Page 65 of Gross Misconduct

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jill

The thoughts whirling through my head were on overdrive. Not only did I dread my father calling me back, I had to deal with Jeremy’s lies and how that would affect everyone. I’d already put in a call to Clay, who was vacationing at his home in Palm Springs. I didn’t look forward to throwing him this latest curveball.

And then there was Mark. That asshole had to be dealt with too. I’d come to the conclusion that Jeremy’s press conference—whenever that happened—would put some of what Mark thought he had on me on ice. At least I hoped so. Why were all of these men throwing a wrench in my life? My father, Jeremy, Clay, and Mark. I didn’t want to deal with any of them. I’d wanted to stay in bed all day, not deal with this crap.

Thankfully, my father hadn’t bothered to call back, but I was trying to enjoy a second cup of coffee when Clay did. I shut my door and answered.

“Ms. Bowman, the fact you’re calling me while I’m on vacation has me perturbed.”

“I’m sorry, but we have a situation.”

He huffed a breath. “Not another one. Let’s hear it.”

I told him the whole sordid story. He listened quietly, and when I was done, he unleashed on me.

“I knew we should have gotten rid of Vaughn. In fact, we should have gotten rid of both those bums. One can’t stop gambling, and the other can’t stop sleeping around. All right, I pay you good money. What are we doing?”

Clay was always an animated sort of man, but he was furious, and I couldn’t blame him. I stayed calm as I laid out my plan. “I think we beat Orla to it and have Jeremy fall on his sword. My team will come up with language and we’ll time it around the Kodiaks bye week. That way it keeps the press away. And I’ve thought about this all morning, and I hate that I’m doing this, but I’ll stand by my man.” Even saying it made me want to retch. “When he makes his announcement, I will be there with him. I have no idea if his agent wants to be there as well. I haven’t contacted him yet because I wanted to run this past you first.”

Clay was silent for a stretch. “You know, I want whatever screws over Orla Donnelly. I think this is a great idea. I also appreciate that you are going above and beyond. If I could, I’d castrate Vaughn. Keep me updated on this. Texts will suffice.”

I crossed one man off my list. My next call was to Taylor. That call went quickly, and Taylor was careful to be professional when I could tell that he was furious with Jeremy. Well, he could get in line. He agreed with my proposal but had one suggestion.

“I worry this will leak before the press conference. Make sure you keep the circle of people who know very small.”

“Good advice. I’m bringing in only one of my staff and the only other person who knows is Clay, and I don’t have to worry about him.”

“All right. Send me the statement when you have it for meand Jeremy to look over. I will be there for the announcement. Give me at least a few days of notice when you settle on a date.”

I thanked him and checked another man off my list. Mark, Jeremy, and my father could wait. I had to bring in Whitney, the only person I trusted with this. She and I would write the statement and keep it under wraps. Before I could do that, I called legal to make sure Whitney’s NDA was in order. I couldn’t change a thing. By the time they got back to me, it was too late to have a meeting with her. It could wait until the morning. I needed a clear head to deal with the next phase.

I had no idea what I’d do without Chloe. She kept me sane. Taking her for a long walk after work cleared my muddled brain and pushed away some of the anxiety. I still had no idea what I planned to do about Jeremy, and for now, I’d shelved it. I also had no idea what I planned to do about Mark and my father. Right now, I had to put out one fire at a time.

Chloe and I cuddled on the sofa and watched mindless television, anything to keep my mind off work. I then took her for one last bathroom break and hit my bed. I slept soundly and felt refreshed in the morning. I was ready to take on the day until I thought of Mark and my father. Grrr.

My first order of business was to call Whitney into my office. She seemed a little worried when I closed the door. She took a seat and watched me with her big brown eyes.

“Did I do something wrong?”

I wrinkled my nose. “No. Why?”

“You seemed upset yesterday, and spent the afternoon in your office on the phone. It seemed off because you called in sick, thencame in.”

“It has nothing to do with you, but we do have a crisis. You are the only one I’m bringing in on this, so it’s important we keep this between us. The people who know about this are next to nil, and if it gets out, I don’t want anyone pointing a finger at you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, of course.”

I’d thought long and hard about whether to tell her that my relationship with Jeremy was fake. I decided against that. The less she knew, the better. “Orla Donnelly has a book deal. Something about writing steamy romances, but her first book appears to be loosely based on her life, and it comes out in April. Normally, no one around here would care, but she has a publicity campaign that’s going to start soon. You’re likely wondering why this is a crisis.”

She nodded.

“Jeremy Vaughn did have an affair with her. He lied about it, and so did she. Now she plans to come clean as a way to get publicity. At least that’s what I think she’s doing.”

“Oh no!”

“The plan is to cut the head off the monster and beat her to it. And I need you for this. We are going to craft a statement for Jeremy to make at the press conference later this month. I can’t do this alone, and I need your help. I also need your help vetting candidates for the Ravens PR position as well as doing our day-to-day activities. I’m asking a lot, so I’ll make sure Clay comes through for you.”

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