Page 62 of The Girlfriend Clause
If the Douche King wanted me to just shut up, smile and move on, then fine.
“A great place to work, yes. I think you mentioned that before.” He looked like he’d dropped a mirror tint over his eyes, so he could see out, but I couldn’t see in. “You’ve got your client engagement approach well-polished, if I recall, Ms. Jones. Still expensing a lot of baked goods?”
Oh crap.
It’s pretty much just slinging muffins and flirting with doctors—was that what I’d said?
I could almost feel the blood vessels in my cheeks start to fill. Should I set the record straight? I mean—obviously sales involved more than bribing people with cakes and implied sexual favors. It had just been a joke. I didn’t totally love my job, but I needed it. And I was good at it.
He raised a single brow, his expression self-satisfied. This wasn’t the Liam I’d met before. This was theWilhelm vonRothwe’d been worried about. Smug and judgmental. Maybe not eighty, but a corporate sociopath, nonetheless. Poised to shred Novexia and kick any staff to the curb who didn’t fit with his “strategy.”
How had I ever seen anythingelse?
I felt something hot and victorious unfurl in my chest, like I’d just discovered I had claws.
I set my gaze on his. “At least I don’t walk in, take what I want, and leave before the coffee’s cold.”
His eyes opened wide for a second, the mask slipping.
Visions of whipping my future redundancy letter out of his hand and setting fire to it with a Bic lighter in the middle of the office floated before me.
I didn’t care. I’d get a job at a gallery, retrain as an art teacher. Eliza and I would make do. I’d make it work. I didn’t need to kiss the butt of this spoiled nepo baby.
It was deathly silent. He blinked.
What in God’s name had I just said?
Probably not something James would describe ascovering myarse.
I stood and extended a hand.
“I’m so glad we could do this, Mr. von Roth.”
He stood too, like he hadn’t expected me to end the meeting, and brushed both hands down the sides of his thighs.
“Yes, of course. And it’s just Roth. Liam Roth.”
His palm was dry, but his eyes were ice. After a second too long, he released my hand like he didn’t want to touch it anymore.
He was cold, detached. I had the unsettling feeling I’d crossed a line I could never uncross.
He pulled out his chair and sat, turning his head back to his laptop…like I didn’t evenexist.
Seeing him like this, it became very clear. The man I’d met—slept with—had been a figment of my imagination. The real man was in front of me, in all his emotionless, ruthless glory.
Well. At least I knew what I was dealing with now.I was just glad I met the real man before I got too carried away thinking there had been more tohim.
*
“Right, Andy, how about this?” James flipped open his screen and angled it toward me.
To: Employee Relations, Novexia
I am submitting this statement to formally record concernsregarding an incident involving Mr. Liam von Roth, which occurred shortly after his arrival atNovexia.
At the time of the incident, I was not aware of Mr. von Roth’s identity, role, or seniority within the organization. The interaction took place outside the workplace and, to my understanding, was informal and unrelated to myemployment.
Following Mr. von Roth’s formal introduction to the company, I became aware of the significant power imbalance between us. This led me to reassess the circumstances of the encounter and to experience discomfort and concern regarding the implications for my professionalposition.
