Page 85 of No Ordinary Love

I took a deep breath. "I have to fire her."

"You do?" She wasn't challenging me; she was just curious.

I nodded and told her what went down in the boardroom.

"She never loved you, did she?" she finally said when I was done.

"No,Tesoro, she never did."

She gave me a sad smile. "You do what you have to do. I'll be at home, waiting for you."

And thank God for that!

I kissed her softly, sweetly, because she was the love of my life, and I'd never felt it more strongly than I did right then.

Chapter 31

Lucas

Isat at my desk, facing Kath.

Gene was seated next to her, his lawyer face revealing nothing, but I knew he was dreading this as much as I was.

Kath looked like a deer caught in the headlights—her eyes filled with disbelief at how it had turned out, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her designer blazer. I'd seen her confident, collected, even ruthless, but now? Now, she was just scared. And that made this all the more necessary.

She avoided looking at Gene and sat staring straight into my eyes. She could guess why the company's general counsel was in the room.

"Kath, we're going to have to let you go; you understand that, right?" I kept my voice cold and professional.

She opened her mouth, probably to try to talk her way out of it, but I held up a hand to stop her. I wasn't in the mood forexcuses or justifications, not after what had just gone down in the boardroom.

"Your actions today were not only unprofessional but a direct threat to the stability of this company. You conspired with Hugh to undermine my leadership and take control of LPC. You were party to him blackmailing Michael; pressuring me to marry you."

"Lucas," she finally managed to speak, her voice shaking, "I was doing what I thought was best for the company. We were—"

"You mean what's best formycompany?" I cut in, my voice hardening.

Her eyes welled with tears, and for a moment, she looked like she might break down entirely. But she straightened her shoulders, trying to regain some semblance of control. "Lucas, you can't just fire me. I'll sue you."

I leaned forward, planting my hands on the desk, locking my eyes with hers. "Does she have any grounds to sue, Gene?"

"No," Gene replied succinctly.

"I love you," she lashed out. "I did this because I love you."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Bullshit."

She licked her lips. "I…I didn't know how else to keep you. Can't you see that we're meant to be together?"

"The fact that you bring in the personal during a professional relationship makes what I'm doing here even more important." I refused to be baited by her into discussingus.

"But…you leftherfor me and—"

"Stop," I cut in. "You've let our past personal relationship cloud your professional decisions."

Kath shook her head. "What are you afraid of, Lucas? That I'll hurt you again? I won't. I promise. I was stupid and—"

"I talked to Mercer." I delivered that blow softly.

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