“It was just a disagreement. No biggie,” she says in an attempt to sound confident, even as the shaking of her hands in her lap give her away.

“So I’ve heard. But any time you scream at someone and call them… what were the words you used? ‘A f**king screw up’… well, I need to delve a little deeper, you see?”

Lorraine just nods her head at me and clasps her hands tighter in an attempt to stop the shaking.

Putting my elbows on my desk, I steeple my fingers in front of me and look at her thoughtfully. I don’t dare look at Mac and take my attention off Lorraine. This has now become a battle between us. “Let me see if I can put this together… you had a hearing this morning?”

“Yes,” she says hesitantly.

“And you couldn’t find the Order the judge was supposed to sign?”

“Yes. ” This time softer.

“And you assumed that McKayla had failed to draft the Order and put it in the file?”

“I couldn’t find it while I was in court—”

I hold my hand up and she’s responsive, snapping her mouth shut.

“Yet the Order was, in fact, in there?”

“It appears so,” Lorraine grits out.

None of this was hard to figure out. I put together Lorraine yelling, papers all over the office, Mac handing an Order to Lorraine, and then Lorraine looking like she was going to puke. This was all a no-brainer but I continue, wanting Mac to understand I will always get someone to spill the beans.

“So, you went into McKayla’s office and slammed the door shut, causing one of her degrees to

fall and break?”

“Yes. ”

“And then you screamed at her for failing to draft the Order?”

“Yes,” she says, her voice now a whisper.

“And then yelled that she was a ‘fucking screw up’?”

“Perhaps I was a bit hasty—”

I hold my hand up again and on command, she shuts up, which is perfect because I’ve heard enough. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on when I walked into Mac’s office. I had hoped Mac would trust me with the full truth but, in fairness, I’ve given her no reason to, so I’m going to let that slide.

Standing from my chair, I walk up to Lorraine and look down at her. “I’m going to honor the deal we made with each other Monday night, but I’d like you to go ahead and pack up your stuff and leave now. I don’t condone that type of behavior in my business. ”

Half expecting Lorraine to blow up, I’m surprised when Mac exclaims, “What? You’re firing her?”

Turning my back on them, I walk to my office door and open it. Sweeping a hand forward while looking at Lorraine, I say, “That’s right. Effective immediately. ”

I keep my gaze pinned on Lorraine, because I know this woman operates on a short fuse. I expect her to try to give me a tongue-lashing.

Instead, she stands from her chair and rather than walk toward the open door and me, she turns on Mac. “You f**king bitch, you just had to rat me out. ”

Mac rears backward, her eyes confused. “Lorraine… I never said a word. ”

“Save it,” she hisses at Mac, and then leans in just a little closer to her. “You’re f**king him, and you have him wrapped around your finger. All he talked about Monday night was ‘McKayla this and McKayla that’. And now you have him doing your dirty work for you. ”

Fucking bitch. Throwing that shit at Mac. It’s true we were f**king, yes, but she really doesn’t know that for sure. She’s taking a wild stab in the dark and only saying it to hurt Mac.

And I’m not liking that at all. Try to hurt me all you want, but stay the f**k away from Mac.

There’s no mistaking the vehemence in my voice. “You need to leave right now, Lorraine, before I change my mind about sticking to our deal. ”

Spinning away from Mac and glaring daggers at me, she sneers, “Try to go back on your word, and I’ll sue you. ”

I’ve learned a long time ago that people like Lorraine are happiest when you sink down to fight on their level. So I rise above and speak calmly. “I’d like to see you try that, but I’m giving you to the count of three to get out of this office… or I’ll have security escort you out. ”

Lorraine looks at Mac, issues a deep-throated snarl, and then stomps past me to leave. I don’t spare Mac a glance, closing the door and walking to my desk. Picking up my phone, I dial Karen, who I know is still here. She never leaves before I do. “Please go to Miss Cummings’ office and watch her pack up. Do not let her on her computer and escort her out of the building. Get her key before she leaves. ”

I disconnect the call and drop down into my chair with a heavy sigh. Raising my eyes to Mac, I say, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. ”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Sorry I had to go through that? You just fired someone because we had a little fight. You’re an ass**le. ”

What. The. Fuck?

I can’t win with this woman, so I decide to just shut this conversation down. But before I can get a word out, Mac looks at me suspiciously, “Wait… you didn’t fire her out of some misplaced sense of obligation to me because we were h**ing s*x, did you?”

“Absolutely not,” I tell her firmly, and because I’m still halfway pissed at her, I add, “While I enjoyed your charms immensely, I don’t make business decisions based on how good my last f**k was. And watch who you call an ‘asshole’. I just fired someone for practically the same thing. ”

Tags: Sawyer Bennett Romance
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