Boss I Love to Hate: An Office Romance(95)

Becky spit up her coffee. Mason glared at me.

Charles simply asked, “Crown jewels?”

I’d been telling the same story to Mary for years. Had they never paid attention?

“Yeah, crown jewels.” Mary pushed out her lip. “I don’t like it when you stay in the city. That’s not your home. This is.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me, mad like the kitten she was.

“It’s different now, Mary. He has a girlfriend now,” Sarah added with a smile too happy for her own good.

“Girlfriend? Who? I thought I was the only one who’s supposed to be your girlfriend.” She slammed her fork against the plate, and I laughed.

Boy, oh boy.

I eyed Charles, and he simply shook his head, amused.

We’d thought that we had issues with Sarah’s teenage rebellion. Wait till Mary turned into a teenager. I imagined she would be worse.

Sarah threw Mary an are you dumb look. “Sonia? Remember her?”

“Oh.” Mary relaxed back against her chair, and her smile resurfaced. “When are we going to have dinner with her here?”

“Soon.” I sipped my coffee. “Real soon.”

Becky reached over and fixed Mary’s white collar on her blue plaid uniform. “Maybe … if Uncle Brad is up for it, you can go spend the night at his place on a weekend.”

Mary sat straighter and bounced in her seat. “Oh. Can I, can I, can I?”

With a nod of my head, I once again had a happy Mary. “Now, go eat your food, sweet Mary. You’ll be late.”

After breakfast and in typical weekday fashion, we all stood. The girls got their backpacks ready for school. Becky assisted in giving them their lunches. I cleaned up the table. Charles washed the dishes, and Mason loaded the dishwasher. We were a well-oiled, domesticated machine.

The girls made their rounds with good-bye hugs and kisses. When Becky grabbed the keys from Charles, I turned toward him.

“You’re not taking the girls to school?”

Because he always took the girls to school, right before driving straight to work. We all drove separately.

“No, Becky will take them.” He pecked Becky on the lips before turning to me. “We have to talk.”

My spine straightened, and I blinked up at him. I knew who and what this conversation was going to be about. Had they caught us having sex in the utility closet? Or my desk? I swore, my door had been locked. My hands clenched and then unclenched.

Was it my fault that I was in love and addicted to every part of her body?

I’d deny all the sex. We’d be fine. Sonia and I would simply keep it to after-work hours. It was hard, hard being around her and not wanting to be inside her, but I’d make sure things were strictly professional at work, going forward.

“If this is about Sonia, there’s nothing to talk about. I’ll meet you at work.” I reached for my briefcase and turned to leave.

“Brad.” One word. Loud. Authoritative. It was the tone he used on the girls, the tone that meant business.

“Yes, Brad, we need to talk. This isn’t working out,” Mason added. “Everyone at work is talking.”

Mason’s even tone was my cue to leave. He grated on my nerves. And, to think, we had been getting along.

“I don’t care.” I was already walking, but he blocked my direct path to the door leading to the garage. I was now sandwiched between both of them.

“Did you really have sex on the copier?” Mason’s tone was condescending, and his face scrunched up, disgusted, as though he’d never, ever had sex in the office. “That’s crossing the line.”

Yes. “No, and if I did, it’s my fucking copier. My company. My life.” The muscles in my neck tensed, and my hand tightened around my briefcase.

“Your company?” Mason chuckled without humor. “That’s funny. I think we all have one-third equity share.”

I tilted my head from side to side, releasing the tension from my neck. “You’d better stop, Mason. You’re pissing me off.”

“I’ll stop when you fire her,” Mason spat out.

That turned a switch in me. I stepped into him, pressing a finger into his chest, eyes narrowed. “Sonia is my concern. Not yours. So, you don’t get to decide what happens to her, what she has for lunch, where I take her on dates, and most definitely, if she’s still working for me, which she still is, by the way.”

He glared. “It’s too late. You’re outnumbered, and we’ve already decided. We’ve already hired her replacement.”

The air knocked out of my lungs, and I stepped back.

I flipped around and narrowed my eyes at Charles. He never went above me—ever. He’d have discussed it with me first, but decision was written on his features.

My mouth went lax. “Don’t I have a say in this, Charles?” There was no bite in my tone, no strength in my voice. Once Charles made a decision, it was as good as done.

Charles sighed. “Brad, you’re not thinking straight. People are talking. This is as much for her as it is for you. Women talk and can get nasty. They’re already starting to say she only got where she was by sleeping with the boss.”

I cringed. Maybe I’d fire all of them then.

I threw up a hand. “She’s been working for me for two years, and she has had the same damn position.” I walked to the kitchen and dropped to the chair, already tired. “Who? I want names.” No one could talk about Sonia like that. “Names. Because they’re fired.”