Page 38 of It Starts With A No

She didn’t want to act too hastily just based on the initial findings, though. So over the last two weeks, she’d been speaking to various departments to gauge for herself what she was dealing with.

The conclusion, which didn’t really require all the work she’d done, was simple: EB Co.’s culture was rotten to the core. She’d proposed several ways to move forward, all struck down by the boys’ club—the upper management.

They were all on one team, and she was on her own. They’d been using the same reason to turn on her: she shouldn’t act too hastily. She should wait for the review team’s final report.

And so, things had been at a stalemate.

Tamara dropped her gaze to the diamond ring on her desk. “I didn’t know Seth Anderson was your fiancé.”

Clary pulled the ring box closer. Since Neil had already seen Seth, he’d probably spread the word. That alone would no doubt shield her from some of the filth from the boys’ club.

She licked her lips.

She hated being the damsel in distress. But don’t be so proud that you refuse the help God sends your way.

“Why did you refuse to meet with him when he requested an appointment?” Tamara asked, then her brows puckered. “Why didn’t he know your address?”

“I like to keep my personal and business lives separate.” She took the ring out of the box.

“So you guys never talked about work?” Tamara rolled her eyes. “And you made such a big deal about me giving out your address to him.”

Clary slipped the ring into place, then took a sip of the water in her glass.

And another.

Don’t argue with her. There was no point. Tamara’s tone made it clear: she still didn’t see anything wrong with what she did.

After one more sip, Clary put the glass of water down. “I’d rather not discuss personal matters.” She checked the time. “Get the review team to come to my office instead.” The boys’ club would probably try and make a fuss in the meeting room.

Here, she had the advantage of being able to lock them out.

“Why were you staring at the watches?” Tamara asked. “Do you intend to return them to Hugh?”

Clary shook her head. Maybe she should just let Hugh take whichever watch he wanted. She didn’t care about them anyway. But she was worried that if she gave in on this, Hugh would bug her for more.

Which didn’t matter. She didn’t care about the watches anyway.

But Hugh was already coming here more often than she appreciated.

And why just one? Because he thought she wouldn’t say yes otherwise? And why didn’t he try to take them by force? Surely he knew that if he’d snatched a couple and stormed out, security wouldn’t stop him. Thus far, they never had.

“What are you going to do with them?”

“Nothing.” Clary gave the watches another scan. Something’s off. She tipped her head to the side. “Maybe I should do something about the watches. They’re worth a lot of money, right? I should auction them off and put them into a compensation fund for the fraud victims.”

“I could help you pack them up and deal with that. I’ll get started after work so it won’t affect whatever else we have going on.”

Clary cracked a smile. “Thanks, Tamara.” She truly meant it. “I really appreciate that, but it was just a thought. For now, I want to speak to HR.”

“The whole department?”

Clary nodded. “Get all of them up here now. Make them wait outside. I’ll speak to them individually.”

When Tamara was out of the office, Clary leaned back in her chair. Jesus … She sighed. She didn’t even know what to pray for. Patience? Because it was times like this she wished calling down fire from heaven was still a thing. Jesus, keep me from murdering someone.

* * *

Waiting in the underground parking garage, Seth watched as Clary strode out of the elevator with a large tote bag over her shoulder, her black suit jacket draped over one arm, and a laptop bag in hand.

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