Page 3 of Save Me the Trouble
I stopped right in the entry, my eyebrow arching at the sudden interrogation.Not what I needed right now.
“Seriously. Killian Crown is going to eat you alive.” Arms crossed over her chest, Darcy had clearly been preparing for this discussion for the past two hours—two hours that I’d stayed after to familiarize myself with my new client and to avoid this exact argument.
But Darcy was unavoidable.
“I don’t think you give me enough credit. You know my MBA program was filled with self-centered assholes…students and professors alike.” My tone turned wry at the end.
She shifted her weight, her expression unconvinced.
I let out a sigh and set my bag down, wading deeper into the apartment in search of something to eat. My stomach had been grumbling since I’d started my deep dive into Mr. Crown, but I was too focused to care.
“You seriously have no idea, Grace,” she insisted, following me into the kitchen as I pulled out the leftover Chinese takeout from last night.
I kept my cool, tossing the container in the microwave before facing her again.
“I do have an idea. Trust me. Not only have I been here long enough to have an idea, but Diane made sure that idea wascrystalclear when she pulled me aside earlier.” And told me in no uncertain terms that if I so much as fluttered a single eyelash at Mr. Crown in a provocative manner, I would be terminated immediately. “I can do this—I need to do this. Even with this job, I’m barely making ends meet with my loans?—”
“Let me help?—”
“You’ve helped me enough, Darcy. Please,” I begged. I hated when I had to beg. I pulled my food out of the microwave and shoveled large bites into my mouth. It was too hot, but I didn’t care. “If I can close this account—get him a match—I won’t have to worry about my loans. Heck, maybe if I do a good enough job, Mr. Crown might have a spot for me in one of his companies.”
“Grace…” she warned.
“What?” I slurped up my lo mein. “You should be reassured that I have no interest in the man except for what his connections might be able to offer me.”
Darcy scowled.
“I know he’s difficult, but I can handle?—”
“Grace, Killian Crown destroys people who don’t do his bidding.”
“It’s his job.”
“No.” She folded her arms. “I mean, yes, that, too. But also people at Embers.”
My brow furrowed. “I don’t understand…he hired us; I am doing his bidding.”
Something flickered in her eyes, and I realized I hadn’t gotten the full story earlier; this was why she wanted to talk to me—wanted to stop me before I’d committed to the account. There was something about the Crown account that Diane hadn’t shared.
“His family hired us…hisgrandmotherhired us to make him look more appealing than he actually is. And I don’t mean physically, obviously. That he has no problems with.”
“Okay…” I trailed off, uncertain exactly what difference it made who hired us. “So, if he doesn’t want to be set up with someone, he should take it up with her.” I shrugged, threw the empty takeout container in the trash, and wandered toward my room, wanting to change into my sweats.
“Grace, he slept with Aleta on purpose to get her fired,” she blurted out behind me.
I stopped on a dime and half-turned, a chill running down my spine. I hadn’t heard that; we were told that she’d mishandled the client, and Embers no longer found her suitable to be working for them any longer.
“He flirted with her and led her on—basically letting her believe that she didn’t need to do her job because he wanted to be with her. And then he showed the tapes and texts and pictures she sent him to Diane.”
Bile rose in my throat, and for a second, all I could think about was my own story. Maybe I hadn’t been purposely lured into a relationship with Professor Grant, but the way it still ruined my career path felt remarkably similar to what Darcy was telling me now.
“Why?” I croaked.
“He’s trying to prove to his grandmother that he doesn’t need Embers. More than that, he’s trying to prove we are incapable, and she should give up on using us—give up on trying to have him married.”
Well, Dianedefinitelyhadn’t mentioned that.
I’d been told how important he was. I’d been told howdifficultandunaccommodatinghe was. But I hadn’t been told that he was purposely sabotaging employees—purposely ruining their careers to prove a point.
