Page 131 of Emerald Malice

“Sorry to drop in so late, Richard—” He whirls towards me, the whites of his eyes gleaming with panic. “—but we have important matters to discuss.”

“What the—” he gasps, looking around the shadowy room as though it’ll offer him some explanation. “Andrey?”

I cross my legs and click my tongue impatiently. “I really don’t have time to wait for you to catch up, Richard.”

He starts straining against the zip-ties. “You can’t just… This is my house! I could have you arrested!”

I smile coldly. “Go ahead. Call the police.”

He thrashes against the ties for only a few seconds before he realizes just how fucked this situation is for him. He’s not a stupid man, not like Byron. Just an unfortunate one.

“What do you want?” he whimpers.

“You suspended Natalia.”

“You had sex with her in the office in full sight of a camera! What choice did I have?”

“And what about Byron Wells?”

Richard sags. “What about him?”

“I had my men do a little digging into Byron’s history in your company. Apparently, there have been quite a few sexual harassment complaints lodged against him over the years. By quite a few different women.”

“I… Er, that is…” he splutters, spit flying everywhere.

“Get to the point fast, Richard—you’re losing me.”

He swallows hard. His Adam’s apple bobs violently. “What happened with you and Natalia has nothing to do with Byron. They’re completely different situations.”

“I agree. The incident between Natalia and me in the office was completely consensual. The situation with Byron was not.”

“There is footage of?—”

“I don’t give a fuck what footage you have,” I growl. Richard flushes red, then purple, then white with abject fear. “I don’t care if I fucked Natalia on your damn desk. It still doesn’t explain why she gets consequences while Byron gets a free pass.”

“Human Resources will want to do an internal review and?—”

I hold up my hand and Richard’s jaw snaps shut. “I don’t give a shit about the specifics. I don’t care about the damn process. I want this situation fixed—and you are going to fix it for me.”

“I can’t… I?—”

“You’re the CEO of the company; you can do whatever you want. And trust me, Richard, you’re gonna want to make me happy. Because if I’m not happy, I’m gonna come back here.” I look around the room, taking in the jewelry dish on the other side of the bed. “Maybe next time, you can introduce me to your pretty little wife.”

He blanches. “Don’t hurt her!” he begs.

“I have no intention of hurting her. But I might make her watch me hurt you. Just depends on how much you piss me off.”

His eyeballs look like they’re going to pop out of their sockets. For the second time tonight, the stink of ammonia hits my nostrils like a sledgehammer. A dark stain spreads across the bed around Richard’s crotch.

Honestly, it’s almost enough to make me crave a showdown with Nikolai.

At least the man has a smidgeon more pride. At least he will pose a slightly bigger challenge.

This… this is like shooting fish in a barrel.

“Really, Richard.” I wrinkle my nose. “There’s no need to be afraid. Not as long as you do exactly what I ask of you.”

He nods, tears rolling unchecked down his cheeks. “Alright. Okay. What do you want from me?”

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