I beam, happy that he’ll finally be free of Melanie. “Great. So she said yes?”
He frowns. “No. She has two other offers, and another interview tomorrow. So she’s going to let me know after she explores all her options.”
“You’re mad she’s being thorough with her choices?” I ask, unsure why he’s annoyed by something any sensible candidate would do.
“No. I’m mad that I might’ve never got a chance to interview her. And also because if I’d interviewed her first—and made the first offer—she might’ve said yes to me, instead of making me wait.”
I pat his shoulder, which is unusually tense. “If she’s as good as you say, she knew she would get a lot of offers. But you’re a great guy, Wyatt. I’m sure that’s going to count when she makes her final decision.”
He gives me a small smile. “Thanks.” Then he asks, “How’d you decide to work for Salazar instead of somebody else? You had a bunch of offers too, right?”
“Yeah. But I was a bit too new, so they weren’t, like, amazing offers. I chose Salazar because—despite his reputation—he offered the most generous compensation package, including a significant bonus at the end of my fifth year. Half a million dollars if I never fail in my duties.”
“Wow… Never fail in your duties for five years? Is it even possible to earn that money?”
“Sure.” I grin widely. “I’m going to get it as soon as I give him the statue.”
“A statue? Sounds a little weird, but okay.”
Maybe I should’ve been more specific. “The one Dane gave you. You said you’d give it to me. I mean, I’m going to use Salazar’s money to pay you, but…”
Wyatt frowns. “What are you talking about?”
“The statue. That Dane gave to you for housewarming.”
The frown deepens. “He gave me this.” He goes to the coffee table and picks up a glossy book full of pictures of the architectural wonders of the world. It’s a signed first edition, but it’s no statue. “That’s it.”
And a huge ball of ice forms in the pit of my stomach. “That’s what he gave you?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s all? Nothing else?”
“Yeah…” Wyatt says, like he knows he’s become the bearer of bad news.
No way. Wyatt must be forgetting something. “No key to a warehouse or storage unit somewhere?”
“Uh…no. And he didn’t go through Melanie,” he adds, answering the question I was about to ask. “He gave me the book directly.”
“Oh shit.” I breathe out shakily. “No wonder you kept saying you were going to just give it to me.” Propping my elbows on the table, I drop my head in my hands. Five years of hustling and busting my butt down the drain. All because of this one final task! My financial plans are ruined too. Not that I’ll be left homeless or anything like that, but this was going to be my nest egg, a source of security so I could claim financial independence and do what I want. I can just imagine my mom’s expression now, full of pity and gleeful satisfaction. What did I tell you? You need a man with money because you can’t do it on your own. She’ll start sending me dossiers, like Yuna’s mom. The idea is simply too nauseating… In fact, it’s infuriating. “Damn it, damn it, damn it. I should’ve known better than to trust him when he said he was giving it to you.”
I’m going to murder Dane. He thinks he’s so cool and immune, but I’m sure he’s not impervious to chlorine. Or I can stir some anthrax into his coffee when he visits Salazar at his office.
“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll take care of this,” Wyatt says.
I lift my head. “How?”
“Easy. I’ll just talk with Dane and get it from him.”
“It’s not going to work,” I say. “He’s giving it to Sophia.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because why else would he buy something called Wife and not give it to you like he said he was planning to?” And no matter how close Wyatt is to Dane, he’s not going to get the statue out of Dane’s sticky grip, not when he’s decided it’s for his wife, the only person in the world he cares about.”
Wyatt curses under his breath. “So if you don’t have the statue, Salazar isn’t going to give you the five-year bonus?”
“No,” I say, feeling like my whole world is ending. I worked so damn hard for that bonus! “It’s in the contract. If I didn’t know that my boss and Dane don’t usually get along, I might’ve thought they did this on purpose.” Then I shake my head at how ridiculous and unfair I’m being. “Actually, I wouldn’t think that even then. It isn’t like it’s a lot of money to him.”