Let's Play A Dirty Ass Game, Mr. CEO

Chapter 28: A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE

LAURA

My blood ran cold with rage as Madison’s words dropped like venom.

A collective gasp rang across the table.

The audacity to get up in my face and slander me, after ruining my life years ago. Did she forget already?

No, she couldn’t have.

Was she just fearless or stupid? She must be forgetting that the victim never ever forgets. And they always know the truth.

"Madison, get over here," Tristan’s voice sounded sharp and cold.

What was he trying to do? Stand up for me? After the damage has been done?

The walls of my chest were burning so hot, I found it hard to inhale.

Madison ignored him and stalked closer until her face was inches away from mine. "I’m waiting for an answer, Ms. Hayes."

I held her gaze for a long moment, warring with my thoughts. A voice of reason helped me understand that Madison was simply trying to pull me down to her level.

The smart thing would be staying above the situation.

"I would love to take the beneficial route and let my lawyer handle a crude defamation, Ms..."

Her eyes flashed with rage. I ignored it and stopped trying hard to remember her surname.

"But we’re here now, so let’s talk like grown women."

I tucked my hair behind my ear and observed her with a cool smile. "What’s your problem with me? Is it just an insecurity flaw?"

"Grown women?" She smirked. Then she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Grown women don’t follow other grown women’s spouses around like dogs. Stay the fuck away from Tristan and this company. You hear me? Don’t forget what happened when you tried to cross what’s mine."

I pulled back and giggled. My palm flew over my mouth. "Oh, look at that," I started in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "She just called me a whore."

Whispers grew wings at the table and hovered above us. Madison’s face went ashen.

"You liar," she spat, "when did I say that?!"

"What? You don’t like getting a taste of your own medicine? Does it taste bad? Bitter? Ugly?"

"You’ve called me names since you got here and practically called me a whore without saying the word. What’s the harm in twisting the truth a little?"

She got in my face like she wanted to fight and I tilted my chin and waited for her. I believed I handled this like a pro, but if she so much as laid a finger on me, then she’d be seeing the wrath of the woman whose career she set on fire years ago.

Before she could make up her mind about putting a finger on me, someone stepped in and yanked her back forcefully. I looked up to see Tristan holding her hostage at his side.

"Pardon this crude display, Ms. Hayes. Madison must have had too much to drink."

"Oh." I lifted a brow. "Is that right? I was thinking your fiancée just got here, Mr. Pierce."

His jaw twitched and his eyes burned dark with an emotion I couldn’t recognize. "I’m sorry, once again." Then he dragged her away.

As soon as they were gone, the whispers continued. From the displeasure on the faces of the members of the Pierce team, I could tell no one liked Madison. She was quite the menace.

Could I really handle working at Pierce again?

"You handled that like a pro."

I turned to see Harlan standing next to me, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"You think so?" A smile spilled across my lips. It was hardly genuine. Did I expect him to come to my rescue earlier? Hardly. But it would have meant a lot if he had made a move, at least.

Like Tristan did.

Nuh-uh, Laura. Comparison is the thief of joy, and the usher of dirty, unwanted thoughts.

"I thought you might have wanted to put her in her place yourself," he added, like he could read my mind. "So I decided to let you kill it, and you delivered beautifully."

I laughed. "She’s a small fry, Harlan."

"Damn right."

My gaze trailed back to the direction where Tristan had disappeared with his bride-to-be. What could they be up to at the moment?

Several scenarios popped into my mind. There could be some yelling...some scolding..

Or—

He could piping her against a wall in a dark corner right now, praising her for tackling my inflated ego with a public humiliation.

God, what an annoyingly vivid imagination that was. But what else could I expect of a brain that had witnessed betrayal by the very same people?

"Do you want to get out of here?" Harlan’s warm voice tickled my ear. "We could continue what we started earlier."

Continue what we started...

The offer was tempting, especially as my body wouldn’t stop betraying me at every smoldering glance Tristan flicked my way.

It’s been too long since I got laid. Maybe I had to get the fever out of my system. It didn’t matter who I did it with. Harlan was pretty charming and an absolute looker himself, with waves of brown hair and strong, compelling features.

With a trembling breath, I lifted my head and met Harlan’s gaze. "Where would you like to continue?"

His eyes sparkled with mischief as his fingers crawled up my back and gently tugged at my hair, away from the eyes of the divided attention in the room. Then he exhaled against my earlobe. "Ladies first."

I swallowed a lump down and wiggled my ass, moving close to him. "Well, we could find somewhere quiet."

"Oh."

"Or we could get in the car."

"Hmm."

"Or...we could go over to my—"

A loud ringtone cut the words from my mouth.

I choked them back as Harlan immediately reached into his pocket for his phone and glanced at the screen. "Oh, fuck. Sorry." He pulled away abruptly and shoved his fingers through his hair, looking professional once again. "I have to take this. I’ll only be a moment. Get something while you wait for me."

Before I could respond, he turned and walked away briskly.

Exhausted, irritated and sexually frustrated, I stood there watching the scattered team mingle with one another. Everyone seemed to be in a happy little world except me.

"I knew getting back together with him was a bad idea," I muttered under my breath.

I needed an escape from here so bad. So I headed out with a full adrenaline bar in search of a quiet place, where I could stay and think about how things would have played out if I handled Madison any differently...if I handled her the way I truly wanted to.

But I could only get so far before I came face-to-face with an annoying accident.

Turning the corner towards the elevator, I ran face first into a solid wall of chest.

A wall that smelt like danger and filth. The good kind. With a whiff of body shampoo familiar to my nasal sense.

"Are you drunk, Laura?"