I shake my head. “He didn’t hurt me. He just offered to pass my benefits package.”
“And threatened to fire you,” Tanner retorts.
“But he wouldn’t,” I say. “His pride was hurt, but he’ll let it go. In the end, he doesn’t want a fuss over this. I promise. He probably thought it would be an easy conquest, and now he’ll move on.”
“Hm,” Tanner says, but he doesn’t look certain.
“Look, this is a critical time for the company,” I say. “And a critical time for you and me. Let’s just wait it out. We could talk to Ray, see if he would sign off on my proposal. At least that way, with your signature, if I were to leave—”
“You would do that?” Tanner asks.
“When I’m sure about this,” I say. “Look, I’m glad your parents were happy, but I saw a miserable existence between mine. I need time to know that you’ll respect me. That you won’t be heavy-handed, and you’ll trust me in what I want.”
He grates his teeth together, tensing his jaw. “It’s not you I don’t trust…”
“But it is if you don’t listen to me when I say I don’t want you to attack him or cause trouble. Listen, Tanner, I know this world better. I’ve lived here all my life. If we’re careful, if we take time, we can figure out how to deal with this so the least amount of people get hurt.” I grin up at him hopefully. “Maybe Bill will forget or get hit by a car or—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tanner says, standing and pulling me up with him, crushing me in a safe, warm hug. “I get the idea. I’m not supposed to handle him.”
“Thank you,” I say, holding him tight. “I really appreciate you respecting my choice and not just going on an overprotective rampage.”
He glares at me, but there’s no real anger there. “You have no idea how hard it is to resist doing exactly that.”
“I know,” I say, reaching up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek, making him blush. “But you have self-control, and I love that about you. I promise everything will be fine.”
I feel like I’m telling myself that as much as I’m telling him.
But this was my home. The one place without chaos. I can’t accept that everything can be ruined just by one man’s proposition.
No matter how powerful that man is.
Tanner sighs, letting all the tension out of his shoulders, and I feel my heart relax as well. “All right. Let’s go get lunch, then, and try not to think about this. It’s sunny outside and should be a nice day to walk around together.”
I grin up at him. “Sounds good, soul bond.”
He looks down at me, adorably shocked. “I love hearing you say that.”
“I love saying it,” I say, grabbing his hand to lead him out of the office.
I’m sure after a good lunch, everything will be fine.
20
Tanner
I loved going to lunch with Eva, loved seeing her eyes sparkle in the sun and watching the breeze lift her beautiful, soft hair.
But it doesn’t change the warrior inside me who needs to kill the man who insulted my soul bond.
Even as we parted, I could still see the stress in her eyes, though she was trying to hold it back.
I know she needs to believe things will work out because she loves this company.
But I don’t see a good way through this. Though, I haven’t given up on trying to figure out how to get rid of Bill without Eva or the company suffering for it.
“My secretary said you wanted to see me?” Morgan Richards, CFO, opens the door to my office, and I gesture for him to sit down.
I know he’s one of Bill’s friends, but I’m hoping he won’t be when he hears what I have to say.
“I witnessed some inappropriate behavior from Bill Steinman today toward one of our employees,” I say flatly, waiting for his reaction.
Morgan raises an eyebrow but doesn’t look nearly as surprised as he should be. “What do you mean?”
“He was trying to solicit sexual favors in exchange for special treatment.”
Morgan just lifts a shoulder. “Well, if someone wants to take such a deal, what are you going to do? It’s the corporate world, after all.”
And it’s been disgusting to me since I got here. The way everyone tries to climb over each other, taking everything they can and not caring what happens to anyone else.
If my kingdom was run like this, we would have fallen long ago. We would have deserved to.
I feel hatred toward Morgan and his bored expression in regard to Bill’s blatant abuse of power, but I try not to let it show on my face. “You can’t seriously suggest that we look the other way on sexual harassment.”
Morgan eyes me quietly. “Is it true you’re going out with Eva? Why is it wrong if Bill makes a move, but not when you do? You’re the CEO.”
I glare at him. “Interim CEO. And the difference is that Eva wants me, and we’re dating according to the rules in the company handbook. Bill knows Eva doesn’t want him, or he wouldn’t have had to offer to pass her proposal in order to get her to sleep with him.”
Morgan frowns, then lets out a breath. “He’s not usually aggressive in the workplace. I think his divorce is just affecting him negatively. Plus, I think seeing you with Eva piqued his interest because—”
“I don’t care what piqued his interest,” I grate out. “He doesn’t have a right to act like a monster and threaten people who have the right to a safe work environment.”
Morgan frowns. “You’ve been sitting in on Eva’s meetings too much. Look, yes, the rules are against it, but Bill is a powerful man and—”
My nails literally dig into my palms, and I swear I’m bleeding in my efforts to not strangle this man for defending the creep who tried to attack my soul bond.
I just want to protect Eva and all the people she wants to protect.
“We just need to stop him,” I say. “How do we report this?”
Morgan looks at me like I’m an idiot. “We don’t. Bill’s father is majority shareholder.”
“And?”
Morgan throws his hands up. “And, well… unless Eva wants to report him… But even then—”
My jaw tightens. “Even then what? He goes to jail?”
“No,” Morgan says. “Not exactly. I mean, they would have to prove some bad intent or that he actually harmed her, and then it would be her word against his. And of course, you know he would have the best lawyers in the world, and they would tear her apart. Also, her reputation would be damaged, and no one would want to hire her because they’d be worried she’d accuse them of sexual harassment and—”
“Enough!” I say, standing. I’ve never hated the human world as much as I do now. In my world, I could duel Bill. Banish him. In this one, I have to sit here and listen to people defend him all because his father is rich.
I want to tear this building apart, carry Eva far away where she could be safer.
But just like I could never run away from my kingdom, she doesn’t want to just run away from this place.
Even though it treats her awful sometimes.