Page 420 of Savage Bosses

Bryce took a deep breath, trying to suppress the urge to snap at her.

"Melinda, I'm busy," he said through gritted teeth, stopping short and turning to face her. She blinked in surprise but then nodded, her eyes trailing over him with a hint of longing.

"Right, sorry. It's just... it's been a while since we've spent any time together." She hesitated, biting her lip. "My parents are having dinner with your family tonight. You should come."

"I already have plans," Bryce lied smoothly, his mind already racing with thoughts of Tatianna. The last thing he wanted was to spend an evening with Melinda and their families, discussing their nonexistent future together.

"Fine," she huffed, clearly hurt by his dismissal.

But Bryce had more pressing matters to attend to. He needed to figure out why Tatianna was back in town and what kind of game she was playing. And, most importantly, why the hell had his mother hired her?

"I'll let you go. But know this: your father wants us to spend more time together. He'll get upset with you if we don't spend a little time together," Melinda purred, her voice dripping with sugary sweetness that made Bryce's skin crawl.

"Really?" he replied, sarcasm lacing his words. "Well, we just spent five minutes together, so I'd say that covers this week." With a dismissive wave, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Melinda staring after him, her face contorted into an expression of hurt disbelief.

As he entered his office, Bryce slammed the door shut behind him, the sound echoing through the empty room like a gunshot. He took a deep breath, trying to release the tension building within him, but it was no use. His mind was consumed by thoughts of Tatianna, her unexpected reappearance throwing him off balance. Damn her for waltzing back into his life like this.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath, massaging his forehead as he stormed over to his desk.

He fell into his seat, feeling the weight of the encounter pressing down on him. Placing a hand over his racing heart, he couldn't help but acknowledge the effect she still had on him, even after all these years.

His jaw clenched in frustration. Still fuming from his encounter with Tatianna, Bryce yanked his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his mother's number. It rang twice before she picked up.

"Hello, darling," her warm voice greeted him. "Are you back in town?"

"Ma, what the hell were you thinking hiring Tatianna?" His voice was tense, barely containing his anger.

"Uh, did you go to the cafe rather than coming home when you made it into town?"

"I needed to get something out of my office. Explain yourself, mother. Why did you hire that woman?"

"Ah, well, we needed a pastry chef, and it just so happened that Tatianna had returned to town. It was like a Godsend, really," she explained, sounding pleased with herself.

"Godsend? Are you sure the devil didn't send her?" he sneered, his grip tightening on the phone.

"Be nice to her. She's very talented, you know."

"Nice? I have no reason to be nice to her. I just fired her," he snapped, drumming his fingers on the desk.

"Excuse me? You did what?" His mother's voice turned ice-cold, sending shivers down his spine. "You go find her and bring her back right now, do you hear me?"

"Ma, she cannot work here!"

"She can and she will."

"Your last manager stole money from the cafe. You even had a cashier who was short-changing the register. That's proof that you're not good at hiring people. You wouldn't have asked me to be the manager if you were. As the manager, I get to decide who works here."

"As the owner, I can bring in my own people. Tatianna is one of my people."

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me, son. Tati is mine. And she can work there. Your grandmother has approved it."

"Do you not remember how she left me?" Bryce yelled.

"That's in the past. Now, go find her and bring her back."

"You and Grandmother have lost y'all minds."

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