Page 66 of I Am Lioness

Oh hell no.

I almost went ballistic.

Almost.

I had every urge to throttle him, my fingers twitching, flexing and releasing at my sides into hard fists. What revved me up another notch was the smug smirk on his face.

His words were meant burn, to press that one hot button that set me off, but I stood my ground, willing my anger to subside. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of seeing how his words stung.

“Thatgot you thinking, huh?” He snickered, shaking his head.

Then he said that and I lunged in the blink of an eye, ready to knock him on his ass, only to be pulled back into something hard and quite familiar a moment later.

With his arm around my chest, Knox dipped his head down beside my ear. “Easy there, tiger.” He chuckled.

When I physically relaxed, melting into him, he placed a kiss on my cheek, then peppered a light trail to my shoulder.

Jason cleared his throat. “Mr. Carr, we were just talking about you.”

“Is that so?” The question was directed to me, sheer amusement bubbling in his voice.

“No, we were just finished here.” I said, staring Jason in the face.

Knox turned his head to Jason, tipping his chin. “You're welcome, by the way.”

Jason’s brow quirked. “For what?”

“For saving your ass just now.”

“Oh, please. Hazel wouldn't lay a finger on me.” Jason said matter-of-factly.

“You sure about that, Fremont? Cause what I saw was one feral woman ready to rip you a new one.”

Jason laughed. “I might have said some things that pressed her buttons but she wouldn’t dare.”

“Excuse me?” Knox gritted out, starting to pull me behind his large frame.

“I wouldn’t dare?” I was seething, placing myself back in front of Knox. I wanted to beat the crap out of him just to prove him wrong. Instead, I took the higher route and did what I should have done a long time ago. “Pack your bags, Jason. You’re done here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” He screwed up his face, crossing his arms.

“It means you’re fired and I want you gone by tomorrow morning the latest.”

“Y-you, you can’t…”

“Oh, but I can.” I said with finality. “Goodbye.”

Jason glared between Knox and I menacingly but he didn’t say another word. The elevator dinged behind us and several people spilled out, maneuvering around us as they headed for the front doors.

Jason fiddled with the button on his blazer and held his head up high as he brushed past us and boarded the cart. He disappeared behind the doors and then Knox reached for my hand, giving it a light squeeze to assure me I’d made the right decision. The bridge was finally burned and we were free.

When Hazeland I returned from dinner later on that evening, Jason was merely a figment of some of our worst memories.

I was thankful he’d chosen the smarter route and left sooner rather than later because had he lingered around till morning, either Hazel would have flipped or him and I would've had it out in private.

We hadn’t heard from him since and the peace brought in his absence somehow catapulted us through the weeks following New York much quicker than I expected.

Touching down on the tarmac in Chicago reinforced the fact that the end was near, The Semi-Finals being the start of it all. Hazel was up against Serena McLeod who had zoomed up the leaderboards from the very bottom, shocking the masses with the stark contrast in her performance due to her foul track record from just last year.

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