listened, nodding to whatever Gabby said to him. “Thank you for the update. I’d like to speak with you and the others again to get your collective reaction as soon as the company takes action.” He listened again. “Great. I’ll call you later today.” Tim hung up and stared at Clint. “The women I spoke to were reluctant to go on record. After I interviewed them, they got together to talk and console each other about their experiences with you. They compared notes, shared stories, and decided they couldn’t face you alone, but together they could stand strong and take their case to your company’s HR department as soon as you left for lunch. It doesn’t look good for you.”
Clint took a menacing step forward, but came up short when Tim didn’t back down and stood his ground, blocking Clint from her. “Why the hell are you coming after me?”
“Time’s up for guys like you who prey on women and think they can get away with it.”
Before Clint did something stupid and acted on the tension between the two men and it came to blows, Liz stepped in. “Just go. I can’t prove you stole Tate’s phone and sent me those texts, but I know you did it. You haven’t listened to me up until now, but I want you to hear this . . . I never want to see you again.”
Clint tore his heated gaze from Tim and focused on her, his eyes softening with a plea she didn’t believe. “Liz, come on, you can’t believe this crap. I only ever wanted to make you happy.”
Trinity hooked an arm through hers and stood close. “You hurt her. Tate makes her happy.”
“Trinity.” Liz warned not to engage with a shake of her head.
Clint pinned Trinity in a hard glare.
Like her, Trinity wasn’t one to back down.
Liz put a hand over Trinity’s, silently asking her to not antagonize Clint. She took a step back, pulling Trinity with her, and tried to make things clear for Clint one more time. “I have nothing left to say to you. I do not want to see you ever again. You’ve got a lot to deal with and answer for. Stay away from me.” With that, she left Tim standing guard between her and Clint, turned and walked with Trinity back into her office. Her appetite disappeared with just the sight of Clint showing up here again.
Emmy raised an eyebrow when they walked past her in the reception area, but didn’t comment.
Safe in her office, she planted her hands on her desk, hung her head, and sucked in a steadying breath.
Trinity rubbed her shoulder. “He’s something else, showing up here, thinking he can just play the nice guy and—”
“I know. But it’s done. I hope this time he stays away.” She didn’t think he would. Liz stood tall and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Sorry about lunch. I’m just not up to going out.”
Trinity nodded. “We’ll do it another day. Do you want me to call Tate and tell him what happened?”
“I’ll tell him when he picks me up.”
“Can you believe the women at his work went to HR? I wonder how many there are?”
Liz didn’t want to think about how many other women he’d hurt, harassed, or made uncomfortable with his behavior.
“He’s finally going to get what’s coming.” Certainty filled Trinity’s voice, but Liz wasn’t so sure.
He’d gotten away with it this long. It had to stop, but Clint was cunning. You can’t destroy someone’s life over accusation and innuendo, but sometimes the bar seemed too high to reach to meet the burden of proof. And that left the door open for offenders to keep hurting others. It emboldened them.
It sounded like Clint’s company took the women’s claims seriously. She hoped they did the right thing when for so long companies swept this kind of thing under the rug.
“That reporter took me off guard. I had no idea this extended so far and reached into Clint’s background and work life.”
Trinity touched her arm. “Things like this, it starts off with small things and gets worse. It’s a pattern.”
Just like the relationship Clint started with her. Sweet talk, enjoyable dates, attention to reel her in, then a backhanded insult she didn’t really take seriously, domination of her time and attention until she was solely focused on him. Arguments over small things that didn’t really matter but seemed huge to him. Orders to never see Tate again. Her best friend. Promises that things would