“Aren’t you going to tell me to fire him?”
He leaned forward so his mouth was close to my ear. “I will never tell you to do anything…in regard to the winery.”
I looked over my shoulder and smiled. “Had to get that caveat in, yes?”
As he kissed me, I heard the door leading to the production area open. Every muscle in my body went on high alert, knowing it was Georgio.
“Hello,” I heard Mylos say as he walked toward him. When he held out his hand, Georgio hesitated, but did shake it.
“Miles—Mylos—Stone,” he said.
“Georgio Rossi,” he grunted.
I picked up the labor cost report. “I asked you to meet me so we could discuss labor costs.” I handed it to him.
“When?”
I cocked my head. “Now.”
He looked over at Mylos, who pulled a chair out from one of the desks and sat down.
“We’ll do this later.” Georgio dropped the paper and turned to walk out.
“We’ll do this now, Georgio. Right now.”
He spun around, looking from me to Mylos. “Excuse us.”
“He stays.”
Georgio’s eyes scrunched.
“He stays, Georgio.”
He picked up the report and waved it at me. “What about this?”
“The numbers are high for this time of year.”
“They’re not.”
“Look at the yearly comparison. Particularly in manual labor. What is the explanation for the difference?”
“Your numbers are wrong.”
He’d spoken to me disrespectfully one too many times, and while I had to admit that Mylos’ presence gave me courage I might not otherwise have had, the decision I made was mine alone.
“You have three choices, Georgio. You can explain why the numbers are so out of proportion; you can accept a demotion and relinquish your role as head winemaker; or you can resign, effective immediately.”
Georgio’s face turned bright red. When he stepped closer, Mylos got up and stood beside me.
“You are making a big mistake,” he seethed, looking first at Mylos and then at me.
“I have made mistakes, Georgio. The biggest one is failing to remind you that you work for me, not the other way around.”
“You can’t fire me.”
“I can. So if you’re not prepared to explain the cost overages, I’ll do just that.”
His mouth hung open. “You’re not serious.”