He turned and sat back down, avoiding eye contact just like his parents were, making it crystal clear that our conversation was over.
Things just went from worse to catastrophic, just like that.
I exited the restaurant and got in my car, staring through the windshield.
Things had unraveled so quickly.
Covering my face with the palms of my hands, I tried with all my strength to keep my burning eyes from turning into an ugly cry.
It hurt so bad.
The last thing I would ever want to do was hurt Nick.
I would never forget that look on his face.
Disappointment. Anger. Regret.
I could see them all in his eyes.
My life was falling apart.
I couldn’t think straight.
What was I going to do now?
I was desperate.
I took two deep breaths, thinking of the fountain in my backyard.
Then a couple more breaths.
I sighed. “Suck it up. This is not the time to fall apart.”
Giving up was never an option.
I would need to dig deep because this was the most painful thing I had ever gone through.
Dee could help me.
Pulling out my phone, I saw that I had five messages.
“That was stupid,” I mumbled to myself, realizing I could’ve avoided the confrontation with Nick if I had just checked my messages earlier.
Too late now.
I had one voicemail message from Nick and four text messages from Dee. I didn’t need to listen to what Nick said in his message because he had already drilled that into me in person inside the restaurant. I scrolled through Dee’s text messages.
Dee: Big trouble. Call me.
Dee: Where are you?
Dee: Okay, here’s the deal. Mason convinced Gary to give him the go ahead to make a deal with Mathors Aerospace behind your back. They screwed you over.
Dee: There’s only one way to fix this. I’ll keep digging to see what else I can find out. Let me know if you need backup.
My pulse pounded hard in my temples as my pity party suddenly turned into exasperation. I was furious that someone on my own team would stab me in the back like that after all I had done for the company.
Mason messed with the wrong person.
I tapped my reply to Dee.
Ruth: On my way to the office. It’s better if you don’t get involved. This could get ugly.
I was going into full-on warrior mode.
No backup from Dee was necessary.
I knew what I had to do—the decision wasn’t difficult.
The consequences, on the other hand, were huge.
I had no other choice.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
RUTH
Twenty minutes later, I entered Stansfeld and walked directly to Mason’s office, pushing open the door without knocking.
Mason swiveled around in his chair, grinning, squeezing a stress ball. “There you are.”
I took a step toward him, hands on my hips. “You think this is funny?”
He nodded. “Absolutely. I am a little surprised that it took you so long to get here.”
I studied him for a few moments, analyzing what I knew, and what he had just said.
It didn’t take long to figure out what was going on here:
* Mason was expecting me.
* The bastard set me up.
* He wants me to get fired.
* The only way for me to lose my job was to break the law or do something against company policy.
* That would only happen if I took matters into my own hands and tried to pull the plug on the Mathors Aerospace deal.
* If I was out of the picture, Mason would be next in line for a promotion.
His grin got bigger. “You figured it out.”
“If I get fired, you’re the new managing partner.”
He laced his fingers together and held his hands behind his head. “Bingo.”
Two could play this game.
I took a few steps toward him, placing my palms on his desk, leaning forward. “And what if I just walk away now and leave the Mathors deal the way it is? Things will stay the same. You’ll still be partner and I will be managing partner, above and all over your ass.”
“Tsk, tsk.” Mason kicked his feet up onto his desk. “You would never do that. Gary told me you know someone who works at Mathors. You don’t want the deal to go through because he’ll lose his job. You’ve gone soft. You’ll do anything to keep him from being laid off.”
“There’s not a one hundred percent chance that he’ll lose his job.”
“Sure, there is. This is my baby. When the deal goes through, I will personally fire him.”
“Nice try. You don’t even know who he is.”
“Really? Hmm. Well, your boyfriend’s name is Nick Morris and his cousin is Jay. How’s that? And it doesn’t matter how many Jays there are in the company because I’ll just fire them all.”
My pulse started pounding in my temples again. “You piece of—”
Mason held up his hand and laughed. “I was about to tell you to not get your panties in a bunch, but that may be asking a lot, based on what I saw at the party.” He lowered his feet back to the floor and smacked the top of his desk, laughing again.
The man was trash and there was nothing I could do about it. The sad part was that there were many other men just like Mason who were working at Stansfeld. Why would I want to work in a toxic, unethical environment like this? That was just it.
I didn’t.
My priorities had changed.
Managing partner just didn’t have the same appeal it had had when I first started working there. Now, I knew with absolute certainty that I had no desire to be a part of this organization.
The only goal at the moment was to beat Mason at his own game.
I shook my head in disgust. “What a heartless bastard you are.”
“Maybe so, but I’m going to be managing partner soon.”
“Not if I can help it.” Dee entered the office and walked toward me, with all the confidence in the world.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Mason asked.
She smirked. “Helping Ruth put you in your place.” Dee turned to me and handed me a note, smiling. “We can talk about my raise some other time.” She smiled and walked out the door.
I wasn’t the least bit surprised when I unfolded the piece of paper and read it, because Dee always delivered the goods.
Mason bought 10,000 shares of Mathors Aerospace BEFORE the deal.
I nodded, and folded up the piece of paper, smiling.
Dee never ceased to amaze me.
I love that woman to death.
The only thing she was missing was a superhero cape.
She was worth her weight in gold.
That’s why she was my best friend. She had my back. I had hers.
I’ve said before that I could attribute the success in my career to hard work, determination, experience, and knowing how to deal with men’s super-sized egos. It was also about having the right information available to make the right decision at the right time.
Mason was going down.
And that made me giddy with laughter.
“Why are you still here?” Mason stared at me. “What’s so funny?”
I walked over and sat on the edge of his desk, pushing some papers aside. “I’ve got some bad news, Mason.”