Conflict of Interest - By Allyson Lindt Page 0,58

hidden in the question, there always was with him, but she couldn’t figure out what. “And yours.”

“You’re lying. And you’re so far removed from the professional you’re pretending to be right now, it’s not even funny.”

She gritted her teeth at the accusation, hissing inwardly at the part of her that asked if he had a point. “How dare you? You arrogant, presumptuous asshole.”

“Right, of course. This is all on me.” His tone slid into that mocking calm that meant he was backing down because he thought she was being stubborn, not because he knew she was right. “Zach wants to talk to you. And me. I assume that means we won’t have to work together anymore. That should come as a relief to you.”

“Damn straight.”

“I’d say it was nice working with you, Miss Carter.” Fake charm dripped from his voice. “But I’d be lying. Goodbye.”

The line clicked dead before she could respond, but fortunately also before her sob slipped out. She gripped the steering wheel until her fingers ached. She maneuvered to the side of the road and turned on her emergency lights, putting the car in park. The leather was hot against her forehead as she leaned into it. She breathed deep, struggling to calm down. His parting words echoed in her head, threatening to evict her breakfast, and unshed tears stung her eyes. What had just happened?

*

Anger, hurt, betrayal. Scott didn’t know which emotion he wanted to focus on. Whichever made him the most miserable and distracted him from the distinct ache in his chest. The conversation echoed in his head, mocking him, throbbing against his skull. He slammed his fist into his couch, letting the padding absorb the impact, and disappointed it hadn’t hurt more. At least then he’d have a focus for his … everything.

He couldn’t do this anymore. He didn’t know when he’d started falling for her, but it was agonizingly obvious it didn’t work both ways. It was time to stop pretending otherwise. He grabbed his phone.

“The board is not happy with you,” Zach greeted him before the first ring finished.

Fuck the board. He rolled his eyes. “You mean Cartee isn’t happy with me. I have a solution, I want her gone.”

“That will work splendidly with the people wondering if you hired her because you were sleeping with her.”

Scott snarled, anger and frustration spilling from him. “I wanted to send her packing the first day she showed up in the office. You hired her.”

Zach sighed. “Not that it matters, but you’re right. Still, firing her doesn’t fix anything.”

“Neither does keeping her on. Neither did hiring her.” Scott hated it when they hit a wall. He could plow through almost anyone’s bullshit, but talking over Zach took a talent he didn’t know if he had the patience for right now. “I don’t even care. Tell them it was my fault, that you’re picking the next one, whatever.”

“Cartee isn’t the only one who’s upset.”

Those words sent a chill through Scott. He had to force himself to ask for details. “Oh?”

“All you had to do was play along. Pretend you’d taken this edict seriously.” Zach’s tone was weary. “It was so simple. And now instead, you’ve spit in the board’s face—shown them you think you’re above their requests, that you’re so arrogant that you can fuck around instead of complying with a simple request—and they’re considering Cartee’s call for a vote to fire you.”

Scott flopped back against the couch, head hitting the cushion hard and stars dancing in front of his eyes, blurring his view of the ceiling. “Shit.”

“Meet me somewhere.” Zach’s sigh filled the line, and in the background the click of a lighter bled through. “We need to talk about this face to face.”

Was it actually that serious? No. Scott was so done playing nice. Bowing to people. Surrendering everything he believed in just for someone to try and steal his company at the end of the day. “I have work to do.”

“Scott.”

“Zach.” He spit his best friend’s name back, tired of the conversation. “Fire her. Bring someone else on if it floats your boat. I have contracts to read.”

He disconnected before he could get any argument. He was done with Kenzie. She didn’t want him around and he was fine with that. Or maybe he would be if the gaping hole in his chest ever mended.

But in the meantime, he knew there were fail-safe’s built into every board member’s agreement to keep things like this from happening. He might not be able to save