worse.
She laughed bitterly.
More fool her.
* * *
Emily didn’t have to fire Jeremy in the end.
He resigned.
As soon as she walked into his office and confronted him, his face crumpled with guilt and he tendered his resignation with immediate effect.
Regret made her chest ache, but Jeremy’s confession had tied her hands—made it impossible for her to plead his case with Ramon.
And, though it pained her to admit it, maybe Ramon was right. Maybe she was too soft. Too forgiving. How many times had she dug her father out of trouble, only for him to disappoint her and mess up again?
She paused outside his office. Or was it Ramon’s now? She’d hoped it might be hers one day, but the future unfolding was very different from the one she had imagined. Was he even in there? She hadn’t seen him since the meeting with the department