“This makes me ask, what the fuck does Harvey know that we don’t?” Astin demanded. “There has to be a reason why the bastard is making moves now. No one had any idea I was going to be brought back now, so he couldn’t be preparing for that. You’ve all been around my father the most. Is there something off about him that’s giving people the impression that now is the time to strike?”
All of us looked to Ryker. He was the one person besides Liu who knew the boss the best.
“There hasn’t been anything official, but if you have questions, you’re going to need to ask him,” Ryker answered vaguely.
Astin grabbed her phone and punched the button that would connect her to Liu, according to the label on it. She waited a moment then I heard someone greet her on the other end. “Sorry to bother you so late, but is he here, or did he leave for his weekend house?” Astin asked, bitterness dripping from her tone.
None of us really asked questions or presumed to stick our noses in places where it didn’t belong, and the boss’s love life was one of those areas. Of course, we knew he spent the weekends at his second home with his mistress and their son, but no one would have dared to comment on it.
“I see, how gracious of him,” Astin bit out. “No, no need to bother him. Do you know if he’ll be back for breakfast? Lovely, I’ll speak to him then. Thank you, Liu. You can go back to sleep now.”
After she hung up, no one asked what he said, but it was clear he wasn’t in this home currently. I sipped on my coffee and tried to figure out just how I fucked up this badly. Astin had been right to call me out. I should have spoken up, and now we were dealing with a shitstorm.
“Okay, everyone, go to bed. There isn’t much we can do at the moment. Now we know the play, I plan on making this bite them in the ass in the most delicious way possible. When those two assholes see my face and understand who I really am, I’m not going to be happy until they’re pissing in their pants,” Astin announced. “Ryker, can you let Atty know once he’s done with those finances, he can work on his eight hours of sleep? He’ll be excused from breakfast since I need him as sharp as he can be.”
Ryker nodded and collected his computer. “I’ll have him send it over to you since I’m sure he’s nearly done with it.”
“Yes, do that. It will put me right to sleep,” she agreed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. “All this information running around in my head, I’m gonna need something to knock me out.”
Jace cleared his throat, drawing her gaze. “I believe I did offer my services.”
“Get out of my rooms now before I decide to tie you to a chair and show you my favorite techniques to make someone squeal like a pig,” she said with a deadpan tone.
Ryker snorted and headed for the door. “Trust me, as someone she’s practiced on before, that’s not a place you want to be in right now.”
Jace gave Astin a lingering look, making me think something might have happened between them, but I was horrible at reading people’s emotions. I could corner someone into a deal or to sign a contract, but when it came to manipulating people, I was awful.
“No need to get nasty. A simple no would have done just fine,” Jace countered as he smirked at her scowl. “Like I said, I’ll get you where I want you someday.”
My jaw almost hit the floor at that comment. How could he even think to speak to her like that? He was her subordinate.
Braxton popped up from his seat and blew her a kiss before waving goodbye. “Sweet dreams, Mistress.”
Luca left right after them, not saying or doing anything, simply getting up and walking out, a man of complete mystery to me.
“Did you need something?” Astin questioned.
My head snapped to face her as I realized I was standing here like an idiot. “I wanted to know if you were serious.”
Leaning forward, she pitched her head on the back of her hand as she studied me. “You’re gonna need to narrow it down. The you-almost-ruined-us part or the get-the-fuck-out-of-my-house part? Those were my best guesses.”
“Both, either, I don’t know,” I muttered, running my hand through my hair. “I fucked up. I see that now. It was wrong of me to let the deal happen when I thought something shifty was going on.”
“Tell me this… do you give blind faith to everyone who has your loyalty?” she asked. “If that’s the case, then I don’t want it. I’ll do whatever it takes that you’re never blindly loyal to me because I can’t have that. To be loyal is one thing but to allow me to ruin us without saying a word is another. It’s clear you’re gifted in this area, and I’d hate to have to replace you, but if you can’t tell me no to something down the line because we’ve learned to trust, I’d be stupid.”
“Would you believe me if I told you I don’t know the answer to that?” I offered. “In my brain, it makes sense that if we foster that type of relationship, then it could absolutely work. With Boss, he made it clear that we were new, up and coming, and, therefore, we weren’t allowed to question things. None of us had earned that right. Of course, that was three years ago, and now it’s completely different, but that was the foundation of our relationship. For me, it’s hard to break.”
Astin stood and walked over to me. “That actually makes a lot of sense. So in the spirit of setting our working relationship down the right path, I say it plain and simple. I’m not perfect, neither are you. If we don’t see eye to eye on something, we’re going to have a discussion and hash it out. What we won’t do is yell at each other, myself included. That does jack shit when you’re trying to figure something out. You and I need to be a team, even though the final choice will be mine which you’ll respect and follow through on. Sound fair?”
I reached out a hand to her. “That’s an agreement I can shake on as long as I get to still live in the house.”
“I’ll shake on it as long as you never put your phone on do not disturb,everagain,” Astin countered.
Raising the offered hand, I gave her a salute. “Yes, Mistress.”
“Cheeky fucker,” she grumbled. “Shake my goddamn hand so I can go to bed.”
With that demand, I shook her hand firmly as all good handshakes should be and left the room feeling like I might still be able to redeem myself from this cluster fuck.