For fuck’s sake. He was still berating poor Jessica?
“You like this job?” he asked.
“Y-yes.”
“And you’d like to keep it?”
“Yes, but not like this. Please.”
Cold sweat dampened her armpits. What was going on in there? Liv slid to the left of the door so she wouldn’t be seen through the crack and cranked her head to press her ear toward the opening.
“I need to get back to work,” Jessica said.
“Your shift is over, honey.”
“But I still have some things I need to do.”
“You’re a hostess. What’s there left to do?”
“I-I have to log my time card in and—”
“If you want to keep your job, you know what you have to do.”
Rage turned Liv’s stomach to pure acid as indecision grabbed hold of her racing thoughts. There was no way she could walk away. Liv would never forgive herself if she left that poor girl in there to deal with this alone, but confronting Royce would definitely mean the end of her career. He wouldn’t just fire her. He would make sure she never worked in the industry again.
“Royce, wait,” Jessica suddenly pleaded.
Liv held her breath. What was going on in there? Who was she kidding? She knew exactly what was going on in there, and Royce sounded way too practiced at it.
“I could help your career,” Royce said in that snakelike voice. Liv’s stomach churned as she imagined what he meant.
“Please, Royce. I need to go.”
“You’re not interested in learning . . . new things?”
“I just want to do my job.”
“I think you want more than that.”
There was a rustling sound. A shuffle of feet on carpet. A whisper she couldn’t hear.
“Please stop,” Jessica suddenly begged.
Liv had heard enough. She threw open the door just in time to see Royce slam his mouth down on Jessica’s.
“Get your slimy, disgusting hands off her, you asshole.”
Jessica wrenched away from him with a gasp. She stumbled back so quickly that she collided with the edge of his desk and knocked over the framed picture of his wife. Royce whipped around and—
“OH MY GOD, PUT IT AWAY.”
Liv slapped her hands over her eyes as her retinas burned with an image she’d never unsee. Royce’s pants undone, his shriveled penis flapping like a raw piece of scrod.
“Oh my God. I saw it. I saw it. I’m going need therapy.” She peeled her hands away and looked at Jessica. “Just go. Get out now. I heard everything, and I will help you make a report.”
Jessica’s eyes began a rapid blink. “I—a report?”
Royce took his time tucking in his dick and zipping his pants. “This is none of your business, Olivia. I suggest you back out of the office and come back when I told you to.”
“I did come here when you told me to. Luckily for Jessica, you obviously can’t tell time.” Liv looked at Jessica. “Human Resources has an emergency after-hours line.” Liv narrowed her eyes at Royce. “He won’t get away with this. Though something tells me he already has many times.”
Royce approached in a slow, menacing way. “I suggest you leave now.”
“Not a fucking chance, asshole. How many women have you done this to?”
“Watch yourself, Olivia,” he sneered.
“Let’s go, Jessica,” Liv said, backing toward the door.
“No.”
The refusal was so quiet, so reluctant that both Liv and Royce did a double take. “What?”
“It’s—it’s nothing,” Jessica stammered, straightening her shirt. “You misunderstood. It’s all a misunderstanding. I-I walked in on him when he was, um—”
“Coming out of the bathroom,” Royce finished.
“There’s nothing to report,” Jessica said in a fragile voice.
Disbelief slammed into Liv and stole her breath. “Are you serious?”
“It’s fine. Please—”
“Jessica, I heard everything. Jesus God, I saw everything. He’s sexually harassing you. He can’t do that to you.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. Please just leave it alone.”
“He won’t stop! Who knows how many women he’s done this to before or will after you?”
“You’re done,” Royce hissed. “I was going to let you beg me tonight to keep your job after your little fuckup earlier, because despite your shitty attitude, you’re a helluva pastry chef, but this is it. You’re done. You’re fired.”
“No,” Jessica said. “Royce, please.”
Royce stalked around to the other side of his desk, picked up the receiver to his phone, and hit a button. “Get in here.”
“Please, Royce,” Jessica said beseechingly, grabbing his forearm. He yanked away from her so hard that she stumbled again.
She looked at Liv. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“It’s not your fault, Jessica.”
“I need this job,” she pleaded. “I’m sorry. You can’t tell anyone.”
Royce slammed the phone down. “Shut up, Jessica.”
With a gulp, she backed away from him.
Royce glared at Liv. “You’ll never work in this business again, Olivia. You hear me? You’re finished!”
“You’ve made that threat a lot, haven’t you?”
“I don’t have to make threats. I just make promises.”
“So do I. And I promise that if you touch her again, you’ll be pissing blood for the rest of your life.”
Royce’s face flashed beet red, and Liv had the sudden image of a volcano about to spew its lava. Ew. No. She didn’t want to think about Royce spewing anything.
He suddenly nodded at someone or something behind her. “Get her out of here.”
“Sorry about this, Liv.” A clammy hand wrapped around her elbow. Geoff, one of the security guards.
Liv yanked her arm free. “Do you know what he’s doing in here?”
“I just do what I’m told,” Geoff said, pulling on her arm again.
“Of course. Just like a real man.”
Liv spun around—and nearly face-planted into the massive chest of Royce’s other security guard, Sam. She lifted her gaze from his thick neck to his pockmarked cheeks until it collided with his ice-blue eyes.
Liv had always assumed the tank-size goons were mostly for show, because nothing said I’m a big, important man like bodyguards. But apparently Royce also used them to intimidate the newly fired. Like now.
Sam wrapped a beefy hand around her upper arm. “Let’s go.”
Liv snatched her arm free. “Touch me again and you lose a testicle.”
“Make sure you watch her clean out her locker,” Royce said. “If she tries to steal anything, call the cops.”
Liv whipped around. “That’s rich coming from a guy whose about to release a cookbook full of other people’s recipes.”
Royce’s eyes bulged so far out of his head Liv feared he was having a seizure. “Get her the fuck out of my sight!”
Sam pulled her out of the office.