Page 93 of Kiss and Tell
I nearly screeched with outrage.
“Do you wish to proceed?” he asked.
I swallowed down a lump of anger as my nails dug into my palm.
“No,” I said.
“All right then.” He shuffled some papers and put them in a folder. “I’ll let you get back to work.”
With cold, numb hands and feet I somehow managed to stand from the chair without falling over and made my way out of the office and to the elevator.
“Quinn!” My boss took quick steps to catch up to me before the elevator reached us. She put a careful hand on my shoulder and examined me, concerned. “I know it can be hard to talk about these things with a man in the room, but if Walter Moore did or even said anything—”
I shook my head violently. “No! He hasn’t even said two words to me.”
Charlotte nodded, seeming relieved. Then a worried look crossed her face.
“And this thing with Peter,” she said under her breath. “Is it true?”
“Yes,” I said shortly, upset that she hadn’t jumped to my defense in the meeting.
She sighed and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about that,” she said. “David was right when he said Peter is a rising star. Anything you say against him will behe said-she said. Unless you have any concrete proof?”
Concrete proof of Peter’s blackmailing and threats? He was too smart for that.
“No,” I said. My fingernails dug into my skin again as I clenched my fist.
Even as I said it, a small spark of hope burned inside me.
Peter may have been smart, but so was I.
“I can’t prove he threatened to spread those rumors,” I continued.
Charlotte let out a disappointed sigh through her nose.
“That’s unfortunate,” she said. “But I do need to ask you…” she studied me carefully. “Mr. Moore’s brother, Connor. He’s quite young. Closer to your age?”
“He hasn’t done anything, either,” I said quickly. “He’s been perfectly professional as well.”
“You know how quickly these kind of rumors can spread, Quinn,” she said. “You have a bright future here. Please be careful? I can only protect you from so much.”
After she walked off, I jabbed the button to call the elevator down with enough force to bruise my finger.
The thought that Peter might be able to get away with everything made me furious.
But what really enraged me was…
…How had he found out?
Thirty
I went backto my office long enough to grab my bag and immediately turned on my heel to go back to the elevator, riding it down to the first floor and stalking out to my car.
I flung open the door and threw myself into the driver’s seat. I didn’t put the keys in the ignition.
I sat there, trembling hands gripping the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white.
