Page 9 of Bidding War

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your father wants to punish me for what we did,” I say with a frustrated shrug. “He wants me destitute and suffering, I guess, and so he got me fired for what we did.”

“What I did, and what makes you think he could get you fired?”

“Don’t do that. I did this as much as you did. I went along with your lie. Don’t try to take all the responsibility when I made that choice, too.” I might not have much control over this, but I’ll be damned if he takes that from me. I went into this with my eyes wide open. The consequences are mine as much as his.

“Fine, but what makes you think he had anything to do with this?”

“My boss all but confirmed it. When I asked him about your father, he sputtered and hemmed and hawed until I gave up on an answer. It was Elliot. I know it in my bones.”

His brow lines. Anderson’s disagreement face. “My father is powerful in certain circles, but I can’t believe he’d come after you. This is personal, and forgive me, but I don’t think you rate on his scale of what’s personal to him.”

“There is no other reason for me to be laid off. I’m a hard worker, I’m there whenever they need me, and I bring in a ton of money to the firm.” I grumble, “But apparently, not as much as Elliot West does.”

Anderson’s hands ball into fists as his jaw tightens. “June, I am so sorry. My father is the world’s biggest asshole. He’s going to get what’s coming to him?—"

“I don’t think he will.”

“Why is that?”

I huff bitterly. “I realize you grew up in an ivory tower, Anderson, but I grew up on the ground, so let me tell you how it works. Men like your father never get what’s coming to them. They flit through life, fucking good people over, and they face no consequences. You should be familiar with the dynamic. Have you ever faced a consequence in your life?”

His eyes narrow on me. He spits out, “Once or twice.”

“And did the slap on the wrists sting, or did you even notice it?”

“June, I get what you’re saying. I’m a lawyer, too, remember? I help rich people deal with consequences?—"

“No. You help spoiled brats escape consequences.”

He stretches his hands in frustration. “Since when did this become about me, exactly?”

“It’s always been about you, hasn’t it? Everything in your life is all about you. Hell, even the night you bid on me, it was because you couldn’t stand the idea of another man putting his hands on me!”

He sits back, trying to calm down. But I don’t want to calm down. I’m pissed off. Anderson is quieter now. “June, I only did that because I care about you. I wanted to keep you safe from whoever might have won. If you?—"

“But you can’t keep me safe from you, can you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s not fair of me to lay this at your feet, and I don’t. Not all of it. But the fact remains that the moment you won my auction was the moment my life fell the fuck apart.” A hot knot forms in my throat.

“We will fix it. Together. I know you’re angry right now?—"

“I might never stop being angry when it comes to you.”

He winces. “Fine. Be angry. But shutting me out won’t fix anything.”

“Yeah, actually. It will.” I get up and stomp out of the café with Anderson hollering behind me. But if I don’t leave now, I never will. I cannot have him in my life. He makes everything so fucking complicated. Tears sting my eyes, but I ignore them as I make my way from the coffeeshop. It doesn’t matter how much I care about Anderson, because the end result is the same.

Love does not conquer all.

Just as I’m about to cross the street, a hand grabs my shoulder to spin me around. As I turn, I punch. I’m not getting taken again! But it’s Anderson, and he catches my fist in his palm. “Sorry to surprise you like that?—"

“Just leave me alone!”

“I can’t do that, June.”

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