Page 91 of The Wrong Billionaire
Marcus looks at me. “What did he do?”
“Nothing, really…”
“Tell me,” he demands.
“He made me a bit uncomfortable, that’s all,” I say awkwardly.
Marcus studies my face. Then he walks over to Alan. His eyes are icy with dislike. “I warned you,” he says. “Pack your things. You’re done.”
I gasp. Marcus is firing Alan because I said he made me uncomfortable? Talk about overreact!
I step forward, embarrassed, take Marcus’s hand, and pull him away so I can talk to him. “Honestly,” I insist, “it wasn’t that bad. I can’t be the cause of a man losing his job.”
Marcus fixes me with a hard gaze, and I stop talking. “It’s not the first time this has happened,” he states. “One of the girls who works in the cowshed has complained about him, and he’s been warned.”
“You’re taking a milkmaid’s word over mine?” Alan glares at Neil. “You fucking told him?”
“Damn straight,” Neil says.
“We don’t employ men who make women feel uncomfortable,” Marcus states. “Get your stuff and leave, before I call the police.”
Alan looks incredulous, as if he can’t believe this is really happening. But Marcus’s expression is stern, and in the end, Alan turns and walks away, muttering under his breath, anddisappears around the house. After a moment, we hear an engine revving up, and then his car roars away.
The three remaining men exchange glances.
“Sorry,” Jacob says to Marcus, “you were right. I should have got rid of him as soon as Neil told me.”
“You gave him the benefit of the doubt,” he says. “It wasn’t your fault the guy’s an asshole.”
“Are you okay?” Jacob asks me.
“I’m fine, honestly.”
Marcus takes my hand. “Good. I think we’ll get going, though. You’ve seen your puppies,” he teases. “And I’m hungry.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” I joke. I shake Jacob’s hand. “Thank Ruth for me.”
“Will do. Hope you enjoy the rest of your honeymoon.”
“Go and get in the car,” Marcus says. “I’ll just be a sec.”
I say goodbye to Neil and go over and get in the car. I close the door and sit there, watching the guys talking. Marcus is younger than both of them, but it’s clear who’s in charge.
After a quick conversation, he shakes their hands, then strides over to the Bentley. He gets in, and moments later we’re on the road, heading back to the farm.
“I’m sorry I questioned your decision,” I say quietly. “I shouldn’t have done that in front of the others.”
His eyebrows rise. “I don’t care about that. You should always tell me what you’re feeling and thinking. You didn’t know the whole story, that’s all.”
“So he’s caused trouble before?”
“Yeah. We employed him because he has four kids and his wife is pregnant again, and the guy practically got down on his knees and begged Jacob for a job. We only found out after we’d hired him that he was fired from his previous job for inappropriate behavior. When the girl who works in the cowshed complained, Jacob reprimanded him, and he broke down andbegged Jacob not to fire him. So Jacob said he’d give him one last chance.” Marcus snorts. “I told him it would come back and bite him in the ass.”
“I thought you were just playing the knight in shining armor,” I try to joke.
“Oh, I was,” he says. “Nobody gets to make you feel like that.” He glowers. He means every word.
“I can handle myself,” I whisper, my voice little more than a squeak.
