Page 42 of A Linton Scandal

I snorted. “I was doing perfectly fine on my own thank you. Anyway, we can talk about that more later. I’m here to work with Hannah, and I wanted to show this little guy some fun.”

Noah apparently energized by my news, assessed Nelu more closely before reaching out and picking him up. “Come on kiddo, let’s go make some real man food. If we stay with these two we’ll be stuck making delicate woman sweets.”

Before Sophie could kick him, he’d kidnapped Nelu and ran out of the office.

Exasperated, I stood up and took off my coat and set my purse aside. “I’m glad that’s over.”

“Come on, we aren’t that bad.” Sophie laughed. “Well, I’m going to make sure he doesn’t piss off the other cooks. Last time he came over and cooked, I thought I was going to have a coup in the kitchen. I have an extra uniform in the usual place.”

“Thanks,” I said with a slight chuckle as she left. Noah was a talented cook, and while he rarely infringed on our restaurant, there had been times he’d come over to help but the problem was while Noah was considered fun loving in the kitchen, he’d become a tyrant and was rumored to be worse than Gordon Ramsay. Luckily, I’d never had to work with him.

I opened the upper cabinet and spotted the extra pair of shoes and cook uniform. Checking to make sure the door was closed, I quickly got changed sadly, I didn’t have a mirror to check my looks. Pulling my hair back quickly, I headed out.

Mihai

I sat in the conference room that was normally used for director meetings, but currently it was only me, Nao and the three men who’d been plotting against me. I watched as they all swiped through the information on the tablets set before them. Each of them wore expressions of anger and frustration. Only one of them wore a look of fear.

The first one to speak was Kissinger. Those black eyes narrowed on me. “What is it you’re trying to achieve by showing us this?”

I leaned back and crossed my legs. “What do you think my intent is, Kissinger?”

He glanced at the other two, his eyes landing on Stern for a bit longer. “From what I can conclude is that you wish to warn us?—”

“Wrong.”

I smiled. “When I first took over, I told you then that any wrong that had been committed would be forgotten and that from my first day I would judge every situation with new eyes. That was your warning and you three have far surpassed the expiration date on my patience.”

He pursed his lips together, dropping his eyes to the table. “What do you intend to do now?”

“Since you’re curious why don’t you ask your friend Stern. After all, out of the three of you he’s the only one looking at real jail time.”

“What? What’s he talking about, Stern?” Kissinger demanded from Stern who sat to his right.

Stern didn’t move, his eyes firmly on the tablet in front of him. Seeing he wasn’t interested in answering, I stood up. “Here is what we’ll do Kissinger and Howard if you both agree to peacefully leave the company and sign over your shares. I will not pursue legal action against you.”

Both men shared a look before they both gave me a nod.

Nao quickly set the contracts before them, while I continued speaking to Stern.

“As for you, you understand why you can’t get the same deal as them, right? Though I at first wished to wait a bit longer before dealing with you. But it looks like I underestimated your desire for power. Which means, you’re now going to get my full attention.”

I walked over to his side and settled a heavy hand on his arm. “I suggest you call your family and give them your best regards.”

He shuddered as I gave him one more friendly pat on his back before moving away. I exited the room. “I’ll leave the rest to you,” I said to Lin who stood leaning against the wall, across from the doorway.

He nodded at me.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket I checked my messages, immediately erasing the shit my brothers had sent me. Seeing that Juliette has sent me something, I opened it and a warm sensation cut through the cool rage I’d been mired in.

She’d first asked me if she could take Nelu out, but since I hadn’t responded I guess she’d decided to take him out anyway. There was a picture of the two of them. Both had what looked like flour on their faces and for the first time I could see Nelu’s bright smile, his green eyes sparkling with happiness.

They were standing behind a table, where there were a few cakes and what looked like a block of chocolate. I found myself smiling, seeing Juliette in her chef’s outfit. I wondered if she was still there.

Making a quick decision I decided to leave work early. Replacing my phone into my back pocket, I spoke to Nao who’d finished his part and was now standing before me with two signed packets. “I’ll be leaving early, let the office know.”

I wanted to spend time with my family.

Juliette

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