Page 21 of Bossy Trouble

I thought about it. It was a convoluted plan, but I understood what she wanted. And she was right. Besides misleading Lupin, I didn’t have all that much use for her company.

Plus, maybe if I agreed, then the feeling that was tightening my stomach would eventually dissipate.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s do that. I’ll have my lawyers draft up a contract.”

“No need,” she said. “I’ll havemylawyer draft up the contract this time.” She got up and pushed her tote bag up her shoulder, then turned to leave.

“You’re remarkably calm about this whole thing.”

She turned to look down her nose at me.

“When you play around with a snake, you don’t expect it not to bite you. You just get the antidote ready.” And with that parting shot, she left, closing the door with a quiet click.

The uncomfortable feeling remained.

9

GEORGIA

When I was younger, I used to love going to the zoo.

One summer, I bugged my mother so much that she finally relented and ended up taking me. I ran from display to display, staring at the animals, fascinated by all the different things that made them…different. But then it wasn’t enough to just stare at them. I hated the fact that they were behind the cages, and I couldn’t be with them, feel them.

My mother warned me several times not to get too close, but I was too excited to listen. Especially when we finally got to my favorite part of the tour; visiting the monkeys. They were my favorite animals at the time, and I was so excited to be around them.

So when we got close to the little monkey enclave, I stuck my hands inside.

My seven-year-old mind didn’t understand the danger back then. They seemed so cute and harmless that I just wanted to pet one, to see if their fur was as soft as I thought.

That was when one of them charged at me suddenly with its mouth opened in a snarl. My mother yanked me back just in time, but it managed to nip my hand, not enough to break the skin but enough to sting. I immediately started crying, more from shock and humiliation than actual pain. The wound didn’t hurt, but everyone stared at us. One of the workers came over to check if we were okay, and my mother had to apologize profusely for not watching me close enough. We then had to shamefully leave the enclave, and as we walked toward the entrance, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling down my face.

At first, my mom was sympathetic, but eventually, she lost patience.

“That’s enough of that, honey,” she said as she patted me on the shoulder. “You stuck your hand into a cage with a dangerous animal. I don’t know what else you expected.”

And then she’d taken me to McDonald’s for some ice cream to soothe my wounded pride.

I didn’t go back to the zoo for years because of that one incident. The memory stuck in my mind, not necessarily because of the trauma, but because of the lesson that I’d learned that day. I thought I would retain it nearly twenty years later, but I didn’t.

Because here I was, completely blindsided even though I knew very well that I was tangling with a dangerous animal.

After getting off the phone with Macy, who was concerned by my sudden silence, I had to sit down.

My heart was racing at a million miles a minute, and my brain was fuzzy. With the ungodly heat, I felt like if I didn’t, I was going to pass out from it all, so I found myself sinking onto the nearest surface—the floor. And I sat there.

Then, I just stared at the wall in the distance, waiting for it all to sink in.

Donovan stole my company.

Donovan lied to me, told me that he would help me, and then stole my company right from under my nose.

Everything I worked so hard for, everything I had accomplished…gone. Just like that.

Because once again, I’d trusted the wrong person.

You stuck your hand in a cage with a dangerous animal. I don’t know what else you expected.

Suddenly, rage, hot and violent, filled me. I had no clear idea of what I wanted to do, but I got to my feet anyway, every impulse driving me forward.

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