“That doesn’t mean I don’t or didn’t. Maybe this is just how I treat anyone who’s new to my department. An initiation. A baptism of fire, so to speak.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. This is personal and you know it, Asher.”
“I believe you’re supposed to call me Mr. Hawthorne,” he says. “And no. It’s not personal, Ms. Cleary. Is it?”
“You know it is,” I answer through gritted teeth.
There’s no way he can convince me it isn’t.
Asher taps his fingers on the table. “You think I’m doing all this to punish you for something you did in the past? I would never do that, Ms. Cleary. I would never let something that happened in the past mess up the present. Or the future.”
And yet he’s doing exactly that.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. You were the one who left me at that party. No. You left me in a gazebo. I could have frozen to death.”
“And I said sorry.”
“Which you didn’t mean.”
“I did mean it,” he argues. “You just didn’t want to accept it.”
“So you’re punishing me? I refused to forgive you, which isn’t a crime. In fact, it’s my prerogative. You’re the one who can’t accept that. You can’t even respect it. Instead, you decided to make my life here at work hell.”
I scratch my head. Can’t Asher see how stupid that sounds?
He crosses his arms over his chest. “Like I said, I’m not punishing you, Ms. Cleary. But if you feel like you’re being punished, if you personally feel like you can’t get along with me, if you feel like you can’t take all this anymore, you’re free to go.”
Why does he keep saying that? I don’t want to quit. If I quit, I lose everything. He wins.
“I’m not going anywhere!”
“Right. Because you want to be CFO eventually.”
I draw a breath to calm myself down. “Is that a crime? So you’re punishing me for that, too?”
“If that’s the case, Ms. Cleary, then I suggest you stick to getting your job done. Perfectly. As long as you do, I will have no complaints.”
Yeah, right.
“I might even be convinced to give you a reward. See. I’m an excellent boss. You should be glad to be working under me.”
He gives me a final grin that makes my stomach churn and my hands clench into fists. Then he leaves. As soon as he’s gone, I grab my pen and throw it at the door. Then I sink into my chair and grip my hair in frustration.
That… that… fucking jerk! I don’t know why Stella said he’s a good person, but I definitely don’t see it. He’s a scumbag. He’s a monster. He’s the devil.
Du lusche! Du hurensohn!
I should never have come here to work for him.
I let out a deep breath and bury my face in my arms on top of the desk.
This is the worst.
Chapter Three
Asher
“This is the best martini you’ve made so far, Glenn,” I praise the bartender after gulping down the last of the gin and dry vermouth in my glass.
Then I grab the toothpick and let both of the olives slide into my mouth.
“And these olives are just divine. Are you getting them somewhere new?”
“From a jar with a different name on it,” Glenn answers.
I chuckle and turn to Ryker, my younger brother, who’s seated beside me. “Did you know our bartender was so funny?”
“Well, he does need to shake things up every now and then,” Ryker answers before taking a sip of his gin tonic.
“Haha. You’re funny, too.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “You only noticed that now?”
“Well, you always seem so serious.”
“No, not always. I just have to act like the adult when I’m around you.”
I laugh and signal to Glenn to make me another martini. He nods.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” Ryker remarks.
“I am,” I admit.
“Things have been going well at work?”
“You can say that.”
Who would have thought that giving Violet hell would be just as fun as trying to seduce her?
Well, it hasn’t been all fun. There were times I felt like I was the one being punished, times when the guilt was so bad it made my stomach hurt. Whenever I saw her on the verge of tears, I wanted to punch myself. If she had cried right in front of me, I probably would have wrapped my arms around her. And earlier in the conference room, it took everything I had to be mean to her and walk away when all I wanted was to have sex with her on top of that conference table. Hot, angry sex. The best kind.
Still, I think it’s only a matter of time before that happens. Or she quits. Either way, I win. So yeah, I guess things have been going well at work.
I take a sip from my fresh martini. “What about you? How are things at work?”
I know we both work in the same building, but we’re on different floors, in different departments—me in Finance, Ryker in Acquisitions. We might as well be living on different planets.
“Good,” he answers. “Things are starting to settle down. I don’t think the company is making any other acquisitions for the rest of the year.”
After all the trouble we all went through to get Odermatt Inc., I didn’t think so either.
“Which means you can take things easy for a while,” I tell him. “Good for you.”
We raise our glasses and let them clink before sipping our respective drinks. As I put my glass down, I see the empty seat next to me and glance at the door to the bar.
“Where’s Ethan, by the way? Is he coming?”
“I thought he sent you a message, too.”
I check my phone. “No. What did he say?”
“That he can’t make it.”
“Because?”
“Guess.”
I only have one in mind. “He’s with Stella?”
Ryker grins. “Bull’s-eye.”
Of course he is. These Friday midnight drinking sessions are supposed to be our time together as brothers, but ever since Ethan found out Stella is pregnant, the stool beside me has been empty more often than not. After Stella gives birth, he might stop coming altogether.
And I understand. He’s starting a family of his own now. I know. I just wish he didn’t leave me and Ryker behind.
“It’s unfair,” I say. “We promised we’d meet each other for drinks every Friday no matter what.”
“And we’ve been doing it for years,” Ryker says. “But we can’t do it forever.”
“Said who?”
“Ethan is going to be a father soon. He’s going to have a family of his own. Of course he’s going to be spending as much time as he can with them.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t hang out with us anymore. We’re still his brothers.”
“And as his brothers, we’ll always be there to support him when he needs us, regardless of whether or not he goes drinking with us.”
I snort. “You’re too nice, Ryker. Do you know that?”
“And you’re just jealous,” he points out.