Page 39 of Love Under Protection

“Great. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll text you the company address. When you come in, let them know you’re here to see me, and they’ll send you back. I’ll text my email address as well, if you could email your resume over tonight, I would appreciate it.”

“That’s perfect, I can take care of that right now. Thank you for the opportunity.”

“My pleasure. Have a good evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He hangs up, and I stare down at my phone. That really happened. I have an interview tomorrow. At King Cosmetics. I gather my laptop from the counter and go to my room to email my resume and do some research on the company before tomorrow.

* * *

Levi King standsto greet me when his assistant knocks and lets me into his office. I take a quick look around and do my best to calm my nerves with a few deep breaths. It doesn’t help at all that I feel like someone was following me on my way here.

I push the uneasiness down and focus on right here and now.

My first impression of Levi is that he’s young, much younger than I expected. He looks like he comes from money but is the type who doesn’t try to flaunt it. There’s a wedding ring on his finger and a picture of his wife, who I recognize as Becca, sitting on the bookcase behind him.

“Miss Mancini, pleasure to meet you.” He extends his hand.

I give his hand a firm shake in return. “Mr. King, thank you again for meeting with me so soon.”

“Please, call me Levi. Mr. King is my father.”

“Understood.”

He guides me to a small seating area. “Have a seat.”

Levi takes a spot on the chair opposite of me, and I immediately offer him my resume.

“I see you’ve got your Master’s in Business Management and Human Resources,” he says while looking over the papers in his hand. “From Georgia Southern University.”

“Yes, Sir. I graduated in the top five percent of my class.”

“Excellent,” he nods. “Says here that you were with the same company since high school and that you were promoted to executive assistant to the Vice President of the company?”

He doesn’t even have to say Sawyer’s name for knots to form in my stomach.

“That’s correct.”

“And your departure from this company?” This time he looks up at me.

“Their morals no longer aligned with my own, and I felt that I had reached my full potential within the company,” I say just like I rehearsed.

“Miss Mancini…”

“You can call me Raylynn,” I offer.

“Raylynn. As promised, I reviewed your resume this morning and made a few calls. Flynn Patrick Enterprises says that you were terminated for conduct unbecoming. I have to admit, with your impeccable history and accolades, I was a bit surprised.”

Shit. This interview was over before I even walked in the door.

“I realize this is my word against his, but Mr. King, I assure you that there are some substantial discrepancies with their side of the story. The only unbecoming conduct I am guilty of is agreeing to a relationship with the Vice President, Sawyer Flynn.”

“I see. And as someone with Human Resources knowledge, you do understand the trouble that poses? In fact, most companies have policies in place against employee fraternization. I also understand that there is an ongoing civil dispute between you and Sawyer Flynn.”

“I understand the conflict of interest. FlynnPatrick Enterprises did not have any such policies. Sawyer and I were engaged. If I may be honest, I said that our morals no longer aligned. I am unable to say anything further due to the non-disclosure agreement I signed when I resigned, though I’m sure a man of your intelligence can read between the lines and make your own assumptions about what really might have happened. With all due respect, Sawyer Flynn is simply acting like an entitled brat because I finally wised up and could no longer be pushed around. I refuse to be a pawn in his twisted games. In return, he’s made it his life’s mission to ruin me. Tell me something, Mr. King, did FlynnPatrick Enterprises tell you how they set up a shell company to buy out my apartment management company and then have me evicted? Is that something you would do to an employee who quit or was terminated from your company?” The words flow from my mouth and feel beyond my control. At this point, I can’t even bring myself to care. If I’ve already blown this interview, I might as well put it all out there.

“That’s…” He blows out a whistle. “That’s a lot of information.”

“You’ll see that I have not been able to secure employment since my departure date from FlynnPatrick. Do you know why that is? Because I’d be happy to tell you.”

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