“You’re going to regret this,” she snapped as they dragged her away.
“I doubt that very much,” I said.
“This isn’t over,” she growled out.
“Yes, it is,” I said to myself.
Seconds later, Charlotte disappeared around the corner. She continued to cuss and fight and demand that she be let go.
After a short exchange of gratitude, the agent who led Charlotte’s arrest let me out of the cell. I had never been gladder to have gotten out of that damn place than I was in that moment. And it was all for the better. My life had suddenly changed for the best.
Because now the men were free. And I was no longer on Charlotte’s hit list.
“Come with me,” the detective said. “I’ll take you to grab your things.”
I nodded and followed him to the front. He approached the front desk and the officer behind the desk handed him a bag of items. He turned around and handed them to me. Just then, the men filed out of the nearby room and rushed toward me, taking turns wrapping me in their arms.
“I missed you guys too,” I said, and my smile faltered as my heart skipped a few beats.
Those words were spoken with more truth than I thought they carried. I truly had missed them. I just didn’t realize how much until I set my gaze upon them again.
While the men chit-chatted, I checked my phone, noticing I had a few missed calls.
“Excuse me,” I said to the men. “I’m going to step outside and check these messages.”
The men seemed hesitant to let me go but they all eventually nodded. I let out a sigh of relief and stepped through the doors and onto the sidewalk. Once I stood against the side of the building, I played the first voicemail.
“This is Dr. Livingston calling in regard to your position here at the preschool. I regret to inform you that the board has decided to terminate your contract effective immediately. Please call at your earliest convenience to arrange an appropriate day and time to gather your things.”
“What?” I said.
I was let go. For what? The voicemail didn’t make sense and I was sure there was some mistake. I frowned as I checked my text messages, hoping the answer would be within them.
They were all from my boss as well.
The first one was from three days ago. “Cassidy, please call me.”
The next one was time-stamped from a day ago. “Cassidy, it’s your boss. I need you to reach out to me as soon as possible.”
Then a few hours ago. “Look, I understand you are on vacation, but I have sent you several texts and you have yet to respond. The board is meeting today regarding cuts in the budget. I had hoped to give you a heads-up. Please call me at your earliest convenience.”
I let out a breath of air I had been holding. Slowly my heart started to break. My eyes burned as tears stabbed at them. Hot liquid dripped down my cheeks. My lip quivered. My lungs threatened to stop working.
I had been let go from my position. I had been fired. My career was over. All the time I had spent training, working toward this one thing. The only thing I had ever wanted to do with my life. And it was all over.
Just like that.
I ended up staying outside, leaning against the side of the building while waiting on the men to join me. About half an hour later, Malachi stepped out.
“There you are,” he said with a smile. Then he took a good look at me, and his smile faltered. “What’s wrong?”
“I got fired,” I mumbled and started bawling again. He pulled me into his arms and shushed me. Moments later, Steele and Dallas joined us.
After catching them up on everything, the men decided to take me back to the room, order takeout, and spend the rest of the evening watching movies and letting me have a long, hot, bubble bath.
But once we got to the hotel, I remembered Xander and stopped. I wouldn’t have put it behind him to show up just when I thought it was safe to drop my guard.
“What is the matter?” Dallas asked.