Page 92 of A Crazy Kind of Love
Leonard kept me amused with his nonstop tales about all the times he’d almost been a part of the story.
Not surprisingly, Derek sided with the scumbag reporters, insisting I’d brought it all on myself. “You forgot your place, Jo. You’re the scenery, not the main attraction.”
Sitting at my desk, sharing the same hemisphere as Andy made me feel nauseated. But until the vultures lost interest, the attention made it impossible for me to work outside. When Andy eventually asked me to come into his office, he seemed neither contrite nor malevolent. For him, it was just another day.
He shuffled some papers on his desk, not even bothering to look me in the eye. “I know I’ve been a little hard on you lately, Scout.”
He had a nerve to act like he’d only slighted me. “Is that what you call throwing me under the bus with that article?”
Now he looked up. “I’ve been worried that you lack the guts to do this job. The fact that you were so willing to put yourself directly in front of that bus to derail a better story concerns me.”
“I thought you said the Micah story was better.”
His lip curled in amusement. “Hardly. The story wasn’t better. Having it come out yesterday, though . . . especially with that whole circus last night. Well, it all makes today’s story that much more potent.” He barked a harsh laugh. “Congratulations, you finally brought me something useful, Scout.”
My mouth felt dry. “You wouldn’t go back on your word. You promised.”
“I promised I’d push Eden’s story. And I did.”
“You promised you’d push it till next week!”
“Your words, not mine.”
“You bastard. If you run that story . . .” I searched for a suitable threat. “I’ll write a scathing report on you and send it to HR.”
He chuckled. “Oh, you’ll tell them I did my job? Who do you think brings in the money to pay their salaries?”
“You are a pathetic little man.” I gritted my teeth and choked back threats to shove a pen up his ass. “You have no ethics, no integrity.” I realized I sounded like L.L. Stylez, and a light went off in my head. I needed to leave with or without a fallback. I could go home to Atlanta if it came to that. I put my hands up. “I can’t do this anymore. You’re a poison, Andy.” And now I channeled Eden.
He yawned. “Anything else, Josephine?”
I wondered if I could get off on a plea of temporary insanity, but I counted to three and resisted the strong desire to strangle him. “I hope one day you’ll get what’s coming to you, Andy.”
As I turned to go, Andy said, “Wait a minute.”
I stopped in the doorway, praying he’d reconsider running the story about Eden to keep me there.
But all he said was “Leave your camera here. It’s not your property.”
I dropped the camera on his desk and walked out the door. When I got halfway across the room, my knees wobbled. I put my hand on a desk and caught myself.
Zion jumped up and put his arm around my back, taking my weight and helping me to a stool. “Are you all right?”
I laughed, but only to keep from crying. “I think I just quit.”
“What?”
“I kind of told him I hope he dies.” I stewed in my indignation. “That dirty little man is planning to run a story he promised me he wouldn’t run until next week.”
“The story about Eden?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Because it’s already live.” He went to his desk and fetched his tablet.
I read the first lines, heart sinking.Eden Sinclair pregnant? Josephine Wilder, a day after her breakup with Micah Sinclair, has confirmed the news. There is still some speculation . . .
“Oh, holy shit. He totally used me! This is completely misconstrued.”
