Page 13 of Ruthless Love

Jean hesitates, pursing her lips as she ponders the situation, talking almost to herself. “Normally, I’d recommend quashing it and avoiding publicity at all costs, but it’s a new day. A new culture. Publicity like this for the company makes us look like real people with real problems.”

I pull up my phone, showing them the stock trends from the past few months. “And if we learned anything about salacious scandals at the office, they oddly cause a buying frenzy, and our corporate value goes through the roof.”

Their nods are slight, but exactly the affirmation I’m looking for.

Margot’s grin widens. “You can have all the resources you need. And maybe assistance with your current workload.”

“Nonsense. My current workload is the sort of stuff I can do in my sleep. If you’ve got an intern you want me to train, I’m happy to walk them through this and give them some hellacious homework for the hell of it. But this one isn’t work. This is fun.”

“I’ll bet it is,” Margot says. “And I’m guessing you’ve already read through everything we have so far.”

“Of course. Synopsis: we’ve got one hell of a case for corporate espionage against Don Silvers, who I’m now dubbing Long Dong Silvers.”

Jean snorts out a laugh. “Nice.”

“I’m glad you approve. You know, with his name being Don Silvers, and the company name, it fell together naturally. Though, I did consider High Ho Silvers—”

“Evie,” Margot says, scolding me with a wry smile.

“Oh, don’t worry. Not going there. But brace yourself, because I’ll bet the media will.”

“Probably,” Jean says with a nod.

Shrugging, Margot gives in. “Just as long as that term doesn’t come from your dirty little lips, opening us up to another lawsuit—”

“Lawsuit?” I scoff. “For what? Acknowledging that the man is endowed like an elephant? Trust me, the court of public opinion would definitely be on my side.”

Again, I pass my phone, offering Exhibit A and all his foot-long glory. Jean takes a curious peek, but her wide eyes suddenly shy away.

Margot, on the other hand, damn near rips the phone from my hands for a closer look. “This is part of the evidence?”

“Well, it could be. So, we have corporate espionage by a foreign country. And Long Dong Silvers here seduced several members of our staff, as well as a few of our competitors. Thankfully, we caught on after the catfight in the break room between jilted lovers numbers one through four. Three women and one man. All fighting over Long Dong Silvers.”

Margot blows out a whistle before her lips settle to a smile. “Not your garden-variety love triangle.”

“Nope. More like a bisexual love star. And these are just the ones we know about. We’ll need to rally the troops to prep them for the media circus ahead, but also to see how many more ‘victims’ we have. My bet is well over a dozen.”

Jean shifts uncomfortably in her seat and clears her throat. “He’s had how many partners?”

Uncertain, I shrug. “I think we’re nearing a dozen.”

“Well, I need to come clean. He, um ...” Her slight hands rub together, then clasp together tightly. Her white knuckles and worried expression are all Margot needs to reach over and squeeze her hands with reassurance. Slowly, Jean says, “He seduced me.”

Shocked but not showing it, Margot and I refrain from even the slightest look of judgment. The lines on Jean’s brow harden, and apprehension bleeds from her hesitation. But we all know the drill. Safe spaces are made when people listen. So we wait patiently, ready to hear whatever she has to say.

Jean lets out a heavy breath and her concerned features soften. “What can I say? I’m lonely. I’m human. And he’s about the best-looking man I’ve ever seen.”

“That he is,” I say with a nod. “I’ve seen his photos.” Repeatedly.

The chiseled lines of his body are the perfect canvas for his edgy tattoos, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see a single hair anywhere but on his smoldering face and his head, crowned with thick, dark waves that were made for gripping.

He only got bumped to fantasy number two when the Meaty Streaker hit my sights.

Jean’s wry smile saddens. “He kissed me,” she says with a heaviness that hurts my heart. There’s a longing behind it, and I know exactly how she feels. “I can’t remember when I felt that excited to have a man’s lips on mine. I just wanted it, I guess.”

“No,” Margot says. “You were conned by a master manipulator.”

Jean’s nod gives way to something unexpected. “Perhaps I should step down.”

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