“That’s the way this works,” Cameron replied. “You’re a lawyer, you know this.”
“It’s not good enough. Make this happen, or I will go to the press and I’ll make it public knowledge what Mosley has been up to. I won’t handle this quietly.”
I knew that threatening the board was a dangerous thing, but I had to do it for Anna. She was all that mattered. I knew she didn’t want the attention that this would bring, so my only option was to make sure that the board went along with my plan and removed Mosley from the firm.
“Fine,” Cameron nodded. “I never liked Mosley anyway. Let’s get him out of the office. I’ll make some calls.”
“I have a few people I can contact as well,” another board member said.
I nodded my appreciation. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow at the office.”
They all nodded and I walked out, hoping they would all stand by what they promised. Mosley was just leaving the bathroom when I walked out and it took everything in me not to go back and kick his ass some more. He looked up at me, a glower on his face, but when the other board members walked out of the room and stood behind me, he knew he was finished. His wife helped him hobble out of the building, while everyone else stood by gossiping about what was going on.
I grabbed my coat and headed home. I felt like I needed more time to cool down, but I had left Anna, and I had no idea what state of mind she was in after what happened. I felt like an asshole for sending her off like that after she’d been assaulted, but I needed to deal with the situation promptly. I could only imagine the web of lies Mosley could have spun had I waited.
I got out and paid the cab, nodding to Ed, the night doorman as I entered. By the time I got upstairs, I was slightly calmer, knowing that I wouldn’t have to see Mosley again. I opened the door to my apartment and walked inside, seeing Anna standing in the dark by the window, still in her dress from this evening. As I stepped closer, I could see that she still had blood on her arm from when she beat the crap out of Mosley. By the time I got in there, he was already down for the count. I got in a few good punches, but he was already down on the ground, so there wasn’t much pleasure in beating the shit out of him.
“How are you?” I asked, walking up behind her. She stiffened when I wrapped my arms around her waist, and I prayed that she wasn’t afraid of me.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“Well, I am,” she snapped, her usual attitude coming out. I smiled to myself, grateful that she was okay.
“Anna, talk to me.”
“I want to go home.”
“What?”
She turned in my arms and looked me straight in the eyes. “I want to go home.”
“Anna-“
“I hate your job. I hate your boss.”
“He’s gone,” I reassured her. “That’s why I put you in a cab and sent you back here. I had to talk to the board and make sure that he never stepped foot in our offices again. And they’ve all agreed to put out the word on what kind of man he is. He won’t be able to find work in Chicago, let alone any other major city.”
She shook her head, her irritation evident. “I don’t care about him. I wanted you, and you put me in a cab and sent me away.”
“I was trying to protect you. Would you rather have had the cops called and be dragged down to the station to give a statement?”
“If you were with me, that would have been fine,” she snapped. “You just left me. Once again, you did what you wanted and left me alone.”
“Christ, is that what this is about?” I asked, stepping away from her. “I was doing what I could to protect you.”
“I don’t need you to protect me. I need you to be with me when I need you. I need you to stick around instead of doing your own thing.”
“I wasn’t-“ I sighed, running my hand through my hair. It didn’t matter what I said. She had already made up her mind. It didn’t matter that I was doing all that to protect her from scrutiny. “I won’t apologize for doing what I