I can help you.”
“The way to help me is to give me the peace of mind to know whatever I do, won’t put you at risk.”
“Shane—”
“This isn’t a debate, Emily. You will not stay here.” I push off the desk and walk to my father’s doors, opening them without knocking.
“Holy fuck, son,” he grumbles as I step inside and shut the doors behind me. “Did I not bring you up with manners?”
“Mom brought me up with manners,” I say crossing to stand in front of his desk. “You just taught me to watch my back in case I have someone like you behind me.”
“And now you’re a killer in the courtroom,” he says, leaning back in his chair, white lines around his mouth that I suspect indicates nausea.
“You better hope I am. I was having coffee with our head of research and development for BP this afternoon, when we had an interesting guest.”
He arches a brow. “Was she pretty?”
I ignore the ridiculous comment. “She was a he and carrying an FBI badge.”
He leans forward, snapping out, “What did he want?”
“He’s investigating the FDA inspector Derek bribed, and now we’re back on the Feds’ radar.”
“Get us out of this,” he orders.
“I plan to, but you already know how fast things can escalate with the Feds. They won’t just look at the BP division, especially with our track record. They will, and probably already are, looking at every one of our divisions. Put that leash back on Derek and don’t tell me to do it. Not if you want me to be focused on fixing this.”
His eyes glint, a hint of anger in their depths he doesn’t try to hide. He might want my skills working for him, but he hates the power they give me. “I’ll handle Derek,” he says.
I give him a nod and begin to turn when he says, “One more thing, son.”
I face him again with an arched brow. “Emily told me you fucked her.”
Shocked at Emily’s actions, I check my reaction. “Are we really talking about who I’m fucking right now?”
“She also told me she’s not fucking you anymore,” he continues, as if I haven’t spoken. “She’s afraid of being fired and since she’s the only damn person who’s sat at that desk in a year that I can actually tolerate, I need to be clear. She’s staying.”
A ball of anger forms in my chest. “And if I object?”
“I’ll let you choose. Do you want me to control Derek or fire Emily?”
Ignoring the ridiculous question that dismisses the FBI threat we both know he isn’t dismissing, I turn and walk to the door, with every intention of handling Emily on my own. Exiting the office, I shut the doors behind me and discover Emily is no longer at her desk. Jaw set hard, I stride through the office and down the hallway, pausing at the reception desk. “Where did Emily go?”
“She just got on the elevator with Jessica,” Kelly replies.
The elevator it is. I start walking.
EMILY
Jessica and I step into the elevator and she punches the lobby level. “What’s wrong?” she asks as the doors shut. “You sounded panicked when you called.”
“I am,” I say, pressing my hand to my forehead. “I mean, I did the right thing, but—”
“What did you do?”
The elevator stops only two floors down, and she rolls her eyes. “Oh good gosh, not now,” she says, as the doors open again, and four people crowd us into a corner.
“What did you do?” she whispers.
“Not yet,” I say.
“Right. Not yet. This is killing me.”
“Try being me,” I murmur, enduring the rest of the ride by silently assuring myself I did the right thing, while worrying about Shane’s reaction.
“Finally,” Jessica says, as we hit ground level and follow the crowd out of the car.
“This way,” she says, linking her arm with mine, and leading me toward the garage, where we exit into the parking lot. She releases me. “What did you do?”
“Shane ordered me to piss off his father and get fired so that no one thinks I left because Shane is protecting me.”
She blanches. “What? Why? What happened to the whole ‘using you’ routine?”
“I don’t know. Something must have happened, which is why me staying is more important than ever. I’m sitting at the window, open to his enemies.”
She holds up her hands. “Okay. Okay. I have to tread cautiously here or Shane is going to hang me by my toes in some public place.”
In other words, she agrees with me, but works for