Page 34 of Greed
The room smelled like cigar smoke, and Lilo knew the two of them had shared a moment before she’d entered. Despite being the twenty-first century, it was still a boy’s club in many ways, and the thought that she wasn’t invited to their little tête-à-tête made her growly. Stuff them. It was bad enough the men in the company got paid more, but here they were discussing her behind her back.
Fred’s unimpressed tone unsettled Lilo. If it was about her article, why was Donnie there? And why were his eyes tracking Lilo as she stepped into the room and took her seat?
“Is something wrong, Fred?” Lilo asked, threading her fingers together and placing her hands on her lap.
From the look of him, he’d already had a hard day. His white hair was disheveled. Round spectacles sat crooked on his nose.
“Well, Lilo.” Fred’s eyes flicked to his computer screen and then to Donnie. “While I appreciate you coming in after your ordeal this morning, I think perhaps you’re leaving a few facts out of your story.”
Lilo’s muscles seized. “What?”
“Oh, don’t play dumb, princess,” Donnie said. “We’re not fiction writers here. We’re journalists.”
She sat there dumbfounded. Her instant reaction was to shrink and roll over. Anytime Donnie used that tone on her in the past, she was a walking yes-girl. But… after the morning she’d had, she wasn’t feeling very yes-like. She’d single handedly saved Griffin’s life. Her! The cattle prod to the back of the imposter worked. The adrenaline may have worn off, but the after effects of her monumental effort hadn’t. Griffin had been right. She shouldn’t have to take Donnie’s shit anymore.
Instead, of saying something stupid, she allowed her empowerment to sizzle inside and let a slow burn of hate leak from her eyes. She imagined them shooting lasers into his face.Pew pew. Pew pew.
The more distance from the end of their relationship, the more she realized his toxicity, and how she was a toy, or a play thing for him to poke around. Well, she wouldn’t play his games. Not anymore.
Pew pew.
“Lilo?” Fred prompted.
Right. She turned back to him. “I still don’t know what you mean.”
While her outward appearance was at war, her mind scrambled back to the events at the precinct. Apart from Griffin, the only other person who saw the attacker up close was Nathanial, and he was dead. She supposed if there were cameras and Donnie had somehow received CCTV footage, he might have seen. But the police weren’t in the habit of releasing that information to a journalist. Not until it was officially ready to go public.
“I understand you may be in shock from what happened, and perhaps you need to take some time at home,” Fred continued, voice softening.
“You think I made up what happened?” They thought she was some hysterical woman?
Donnie scoffed under his breath. “We think you’re keeping certain facts out of the story. Like, for instance, oh, I don’t know, the fact the person doing the attacking was one of the Deadly Seven.”
How on earth would he know? Nervous tension prickled her body.
Donnie added, “Witnesses saw him escape the scene.”
“Well, I can only report on the truth, and all I remember was a person in black wearing a hoodie. It could have been anyone. Ask Griffin if you don’t believe me.” Saying the words twisted a knife in her heart.
Fred frowned. “How is he, by the way?”
“Relax, Fred. He won’t sue.” Donnie rolled his eyes.
Lilo wanted to strangle him. What’s wrong with asking how someone else was doing for once? Maybe Fred was just concerned about the new employee.
“He’s doing okay. He was very brave and protected me.” Saying the words made the fact hit home. For a moment, Lilo lost all sense of surroundings and was taken back to the attack. She’d been terrified, but Griffin had held her hand. He’d jumped in front of her, and when he’d had a gun pointed in his face, he hadn’t run away. He’d run forward. Griffin had put himself in harm’s way to either stop the criminal, or to save Lilo. Maybe both.
Her eyes cut razors down Donnie’s foul body. When was the last time he’d ever done anything selfless?
“Foolish,” Donnie muttered. “Now look at him. He should have stayed out of it.”
What a jerk. Lilo already knew there wasn’t a chivalrous bone in his body, but to take it one step further and put another man down for being brave? Lilo wanted to tell him Griffin was twice the man he was, but held her tongue. No. You know what? “Griffin tried to stop the man, Donnie. If he hadn’t, who knows what might have happened, or how many other people were going to die. It could have been me next. I could be dead.” Your little princess, she wanted to add. The one you claim to want back.
“Instead, he almost died. Doesn’t sound very smart to me.”
“No, it wouldn’t, would it Donnie?”
“Okay then,” Fred said. “So perhaps add the details about the witness testimony to your story, then we’re done, Lilo.”
