Page 88 of Taming Scarlet

I had the box for Scarlet’s new collar in my pocket when my phone buzzed.

Marcus Chandelier.

I need to speak with you. Come to my office.

Great.

I was hoping to get back to the spa before the girls were done. I didn’t like the idea of them going somewhere after without me.

But the boss was Marcus, so I couldn’t exactly tell him no.

I jumped in a cab, making it to his office building about fifteen minutes later.

“Julian,” Marcus said, standing behind his desk, waving toward the seat across from him.

Alarm bells were going off in my head at his body language. The squared posture, the tightness in his jaw.

“All due respect, I’ll stand. I need to get back to the spa before the girls leave,” I told him.

“That won’t be necessary,” he said, and those alarms started screaming louder. “I’m afraid that it has been brought to my attention regarding an inappropriate relationship between you and my daughter.”

There it was.

I guess it was inevitable.

I figured it would take a little longer, though.

“Let me guess, this information came to you from your pedophile best friend, Stephen Moore.”

If I was going to be fired, I was going to have my say.

Marcus’s face fell for a second before the tightness was back around his eyes.

“My daughter has been talking, I see.”

“And, unlike you, I have been listening,” I said.

Hey, if I was fired, I might as well let him know what a dick I thought he was for not trusting his own kid.

“It takes someone with their priorities really fucking twisted to take the side of a man who groped your daughter and is actively trying to overtake your company over your own flesh and blood,” I added, watching as Marcus’s head jerked back. Like the words had impact.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insisted, not someone who liked being proven wrong, who would ever admit that.

“I think I am the only one who knows what they’re talking about here, actually, Marcus.”

“I’m not discussing my business with a man who can’t handle his own.”

“I’ll admit it, I fell in love with your daughter. That wasn’t in the plans. But I know how to do my job. All due respect, Marcus, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about when it comes to that. For example, did you know she’s being stalked?” I asked, watching as his face fell. “I didn’t think so.”

“Stalked? By who?”

“That’s what I am supposed to be working on today. Tracking down this bastard who has some sick thoughts about Scarlet. Instead, I’m here. Getting fired.”

“Is she in danger?”

“In my professional opinion? Yeah. This guy has been fucking with her for what seems like at least a year. But he’s escalating. He’s sending her pink roses with notes to her building.”

“Pink roses?” Marcus asked, brows drawing down. “She doesn’t like those. I sent her some for her birthday two years ago. She reminded me that pink roses were her mother’s favorite, not hers.”

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