Page 60 of Ruin Me

“Really?” I glanced at Omar who avoided meeting my gaze as Mal and Hal sandwiched me between them and steered me to the main office elevator. “I wonder who gave you that idea.”

“The janitor I found weeping in the men’s room after you glared in his direction.” Mal pushed the button for the elevator.

“I did not.” I shrugged their arms off and straightened my suit.

“I was there. He was the reason I came to apologize to you.”

“Apologize? For what specifically?”

Hal eyed me. “Let’s get a few drinks in you first. No offense, but I’d prefer to say what I have to when you’re more mellow, and you’re nowhere close enough to that state of mind yet.”

“You risk me forgetting all about you begging my forgiveness once I sober up.”

Hal waved away my warning. “Not only will I have a witness,” he pointed at Mal, “But I’ve seen you shit faced with clients before who thought to get one over on you and you had perfect recall the next day. We’ve been working too long for you to think I’d take advantage that way.”

“Hmph.” I entered the elevator as soon as the doors opened. Not because I wanted to spend time with my legal counsel and CFO. I desperately needed that drink to get my mind off Ife’s rejection.

They took me to Refresh, the lounge bar in the downtown Luxe Continental hotel. As soon as we walked through the doors, the hotel staff perked up and met us with the first-class service famous in my hotels. They ushered us to a private room off thelounge that we could close by sliding the pocket doors or leave open to observe the main room.

We chose to leave the door open. I drank the first three drinks in silence while Mal and Hal made small talk.

Once some of the tension melted from my shoulders, I turned to Hal. “Alright, let’s hear it. Maybe this time my punch will straighten out the knot I put in your nose.”

“If you drop the hostility, you’ll hear what I have to say.”

I quirked my brow as I waited, though I couldn’t imagine what he’d say to erase the way he denigrated Madison’s and her accomplishments.

“Look, I know there’s nothing I say that will excuse what I said about Madison. I let my concern for the company blind me to being a decent fucking human being, and I’m sorry for blaming her.”

“That it?” I asked, remembering the worst of what came from his mouth.

“I should never have implied… what I did about her body or that you would have risked your legacy because of it.”

I stared stonily back at him for seconds on end.

Hal gulped his drink but held my gaze.

“Alright, put me out of my misery. Are you going to beat the living shit out of Hal or forgive him?” Mal shoved himself against his seat and folded his arms in a pout.

“Why do I think you want the former?” Hal asked.

“Because you think I’m as bloodthirsty as Kent. Although, if you had spoken about my woman the way you spoke about Madison, I doubt you would have walked out of the office.” Mal smiled. “Good thing, I’m like Kent before he met Madison. No ties but many straps.” He winked and Hal and I groaned at his corny take.

“Well, before you decide on forgiving me, I have a confession I didn’t know I needed to make until Mal mentioned Ife’s upset departure yesterday.”

I closed my eyes and squeezed my empty glass. “What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Do?”

Hal poured himself another drink from the bottles we’d ordered and swallowed the contents in one go. He repeated the action and I grabbed the bottle from his hands. “I saw Ife yesterday. She mentioned going to the house but it felt like no one had been there in months when she stopped by to surprise you. You weren’t in your office and Omar told her you didn’t have a meeting scheduled.”

“Hal…” I ground the words between my teeth.

“I mentioned you could have been in the penthouse. I swear, I didn’t mention which one.”

“No, you just told her the code to get into it.” I stood over him, shaking with wrath.

“How was I supposed to know she would catch…” His lie shriveled under the heat of my glare.

Although no one brought it up, everyone gossiped about the times my office walls turned opaque when only Madison and I were inside. It was all over the BBD site, but I ignored the chatter for Madison’s sake. Maybe everyone’s excuse for not turning against Madison was because she was an outside consultant and not an employee threatening someone’s job. As long as no one disparaged her, I didn’t address the site. A part of me didn’t because I reveled in everyone knowing she was mine.

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