Raine (Gods of the Fifth Floor #2) - M.V. Ellis Page 0,41

nobody heard me say that we’ve cracked this brief so far open, it will become the stuff of legends?”

“We heard, but I still can’t get past the fact that you went against policy again. Actually, I still can’t get past the fact that we were all stupid enough to buy your empty promises, and let you. Look, I know you have a problem—sex addiction or whatever—but why can’t you make sure you sleep with people who can’t bring your business down if it all goes to shit? What kind of selfishness is that? Why do you need to ruin everyone’s fucking lives, and screw the consequences, excuse the pun?”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what you think it means, and then some. You know what? I’m sick of always dancing around on a pinhead when it comes to you, avoiding the truth, and protecting you like you’re some kind of delicate child. Well, fuck that. You know who and what you are. You’re a selfish prick who has made putting yourself above others—and hurting the people who love you—an art form since you were fucking born. Ruining other people’s lives is your superpower. Just ask Zachary and—”

I’d swung the punch before anyone, myself included, had a chance to register what the fuck I was doing. Unexpectedly, the blow connected, and though his face registered pain, Nate didn’t move. In fact, confusingly, he was so still for so long that I thought he’d gone into a trance.

“Say her name in this room. In fact, anywhere, ever, and as God is my witness, I will fucking kill you with my bare hands. Understand?”

“Fuck you. You’re angry because it’s true, but you know what? As much as my first instinct is to beat you to within an inch of your life, you’re not fucking worth giving up my dreams for, and I’m not going to do your dirty work for you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, Raine. Do you think we’re all stupid? We know you have a death wish, but you’re too pussy to ever act on it. Damned if I’m going to wind up in jail to do something for you that you’re not man enough to do for yourself, but I will say this... If you hit me again, ever, and for any reason, I will think nothing of rearranging your features until it will take the best plastic surgeons in the country to restore your face to any semblance of its former glory.”

“Yeah, well, we all know that’s your specialty, Bumble. Just remember that we all have our demons.”

A loaded silence descended on the room while I considered my next move. I had no idea what he was thinking—probably dreaming up ways in which he could kill me and not get caught.

“Well, if this wasn’t a nice little display of dick swinging to get the day started. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, do you think we could try to put up a pretense of running a fucking business here, instead of a nursery school full of three-year-olds? Can everyone just sit the fuck down so that we can plan how we’re going to handle this meeting with the client. I really don’t have the energy to deal with anything else, including Raine’s latest willy-waggling escapades.” Wow. Dillon really was pissed.

Beck looked between Nate and me, an eyebrow raised in question. I shrugged. I was past caring, and having hit Nate, the fight had gone for now. Not only that, but there’d been some truth to what he’d said about me, as much as I wanted there not to be, and from that perspective, I didn’t really have a leg to stand on as far as arguing with Nate was concerned. He knew me well enough to know he was right.

“Dillon’s right. Can we just focus on what’s important? I mean, Raine, I really hope she was worth jeopardizing this account a second time for, or at least the work is so good, we forget the unnecessary risk you put us through to get it.

“Trust me, the work is some of the best I’ve ever been involved with. Like how you know when you just know? As soon as we came up with this, I just knew. This is going to save this client and make all of us, and them, famous. More famous.” I couldn’t help the grin from spreading across my face. Even if they couldn’t feel the vibe