Page 145 of Not Safe For Work

“Holy. Fucking. Shit.”

“Dude. Am I really—”

“Would you two shut the fuck up?”

“But…it’s…they…”

“Come on, all of you. Early lunch. Now.”

Teagan started to herd the drafters out of the room, but Rick put up a hand.

“Actually, I think they deserve to hear this.” He turned to Mitchell, and I had never seen so much fear in the old man’s face, especially as Rick growled, “Would you care to explain to them the arrangement you made with Jon?”

The old man’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He turned to Marie, but she offered nothing. He glanced at all of us.

Teagan and I looked at each other. She mouthed holy shit. I kept a poker face, but nodded slightly. My sentiments exactly, T.

As I turned back to the tense standoff, Rick folded his arms. “I’m waiting, Mr. Mitchell.”

“I… Well, it…” Mitchell stammered, eyes flicking toward me. “Mr. Pierce, your company is a… Well, you’re valuable clients, and—”

“And what about your employees?” Rick snapped. “Are you telling me they’re not valuable? Or at least not valuable enough to be granted a little bit of human fucking dignity by their employer?”

Mitchell drew back. Color drained from his face.

“I would never presume to tell someone how to run their business,” Rick snarled. “But, if you want to continue this business relationship, I would suggest that you and your partners make some substantial changes to how you treat your employees. All of them. We came to Mitchell & Forsythe because this firm is the best. No small part of that is because of them.” He made a sweeping gesture at the rest of my crew. “And if you expect them to kiss your ass, then you can kiss mine while I walk out the fucking door.”

Everyone in the room inhaled sharply.

He didn’t seem to notice and stepped closer to Mitchell, pointing sharply at the center of the man’s chest. “My company will not be dropping our contracts with your firm, but only because I will not be the reason all these people find themselves without a job. But if I don’t see any changes, or I hear so much as a rumor of something like this again, you will never see another Horizon Developing dime again, and their livelihoods”—he gestured at us again—“will be on your conscience, not mine. Am I clear?”

Mitchell’s eyes could not possibly have gotten any wider, but they sure tried. Wordlessly, he nodded.

“Good. Now let’s go sort out those contracts while these nice people get back to work.” He turned to me, and his expression softened a little. “I’ll see you this evening?”

Relief rushed through me so quickly, it shook me right to the core. “Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Absolutely.” I had no idea when or where or what he had in mind, but that could be settled later.

He smiled, winked and headed out into the hall.

Marie followed without so much as a glance at anyone.

Mitchell looked around, eyeing the group of us warily as if he thought one of us might come at him. His gaze landed on me.

My stomach knotted. He’d be well within his rights to fire me for that, or at least to rip me a new one now that Rick was out of earshot.

“Well.” He muffled a cough and gestured at my model. “Keep…keep up the good work.”

And then he was gone.

As the door banged shut behind him, my chest tightened. I could feel everyone staring at me. The silence held on, as if no one knew quite what to say after something like that.

It was—surprise, surprise—Cal who spoke first. “So, wait. You’re gay?”

Teagan burst out laughing. “Really, Cal? That’s what you took away from all of that?”

“Hey, I’m still processing all of it! But, I mean… Since when are you into dudes, McNeill?”

I laughed. “What can I say, Cal?” I faced him, showing my palms. “I just couldn’t give my heart to another woman after your mom—”