Page 86 of Serving the CEO

DERRICK

Leavingmy office turned out to be a mistake even though I didn’t go far.

Drew caught sight of me as he stood talking with Jerrod Klinefelter, the head of HR, and Drew immediately ended the discussion to come in my direction. The determined expression on his face told me that we were going to talk whether I wanted to or not.

Sighing, I turned the paperwork I’d just finished handling over to Anamaria, then headed back into my office. Going to the coffee maker, I poured a fresh cup and waited. I had a feeling I was going to need the caffeine.

I didn’t have to wait long.

The door shut less than a minute later, shutting out even the low sounds of my employees. Without turning, I started a cup of coffee for Drew and took mine to the desk.

He looked at the damage done to the wall near the door. “Do I want to know?”

I flipped him off. “There’s coffee.”

“I don’t want it.” He remained where he was, gaze cool – almost unfriendly – as he studied me. “Are we partners here or not?”

“What?” That wasn’t the question I’d expected.

“You heard me.” His voice was hard. “Are we partners or not?”

“Don’t be obtuse,” I said, irritated. “Whatever you have on your mind, will you just say it? I’m not in the mood to play your fucking mind games?”

“You shouldn’t have fired Jami Gold. Again,” he said. “What else did you back out on?”

“I’m not the one who backed out.” The muscles in my neck tightened up and I fought to relax them. “She backed out of the wedding, which means she didn’t uphold her end of the contract, so I’m not obligated to honor any part of it.”

“That means you’re taking her parents’ store and you’re not going to sign the author she’s been courting. Did you fire Jessica, too?” he demanded.

“That’s none of your fucking business,” I said in a cold tone.

“The hell it’s not. We’re partners and I’m the CFO. Anything that could fuck up the company meansIhave to be advised on it. Did you fire her?” He stalked over to the desk and glared at me, eyes icy.

“No. I told her she had until the end of the year to tender her resignation and she’d be working under you the rest of that time. Then shequit.”

“You stupid son of abitch!” He spun away and stormed to the door, then back. “Do you know how badly this could backfire on us? She can sue the fuck out of you—and win. All she has to say is that you created a hostile work environment when she refused to marry you and she could take it all.”

“Oh, bullshit.” Leaning back, I gave him an irritated look. “We had a contract. She didn’t uphold her end of the bargain. It was business.”

“She gave youthree monthsout offifteen. And any judge who has to deal with your arrogant ass will call her a saint for that, especially when they find out the rest of what you took from her.” He came back to the desk and leaned forward. “I can tell by looking at you that you’re pissed, that you did this to get back at her. If she decides to go to a lawyer, you’re fucked. We’reallfucked.”

“If she does, we’ll cross that bridge then.” It annoyed me that I hadn’t considered that. It annoyed me even more that Drew wasn’t wrong. I could claim that the contract freed me from legal obligation but I knew if Jessica pushed it, things could go her way. “Was there something important you wanted to talk about or are you just in here jerking my chain for nothing?”

“I want you tothink,” he said slowly, like he was speaking to a small child. “And fuck, if you’re this screwed up,callher—find out what the fuck happened. Work it out.”

“I’ll take your advice into consideration.”

The fuck I would.

His jaw tightened as he studied me. Without saying anything else, he turned to go.

Before he reached the door, I said, “You know, I don’t need your approval on anything. We might be partners, but in the end, I’m the fucking CEO here.”

He looked back at me as he opened the door. “Right now, the only thing you are is a colossal dick, Derrick.”

Furious, I opened my mouth to snarl at him, but somebody walked by the door and I snapped my mouth shut.

Grabbing my phone, I lingered long enough to shut my computer down then stood up. I wasn’t getting jackshit done anyway.

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