Page 505 of Savage Bosses

She stands and mimics my position with her fingers gripping the edge of the other side of the desk from me.

“That’s not a threat, Ambrose. It’s a promise. I refuse to work in a hostile environment where you threaten me and wield your power over my head like some terrorist or dictator! I was hired to do a job because of my skills and expertise. You will not denigrate my role or my abilities to feed your pompous, egotistical display of power!”

“Do what you feel that you need to do, Bryn. I promise you…you won’t get far.”

She stands and narrows her eyes further at me, her nostrils slightly flaring. Our heavy breathing fills the room, giving an air of fallacy that we’d been making love. More like making war, though I’d give anything to do the former over the latter with her.

“If that’s what you think, then watch me. I want to save jobs and make this company profitable, Ambrose. Not feed your ego.”

I release the edge of the desk, crossing my arms over my chest. “Do what you feel is necessary.”

If I’m not mistaken, her eyes are wet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Brynlee this angry, and I hate that it’s at my hands. It seems I’m always bringing these histrionics up in her.

“Hello, big brother,” Austin announces, barging into my office.

I watch as he closes the door and drops onto the couch opposite my desk. He props his legs over the armrest and lays his head opposite.

“Where have you been?” I grumble.

“Gracing my company with my presence. Where else?”

I lift my eyes from my computer again and snarl. “Is there something that I can help you with?”

He sits up and assesses me with a mischievous smirk. “Damn, they were right. Someone did piss in your soup.”

“No one’s pissed in my soup. It’s called working. And who the hell is gossiping about me?” I grumble.

Laughing, he says, “No one but the usual. Sandra and Lauren.”

Sandra Crowe, I inherited from John before his passing, and Lauren is the receptionist for the executive floor. I should fire them both.

“What are they saying?”

Shrugging, he presses his fingertips together and stares down at his shoes. “You know me…I’m not the type to gossip.”

I pull my fingers through my hair.

“You’re fucking impossible. Don’t you have work to do?”

“Well, since you insist,” he says, lying back on the couch again. “I heard that we have a new CAO and that she’s wickedly smart, fiercely funny, beautiful, and has a sexy body.”

“Sandra and Lauren said all that?”

Chuckling, he says, “Everything except about her body. I caught a glimpse of that myself. Why didn’t you tell me Brynlee was working for us now?”

A rush of protectiveness barrels through me like a kayak down a raging river.

“Didn’t know that I had to update you on all new staff.”

“When it’s someone from your past, you might.”

“Didn’t know that I needed to disclose that either. Did you mention to either of those loose lips Bryn and I used to date?”

“Nope. Figured I’d let them figure that can of worms out for themselves. I could tell, though, that they had no idea. It was never mentioned. Whatwasmentioned was that the two of you keep butting heads, and everyone’s trying to figure out why. I put my fifty dollars in the pool.”

“What pool?” I rage.

“The one where there’s a bet going that you like her and that you’ll have her before the month is over, whereas, some say that you can’t stand her, you’re threatened by her brains and wits, and she’ll be out on her ass by the end of the month. I wager she’ll have you crawling on your knees, begging her to take you back within a couple of months.”

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