Page 30 of Reluctant Surrender

“I think you should really consider what you’re suggesting,” Maggie responded.

Several moments went by without another sound, so I reached for the handle. If that fucking prick had one finger on her, I’d kill him right there.

“I’ll give you time to think about it,” I heard her boss say. “Why don’t you take a week off, think about your priorities and when you return, we can discuss your future here.”

I didn’t wait another second to hear her response. That fucking prick would pay for speaking to her like some common girl. Maggie wasn’t just any girl; she was my girl. And no one touched what’s mine and got away with it.

Throwing open the office door, I barged inside and went straight for the asshole standing at the side of his desk. Maggie jumped up from her chair; it tumbled backward onto the floor as she got out of my way. I grabbed hold of his collar and shoved him back three paces until we hit the wall.

“What the hell is going on?” The asshole’s large brown eyes went wild with fear as he grappled with me.

“Shit.” Maggie was on me in a flash, yanking at my arm. “Lukas, stop it.”

I focused my glare on the pretty blond-haired boy in my grasp. “You don’t ever talk to her like that, do you understand me?” My left hand flexed.

“He wasn’t!” Maggie pulled harder on my arm.

“You don’t so much as look at her.” I did my best to keep my temper in check. I didn’t want Maggie to witness what I really wanted to do to the asshole. She’d never seen such violence before, and I wouldn’t allow the first time she witnessed it to be at my hands.

“Maggie…” Her boss nodded. “I wasn’t… Maggie.” It’s hard to make words when you can’t breathe, and my fist pushed harder into his throat.

“Lukas! He wasn’t talking to me like that. We were rehearsing!” Maggie yelled at me then let go of my arm long enough to smack me. “Let him go! You’re hurting him!”

Of course I was hurting him; he disrespected her.

“Please.” She softened her tone and gently wrapped her hand around my fist. “He wasn’t doing anything inappropriate. I swear it.”

I softened my grasp on his tie and gently released him.

“Fuck.” He coughed a few times, sucking in large gulps of air between. “Who is this?”

Maggie shot me a hard glare.

“Her boyfriend,” I answered for her. I took a moment while he was getting his breathing back in order to take a look at the office. The chair she’d been sitting in was sprawled on the floor, a packet of papers laid beside it. I picked up the papers.

“We have to do a sexual harassment seminar next week and Tony asked me to run through the script HR sent over this afternoon,” Maggie said, shooting daggers at me from his side. “You know, since I was still here. Waiting for you.”

I put the packet on the edge of his desk. “It didn’t sound like acting from where I stood.”

She stepped toward me. “Then I guess I was doing a good job.”

“I think we’ve got it down pretty good, Margaret.” Her boss straightened his tie. How could he be one of the partners in the firm, he couldn’t have been much older than her. With his sandy blond hair swept to the side, his casual suit, and those brown leather loafers, he looked like he belonged on a beach somewhere.

“I’m so sorry, Tony.” She wrung her hands.

“It’s all right.” He gave her a small smile. Just enough for a dimple to appear on his cheek. He may not have been trying to use his position to get down her skirt a few minutes ago, but I knew fucking flirting when I saw it. And this asshole was doing it right in front of my face.

“A misunderstanding,” I said; it was as close to an apology he was going to get out of me. He may not have been doing anything wrong this time, but the way his gaze slid over Maggie’s body said it wasn’t because he didn’t want to. And a pretty boy like him would think he had the right to whatever woman he wanted in his firm.

“Yes, well, since your ride is here, we can finish this another time.” He shot me a look.

She frowned. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She bent to right the chair that had fallen over, but I waved her away and picked it up myself.

Without another word toward her boss, I followed her out of his office. As soon as she was outside the room, she hurried down a row of cubicles to her own space in the godawful place.

“I can’t believe you!” she hissed at me, jerking open the bottom drawer of her metal desk.

“Sure you can, angel. Now lower your voice,” I warned her while leaning one shoulder against the edge of the wall.

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