Page 7 of Bidding War

“I’m out.” I gather my things.

“Did Wallace fire you?” he asks with a gasp.

“Laid-off is the official story, but yeah.”

“Fuck him! He can’t do that! Doesn’t he know what you?—"

“Yeah. He knows.” I zip up my bag, ready to get the hell out. “I’ll call you, Garrett. Just need to cool down.”

He nods. “If I can do anything?—"

“I’ll let you know.” Marching to the elevator, I want to scream. But then I smell Madi’s perfume nearby, and I want to run.

“Guess it’s really not your month, June,” she says smugly.

When I face her, she stands there, arms crossed and smirking. Through gritted teeth, I ask, “How’s that?”

“First, that dreadful bout of food poisoning combined with the flu—which no one believes, by the way—and then you get fired.” She shakes her head in fake pity. “I wonder if it’s karma. What could you have done to deserve this bad luck? Guess we’ll never know. Poor thing. Oops. Bad phrasing. With no job, you really will be poor soon. I’d hate to see you out on the street like a common?—"

“You have the rest of your life to be an asshole. Take today off.”

She gasps. “Excuse you?”

“One of the best parts of leaving this place is I will never have to see you again.”

“I was just showing my concern.”

“You were showing your ass, and you know it.” Where the hell is the elevator?

“You’re just upset, June,” she says dismissively. “I understand?—"

“Oh, Madi. How could you understand anything? You’re as simple as the dress you’re wearing.”

She huffs in derision. “How dare you!”

“Madison.” I smile at her, knowing I will never have to again. Hell, I’m almost giddy at the thought. “I would tell you to go play in traffic, but I’m worried you’re so intellectually void that you would actually consider it, and I might be held liable, so I’ll leave you with this. Your mother should have stuck to her guns when she asked for a back rub the night you were conceived.”

The elevator doors open, so I walk in. When I face her again, she stands there, mouth agape. Garrett, some five feet behind her, shouts, “You’re my hero, June!” as the doors close.

That felt amazing. I’d been holding that in for years, and for once in my life, I thought of what I wanted to say right in the moment. The feeling wears off by the time I reach the lobby, though. I said what I wanted to when it came to Madi, but there is nothing to say to fix being fired.

Not with Elliot West holds all the cards.

I half wonder if this is why Callie was out today. She’s dating one of the firm’s board members. Did she know about this, or did he keep her out of the office to prevent her from seeing the carnage? I guess it could be that she’s taking a personal day for herself but the timing is too coincidental, and I’m seeing conspiracies everywhere I turn. It’s hard not to.

Elliot West is on every recent disaster in my life. First, he gets my payment frozen. Then, he gets me kidnapped. And then, he walks into my apartment like he owns the place and steals back the money I earned. Finally, he gets me fired.

Except, is freezing my payment really the first thing he did to fuck me over?

No. He raised Anderson to be a little monster when we were kids. Elliot never showed him any warmth or love as a child. All Elliot ever did was belittle him. So, when Anderson had a crush on me, he belittled me, thinking that was how to show affection. When I snapped back at him, it only spurred him on. It messed up our entire dynamic, and he bullied me for years. I hated him back then.

Which is why I was super confused the night of my auction.

I shake my head at myself as I walk home. Thank God it stopped raining because walking home in that would have been so much worse. I am shaking because I’m angry. Elliot is a fucking monster. I want to make him pay. But I don’t know how.

He’s ruthless. He’s rich and powerful.

I’m an unemployed tax attorney with too much student debt.

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