Rule's Addiction (The House of Rule 3)

Taking her by surprise, his hand shot out and he gripped her wrist, his lips twisting into an unpleasant sneer. “Your attitude sucks. I know who the fuck OSHA is and I don’t give a shit about a couple of bottles of cleaner.”

Mounting fury lit her insides that he would dare touch her but she remained perfectly still as she gave him a withering stare. “If you don’t release me this very instant—”

The threat she was about to make was cut off as Garrett Rule stepped into the room. At the expression on his face, a fine buzzing began in her ears. The man appeared pissed. Upon further evaluation, the man looked beyond pissed. And somehow she knew, without him saying a word, that she wasn’t the person he was pissed at. At the same moment she made the realization, she began pulling on her wrist, and unfortunately for Mr. Treadway, he chose to tighten his hold.

Garrett came forward, and an air of danger filled the room around her, making her head spin. “Let her go.” The caustic words were spoken harshly, through gritted teeth.

Treadway released her wrist but made another crucial mistake. “Who the hell are you? Get the fuck out of my office.”

Maria quickly pulled her hand back, rubbing her wrist without conscious thought and met Garrett’s eyes, some indefinable communication passing between them. With a single glance, she realized exactly how beautiful he was. His eyes and hair were dark, his skin so swarthy that he looked as if he might have mixed ancestry. His features were refined, and at the moment, his lips were still curled with contempt.

But she was somewhat disconcerted to see his eyes soften briefly as he studied her. “Are you okay?”

Too shocked to speak, she nodded her head.

He turned, slammed the door shut and came around the desk, and Maria knew at once that he was seeing the gambling website on the GM’s desktop. The shit was about to hit the fan. While Treadway’s mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air, as seemingly, the proverbial penny dropped, Garrett placed both hands on the desk, leaning on them so hard the color disappeared from his fingers, as he observed the other man intently. “You ever heard of the Rule Corporation?” he asked in a pissed, sinister tone.

“Ahh. . . yes sir.”

“Good. That’ll make this easy. Get the fuck out.”

“You can’t fire me without a hearing—”

Garrett slowly stood up, his eyes never leaving the other man, watching him as if he were nothing more than a bug to be squashed. “You can choose to continue sitting there, but I promise you, you fucked up by attempting to use force on her and at the moment, my hands are itching to wrap around your fucking throat. So, I repeat. Get. The. Fuck. Out. Now.”

The man paled and began removing his personal belongings from his desk. Maria had never seen him move so fast, but she couldn’t say she blamed him. A pissed off Garrett Rule wasn’t someone you messed around with. Take note, Maria.

Within three minutes, the ex-general manager was exiting the room, cussing beneath his breath the entire time.

Left alone, Garrett turned to her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Maria’s head was spinning. Besides the fact that Garrett Rule was a force to be reckoned with, she had only one other thought bouncing around in her head. She had to secure the hotel from the viper who’d just left their midst. “Yeah,” she replied, off-handedly rubbing her wrist as she sat down in the chair the GM had only recently vacated. Putting her hands on the keyboard, she began typing.

“What are you doing?” he asked in a booming voice.

Maria frowned, trying to stay on task. “Not now. I need to concentrate.”

“What are you doing?” he asked again, more pointedly.

“Saving your ass,” she answered, without looking up from the screen.

“Saving my ass? What the hell?”

With that, she glanced up and spared him about three seconds. “He has all the passwords, Mr. Rule. And you just humiliated him. Do you think he’s the type of man who won’t retaliate?”

He frowned down at her as if in question. “You’re changing the passwords?”

“Yes.” She looked back to the screen.

“Bank accounts?” he enquired shortly.

“Yes, but that’s not the most important thing. Not at this moment, anyway.”

“What could be more important than that?” he asked.

“In the hotel industry? OTA.”

“OTA?”

Did the man know nothing about the hotel industry? “Online travel advisor.”

“You’re expecting me to trust you?”

Her fingers stalled and she glanced back up. “Do you want to do it? Something has to be done now. He can screw the hotel in the next five minutes if we don’t do something to stop him.”

He hesitated, and then answered, “No, go ahead. And when you’re finished, come meet me in the restaurant.”