Page 141 of The Bonus

Please don’t.

He scurries out of my office and I glance around for a window to jump through.

“How much?” Her cold eyes hold mine.

“For what?”

“To get out of my son’s life,” she snaps angrily. “What else could it mean? Do you really think you can seduce my son, get pregnant without telling him, and turn up three weeks before his wedding to the love of his life, ruin everything and get away with it? You are nothing but a manipulative bitch and I won’t stand for it.”

My mouth falls open in shock…she did not just say that.

“Let me guess… You seduced him on his desk one night after work?” Her eyes hold mine. “I’m assuming you were wearing something sexy, maybe a suspender belt that you purposely let him see?” Her smirk breaks into a sarcastic smile. “And the earth moved for you, but he wanted nothing to do with you after?”

I stare at her, shocked to silence.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, Grace Porter. Gabriel has had sex with most of his PAs. You are nothing special.” She looks me up and down. “I mean, look at you.”

Boom.

Boom.

Boom…goes my heartbeat in my ears.

She sits forward in her seat. “If you think you can hold my son ransom with your bastard illegitimate children, think again.”

I clench my jaw as I imagine tipping my glass of water over her nasty head.

“He’ll be over this Brady Bunch fantasy in…” she glances at her watch, “…about two weeks from now, and where will you be then?”

Tears threaten, and I get a lump in my throat as I try to hold them in.

“Ten million dollars.”

I stare at her, speechless.

“Fifteen.” Her cold eyes hold mine.

Gabriel has had sex with most of his PAs…

“Twenty million dollars. Don’t be a fool, Grace, he is going to dump you eventually. There is no way you can hold a man like Gabriel Ferrara. We both know that. Take the money now because, trust me, you will get nothing later.”

I pick up a framed photo from my desk and I pass it to her. “The illegitimate bastard children you speak of have names, Lucia and Dominic. They are six.”

Her face falls as she looks at them, the resemblance to Gabriel is striking, she can’t deny it.

“They are just like their father,” I whisper. “Take a long last look at that photo, Mrs. Ferrara, because over my dead body will you ever see them again.”

The air swirls between us, a conjuring of evil like you’ve never felt before.

“Don’t underestimate me, Grace,” she sneers. “That could be arranged.”

“Is that a threat?” I feel a little of my equilibrium return. “Please, threaten me again so I can tape it with my phone. I’m sure Gabriel would love to hear what Mommy dearest has to say to the mother of his children.”

You could cut the air with a knife as we glare at each other.

“You’re making a big mistake,” she whispers.

“Leave.” I stand and open the office door. “Security,” I call.

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