“Another reason why hiring you was a good decision. I worked as a business consultant, and I have a knack for finding snakes in the grass.”
“Meaning what?”
“Inappropriate use of funds, among other things. It goes beyond experience and education for me both now and then. It’s like how asking questions is inbred in you. I go into an operation, and a gut feeling leads me to the places and problems I need to discover. And, let me tell you, the many ways this operation was being abused was mind-blowing. Another year and the mob would have owned it.”
“But the media—”
“Painted me as cutthroat. I know and I don’t care. I did what I had to in order to get the mob out of our operation, and that meant taking the public blows myself.”
“What made you stay in the job?”
“Stay? Who says I’m staying? I just never felt that the operation was ready for me to leave, and the board thought it was better to bring me on full time.”
“So you plan to leave.”
“When the time is right.”
“Which is when?”
“I’ll know when.” He sets his fork down and leans an elbow on the bar, facing me fully again. “What about your mother?” he asks, changing the subject again. “Or siblings? What does everyone else think about your move?”
“No siblings, and …” I hesitate, fighting the clawing sensation in my chest as I go on, “And my mother died in a car accident three years ago. What about your family?”
“And some days that three years feels like an eternity and others like yesterday. I get it. My mom died of an aneurysm when I was seventeen. It’s not easy, but it gets easier. I know you don’t believe me, but it does.”
“I do. I know. And it is.” I cut my gaze and, damn it, my eyes are prickling again. I need this day to be over.
Now Damion is standing, turning my stool toward him, his hands on the arms, trapping me between him and the chair. “Today wasn’t normal procedure. It’s our third breach in ninety days, and we’ve been looking into potential internal problems. Not at you. You weren’t with us long enough to be a part of this. Two things you need to know: Everyone was locked down in some way, shape, or form today, and not just to be investigated. For safety reasons. I personally told security that you were on lockdown against your wishes, for your protection. I would never make you look bad. Never. How can I expect you to have my back if I don’t have yours?”
Have my back? No one has my back. Suddenly I feel shallow and wrong for my reaction. “I’m sorry. It just … it made me feel … bad. It made me feel bad.”
“I know.” He repeats what is becoming welcome and familiar, stroking my hair behind my ear as he adds, “And I wanted to call you, but silence is part of the process I would have prepared you for had you been with me longer than a day.” He lifts me off the chair and puts me down, stepping behind me, his hands on my waist, his mouth lowering to my ear. “Pack your things. You aren’t staying here.”
I turn in his arms.” What?”
“You aren’t staying in this rattrap.”
I push away from him. “I’m not a charity case who needs your money, Damion. I’m staying here.”
“You’re staying at Vantage as part of your employment package.”
“I quit.”
“I didn’t accept your resignation.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I didn’t. Every reason I hired you still exists. Nothing has changed.”
“Yes, it has.” My lips tighten, and so does my voice. “We changed. We crossed lines. And you might be okay with that, but I’m not.”
He scrubs a hand through his hair, leaving it a dark, rumpled, sexy mess. “You think what happened between us was just how I operate?” He makes a frustrated sound and looks at the ceiling, then at me. “It’s not. I don’t fuck my staff, literally or otherwise. I damn sure don’t fuck my secretary. But we happened, and I have no intention of you leaving because of it, and if that means I have to drag you back to the casino or pay this dump a fortune to kick you out, I will.”
I gape. “What? That would be such an asshole thing to do.”
“No. The asshole thing I did was making you feel like this. I let myself touch you. I let myself go there. And now you think you have no job. Or that you have to please me to work at the casino. That is what makes me an asshole.” He moves toward me but steps around me and actually starts to gather my things and put them in my suitcase.
I rush toward where he’s leaning over the suitcase and grab his arm. “Stop. Stop now.”