Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,153
land on Tanner’s white shirt, the runny yokes breaking open to stain the fabric yellow.
“What the fuck?” He barks, his eyes shooting down to his shirt, his mouth twisting in anger.
“Language, Mr. Caine. And I am so sorry. I’ll run and get some paper towels to clean that up.”
“Fuck that. You’re fired! Pack your shit, and get the hell out of my office.”
She cocks a hip and plants a hand on it.
“You can’t fire me. Mr. Dane signed a contract guaranteeing me a full year of employment. Apparently, you have a quick temper and make rash decisions. As I can see now. I’ll go get those napkins.”
His stare locks to mine as Alice leaves the room. “Why the hell would you do something so stupid?”
I shrug, my face a mask of calm. “It’s like I said earlier, I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel. The only way she would agree to take the job is if I guaranteed it.”
“Fuck,” he hisses, his hands moving to brush the eggs away before he rethinks it and keeps from smearing the mess.
“I don’t have another shirt, and we have the Goldman meeting in a half hour. I can’t go in looking like this.”
My lips quirk. “Goldman’s a good guy. He’ll understand that accidents happen.”
“I’m back with the napkins,” Alice announces as she walks back into the room, “and I found this nice gentleman walking around. He says he’s here to see you, Mr. Caine.”
Eyes shooting up, Tanner looks like he’s about to launch himself across the desk at her.
“Absolutely not! You do not bring people into my office without asking permission first.” His eyes snap to the man beside her. “Who the fuck are you?”
I twist in my seat to see an older man with balding hair and an ill-fitting jacket step into the room, a stack of papers held in his hand.
“You’re Tanner Caine, correct?”
“Of course I’m Tanner Caine. This is my fucking office.”
“Language,” Alice reminds him.
I fight to keep from laughing, my jaw tight at the red staining Tanner’s incredulous expression.
“Good to know,” the man says. “I’m Maxwell Smart with Casper Investigations.”
“Why the fuck should I care?”
“Language.”
The muscle beside Tanner’s jaw is jumping steadily, anger causing his teeth to grind.
I can’t take it. I’m about the piss myself.
“You should care because I’m serving you with this summons and complaint for paternity.”
The man drops the papers on the desk. “Have a nice day, sir.”
“Paternity?”
Tanner’s head is about to explode, his skin a dark crimson, his eyes bulging and nostrils flared.
My head falls back as Tanner snatches the papers from the desk and angrily thumbs through them.
“What in the actually fuck is going on? I don’t even know this woman. Triplets? These aren’t my fucking kids!”
I’m dying.
Right here.
Right now.
Someone needs to write my eulogy.
Tanner drops the papers to take the napkins from Alice.
Angrily swiping at the egg yolk that only smears his shirt more, his head snaps up when Ezra calls out to us from the doorway.
“Goldman’s here. Everyone is in the conference room.”
“Cancel it,” Tanner barks. “I have to deal with this paternity bullshit. I just got served.”
Pursing his lips, Ezra laughs. “I always thought Jase would be the idiot who accidentally knocked someone up first. Guess I owe Damon and Shane fifty bucks for losing that bet.”
Leaning forward, I bite my lip and school my expression. Holding in the laughter is nearly impossible.
Blowing out a breath, I straighten my posture and push to my feet.
“You can’t cancel the meeting. It’s just a quick presentation, and then we can get back to solving your problem. Or...three problems, I guess.”
He stabs a finger at me. “If I hear you laugh once about this, I’m going to strangle you, bury you, and piss on your grave.”
Rolling my lips, I take another deep breath. “Let’s just get the meeting over with.”
Tanner’s shoves up from his seat and storms out of the office.
“The entire damn world has lost its mind,” he mumbles, his stride quick as we walk to the conference room.
Stepping inside, I scan the room to see all the Inferno are in attendance, Steven Goldman sitting between Sawyer and Mason. He smiles at me, his posture relaxed, his suit jacket missing because he’s not as stuffy as our regular clients.
I take my seat as Tanner stands at the head of the table, his shirt stained yellow, his hair disheveled as he flips through the binder about what we’re here to discuss and begins his spiel about the facts of the merger we’re