Page 61 of Infamous Heart

There was no way to hide my gasp. Nobody had discussed getting Vincent fired. Sofia had gone rogue. It wasn’t surprising with how many people carried a grudge against the man. I imagined the assistant sitting at her desk, giggling over her victory.

“You’re fired,” Mr. Bossman stated sharply.

“You can’t—“

“It’smymagazine, Mr. Bailey.”

Mr. Bossman stood slowly, widening his shoulders as he went. They were roughly the same height, but with his sleeves rolled, it was obvious who was the bigger of the two. Never had I seen Bossman use his physique to intimidate, but I took satisfaction in the fact Vincent stepped back.

“I can. I will. I did.”

A chipper voice pipped into the room from the intercom. “Mr. Bossman, would you like to me to call security to escort our former employee from the building?”

Sofia, that girl deserved a hug, high-five, and a shot.

Vincent’s jaw remained slacked, snarling at me between grumblings. He stood up straight, pretending he maintained his dignity.

“This isn’t the last you’ve heard of me.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for you in the police logs,” she barked from the other room.

Mr. Bossman snorted at Sofia’s quip. The former employee stormed out of the room. He didn’t bother slamming the door, which seemed like a missed opportunity to punctuate his dramatic departure.

“Shall I send a condolences bouquet?” Okay, Sofia would get a night of drinking for free.

“The Beacon is in your debt,” Mr. Bossman began. “I’m not sure how you managed to orchestrate this display, but it’s obvious you have the respect of the staff.”

“Thank you.” I’d be saying that a lot in the near future. My chest swelled with pride at the quick manner in which they offered to pitch in.

“Will you accept the position?”

He moved from behind the desk, standing close enough I could smell the last hints of his cologne. He held out his hand, holding it steady as I wrapped my head around the turn of events.

“If you’re not—”

“Yes. I accept.” I grabbed his hand with both of mine, shaking it vigorously. “This isn’t how I imagined this meeting going.”

“Once you left, I did my due diligence. It seems I made the mistake of letting Vincent run amok in my company. Nobody had a nice thing to say about the man, but when I asked them about you…” He freed his hand from my compulsive shaking and rested it on my shoulder. “I think it might be time to try some of these big ideas you have.”

“Mr. Bossman—”

“Darrel.”

This would take getting used to. “Darrel, I don’t know what to say.”

“You’re going to need to get over that fast. I’m giving you three days to meet with the design staff. I want something fresh that is going to do these heroes justice. Since Misty has taken a liking to you,” he laughed, “no easy feat, I assure you. You’ll need to set up a meeting with her for the feature article for this reveal.”

“What’s the feature?”

I had always found the man to be intimidating. He ran the magazine like a business and often that meant he didn’t understand the artistry behind creating a publication. But as he leaned against his desk, the smiling stretching across his face, he transformed into a guy I might invite out to have a drink and talk about life beyond the office.

“I love a good origin story. I hear there’s a new hero in Southlands making a name for himself. I thought the Beacon’s star sidekick might be able to get us an interview.”

“I can do that.” After date night, of course.

Epilogue 1

“37 Highland Ave. Six sharp.”

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