“Work for you?” I repeat, feeling all the air escape my lungs. “When did she work for you?”
Jenson’s face screws up as he thinks. “How long ago since you left? A year?”
“Seven and a half months,” she corrects, staring at the table like a statue, her cheeks hollow as she seems to struggle to maintain her composure.
“How have you been, Cassie?” Paisley asks, stepping up closer, her eyes wide and sad on her former coworker. “You look so good.”
Cassandra blinks up at the blonde, looking a bit shocked by her kind words before biting out, “I’m fine.”
“Cassie was one of our best asset managers, weren’t you, Cas?” Jenson brushes her shoulder, and I flinch when I notice she contorts her body away from his touch.
“Your former employer was All-Out Properties? This was your last boss?” I ask, my head throbbing with realization.
Cassandra’s eyes are red rimmed as she struggles to look at me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I rasp, my hands flexing at my sides. I know I’ve mentioned the name of the company I’m merging with to her multiple times. How could she keep this from me?
“Is there a problem here?” Jenson inquires, his beady eyes narrowing on Cassandra in a way that I do not fucking like.
“Just a little misunderstanding,” I reply through clenched teeth as I glance around the table and see my brothers watching this exchange with charged interest. “I knew Cassandra worked in asset management, but I didn’t realize she worked for you.”
“You work at Fletcher Industries now, Cassie?” Jenson asks, elbowing her as he picks up a mint off the table and begins to unwrap it.
Seriously, if he touches her one more fucking time.
She jerkily shakes her head.
“What are you doing with yourself then?” he presses, clearly not picking up on her tense body language.
She inhales a deep breath and sits up a little straighter as her eyes find her former boss’s with renewed strength. “I’m a nanny for Max’s daughter.”
“The nanny and the girlfriend?” Jenson barks out a laugh and tosses the mint into his mouth. “That’s an interesting career shift.”
“That’s enough of that,” I grind out, my hands balling into fists at my sides as I struggle to stay calm. The auction is still going on, and our table is smack dab in the middle of all the action. We don’t need to draw more attention to ourselves than Jenson’s late arrival already did.
Jenson holds his palms up to me. “I mean no harm. Just wanting to make sure you know that you’re sitting on a valuable asset here. You should put her to work at your company, Max.”
“Would you excuse me,” Cassandra says, and her chair falls backward as she rises up too quickly. I rush over to pick it up and hear her voice tremble, “I’m just going to use the ladies’ room.”
“Paisley, why don’t you go score your old boss some drinks. Is there no table service, Max?”
The muscle in my jaw jumps as I watch Cassandra’s dress float behind her as she scurries off. My mind is reeling with this new information. Is this something Cassandra was hiding from me? What was her plan here? To let me finalize this deal with the asshole who nearly killed her? For what purpose? Maybe she wasn’t planning to stick around long enough for the deal to finish.
Maybe she isn’t as invested in this relationship as I am, and I’m getting played a fool for the second time in my life.
I have about twenty-seven more questions that I won’t find answers for here at this table.
I don’t even bother excusing myself as I storm out of the event room. When I step out into the hallway, I see Cassandra’s frame retreat around another corner, so I jog over to catch up and watch her exit a door at the end of the hall.
“Cassandra, what the hell is going on?” I growl as I find her pacing outside in the hotel courtyard. It’s dark out, and a couple of glowing fountains trickle loudly by the doors, mimicking the ringing in my ears. A couple cuddling by the large gas firepit stare at me and glance nervously at Cassandra before scurrying out of the garden area and back inside. I walk over to where Cassandra is pacing in front of a row of manicured bushes. “Is that your old fucking boss? The boss that nearly killed you?”
“Yes,” she answers, her head bowed as she fiddles with the tulle on her dress. “And one of my coworker friends who I never heard from again.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me about this connection?” I exclaim, frustrated beyond belief that she kept this from me.
Her watery eyes find mine, flickering brightly in the firelight. “I didn’t realize that All-Out was the company you were partnering with!”
“Seriously?” I snap and jam a hand through my hair. “I’ve mentioned All-Out Properties multiple times.”
“Not to me!”
“Yes, I have.”
“Max…you haven’t, I swear,” she repeats, her face full of panic. “I didn’t even know what type of business you were acquiring. I thought you were in franchise development.”
“I am. This would be another branch of my business. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it to you before.”
“Well, why didn’t you put two and two together when I told you about my old job?” she hisses, her nostrils flaring angrily.
I shake my head and shrug. “Because there are loads of commercial developers in Denver. I just assumed it had to be one of the other ones because I’ve mentioned All-Out before.”
“Well, if you did, I probably blocked it out. I tend to block out everything you do for your company. It’s a survival tactic.”
“Survival tactic?” My head jerks back at that odd choice of words. “What do you need to survive from? I’m not like your former company. You don’t need to protect yourself from me.”
“Of course I do,” she peals loudly, her eyes wide and wild as she steps closer to me, her scent invading my nose and confusing my thoughts even more. “You might not be as vile as Jenson, but you two have similar end goals. You both have that entrepreneurial drive to expand and grow and get bigger and more powerful. That represents everything I hate, Max. Everything that screws over employees and put me in a hospital. I knew that side existed in you, but I’ve been shielding myself from that part of you so it wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”
A pressure builds in my chest at the insane words she’s spewing. She’s saying that my career—my life—is something she can’t stand to even hear about. I know what happened to her was horrific, but this is a giant boundary that I had no idea she placed between us.
“Cassandra, my company is important to me. And I’m fucking proud of it and my employees,” I state, my voice firm. “If you’re saying you don’t respect what I do, then we have a serious problem here.”
“Maybe we do,” she huffs defensively. “Because if Fletcher Industries is becoming partners with All-Out Properties who put profit over people, then it won’t be long before you’re just as toxic as he is.”
Her tone is scathing and unapologetic. It causes my lips to curl up in disgust. How could she think so little of me? After everything I’ve shared with her. It’s like she doesn’t even fucking know me.