Page 68 of The Nerds and the CEO

The official statement from the board of directors is that the company needed to move in a new direction. However, rumors say the CEO, Justin Conroy, got in trouble for fraternizing with a contractor.

She slammed the lid shut on her laptop.Fucking tabloid trash gossip-mill tech blogs.Why was she following this one, anyway?

The content of the article sank in, as she stared at the wall, and a throb started behind her ribs. That meant Antonio was out too. As of yesterday, he had no idea. Hell. This sucked.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Cynthia.

I’m seeing the news. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. You don’t deserve this.

Emily growled at the screen and deleted the message. Fuck that. She wasn’t in the mood for pity. If Cynthia didn’t care a week ago, it hardly seemed genuine now.

I’m seeing the news. An afterimage of the text was seared in Emily’s thoughts. It never mentioned her by name, but how many people were talking about it? Enough it stood out to Cynthia.

Justin’s offer looked better every day. Except he didn’t have a plan, and it would take him a few months to get the ball rolling. If she budgeted, she could hold out that long. Something made her hesitate to accept his offer, and she couldn’t say what.

He was sincere—she believed that. Despite it being a half-assed suggestion in the middle of a noisy bar, he’d meant it. He was competent, skilled, and had a brilliant platform.

She wasn’t getting anywhere with her thoughts spinning in circles. She should call Antonio and make sure he was coping with this news okay. The idea settled in with a realization. She couldn’t tell Justinyes, because she didn’t want to be seen as taking sides. If the men stayed on the outs, would she be caught in the middle?

And if that happened, and someone forced her to choose one or the other, would she do it? Could she?

Her phone rang, and she scrambled to answer the unfamiliar number. “This is Emily Lowry.”

“Hi, Emily. This is Terry from Tech Consult Source. I found your resume online.”

She whispered a silent prayer to every god and demon who might be listening. “That’s great. What can I do for you?”

“I have a client who’s looking for someone with user interface and database skills, for a temp-to-hire position. It looks like you’ve got a lot of what they want. Can you tell me about your most recent job?” His tone was pleasant.

This was a nice change. She’d turned interviewing into an art form. This call would be no problem. “Certainly. I’ve got both the skill sets you mentioned, with several years’ experience in each.” She launched into a brief, keyword-filled description of what she’d done with Justin and Antonio.

“That’s fantastic.” Terry sounded genuine. “It says here that was APPropriate Designs. They’re a client of ours, but they’re not doing much hiring lately. I’m curious how you got in the door.”

The question sounded like pleasant small talk. She suspected it was more ominous. “I wasn’t on their payroll. I was hired by the investment firm who owns controlling shares.”

“I see. And your contract with them ended before or after their CEO resigned?”

Her gut sank. “I believe both happened at the same time.” She could lie and tell him she didn’t know anything about it. Insist things came to a close when they should have. But if they did any sort of reference check on her, they’d get a different timeline from Grant.

Terry was silent for a moment. “Well, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I don’t think this position is a good match for your qualifications after all, but I’ll keep your name on file, in case that changes.”

She wanted to scream thathecalledher.With a job. That he already said she was qualified for. And—God damn it—why was he making assumptions?

Instead she said, “I understand. Thank you for your time.” She disconnected, tossed the phone aside, and flopped back on her bed. The harder she fought to ignore the despair creeping over her like a black fog, the denser the feeling got.

*

TROUBLE IN PPARADISEfor APPropriate Designs?

Antonio’s anger increased more with each sentence he read in the blog post, as he processed what the vague statements meant.Justin Conroy and Antonio Bianchi are no longer with the company.

Which struck Antonio as odd, because he sat at his desk, taking a break from working on the development schedule. He was composing an email to the blogger, asking for a correction, when someone knocked on his office door.

“Crosstown courier dropped this off for you.” The receptionist handed him a thick envelope, then left.

The return address was Grant’s investment firm. Antonio’s anxiety spiked, as he tore open the envelope and slid out the contents. A letter sat on top of it all, printed on a familiar embossed letterhead. He clenched his fist more tightly as he read. His knuckles ached by the end.

It was a buyout offer and severance package, with a request he sign and return both by the end of the week. If he needed a lawyer to look it over, he had to submit notification in writing before end of day Tuesday.

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