Really? He was going to play the “nice guy” card now? The last two days came crashing down on me like a tsunami—the disappointment of wanting this opportunity so much only to get a position that had nothing to do with programming, then Steven breaking up with me at a sex club that I didn’t know was a sex club, and now getting fired after working my ass off all day. Yeah, I lost my shit. This was too much.
“You know what? You can keep your stupid job and your pity money.” I ripped the check until I couldn’t rip it anymore and let the pieces fall on his desk. Screw Declan Winston Noble and his pretty face and fancy job. “You don’t have to fire me. I quit on grounds that you’re a total bastard.”
“I already fired you.” He pressed his lips together.
Or maybe he was gloating. I couldn’t tell. Either way, I didn’t want him to have the last word. My pride hurt. My heart hurt. Everything just hurt.
“I don’t care.”
“And that’s just fine.” His low tone filled the air around me.
“Fine.” I turned on my heel and marched out of his office, slamming the door on my way out. By the time I reached my desk, I lost the last of my self-control and let the tears go. At least he had waited until everyone had gone home before he fired me.
The worst part was that now I had to go to my apartment in Brooklyn and face Steve.
5
KARMA WAS TRULY A BITCH
Declan
That scent. Why did her perfume affect me this much? I shot to my feet and followed her. She was so pissed she hadn’t even noticed she’d slammed the door in my face. Just as well. What would I say to her? You’re not fired? I couldn’t say that. I had spent the entire day trying to figure out what to do about Isla Vendetti.
Or actually, I mostly thought about all the things I wanted to do to her. Images of the beauty mark on her perfect ass kept flashing in my mind’s eye. I pressed my forehead on the door and thought about the matching beauty mark she had right between her tits. I thought about how much I wanted to lick my way from one end to the other. Fuck me, I’d never had a problem like this one with an employee before, or any other woman.
What drew me to Isla? Was it because I knew she needed help? Or because she called me on my bullshit earlier? Ialready knew her tight body was part of the equation. Jesus, I wanted her badly. But it wasn’t like I’d never been with a beautiful woman before. Whatever it was. It didn’t matter. Isla was out of my life for good this time. I only wished she had accepted my money. She’d called it pity money. But in reality, its sole purpose had been to appease my guilt for firing her on account that my dick couldn’t handle being in the same room as her. God, I was a real asshole.
I glanced up at the windows and the city lights beyond them. Work. I had to focus on work and forget about Isla. That seemed like a good solution. I strode to my desk and gathered my things. The new security design still needed some final tweaks, but I could get that done at home. In my head, I visualized the rest of my night—take away, more work, gin, then bed. A nice, quiet evening sounded like a good idea.
Tommy, my driver, met me at the curb. I’d been working with his company for years. He always made himself available for me whenever I was in town. He knew my hours and how I liked things done. I relaxed in the back seat and released a breath. This was more like it. My normal schedule with no hot, spunky brunettes to complicate my life. Isla was trouble with a capital T. I rolled my eyes. She was gone, why was I still obsessing over her?
I opened my laptop and pulled up the new network design I had been working on. This was a problem I could solve. Going through the paces of figuring out the next piece of the puzzle was soothing to me.
“We’re here, sir.”
“Yes, we are.” I lifted my head in time to seeFrank wave at me. “Thank you, Tommy.” I tapped his shoulder “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I’ll be here. Have a good one.”
“You too.” I climbed out of the car and headed toward the lobby where Frank greeted me as usual.
The quiet hum of the lift car made me think of last night and Isla’s body curled against my chest. “Jesus, let it go.”
I strode the length of the corridor, enjoying the stillness. I was proud of the life I had built. No complications. No problems I couldn’t solve. No one to answer to. By the time I reached my condo, I felt less guilty about letting Isla go. And I had even come up with a better solution to Nicolas’s security issue. I was so eager to fire up my computer again, I almost missed the pushchair crowding the threshold. Almost.
“Hello?” I shot a glance behind me, then stepped forward to peek inside the bundle of blankets. Sure, as fuck, there was a sleeping baby in it. What the bloody hell? I fished my phone from my pocket and called the front desk. “Frank, there’s a pushchair at my door.”
“A what?”
“A bloody stroller. There’s a stroller with a baby in it. Do you know who left it here? Or why?”
“That can’t be.”
“And yet. Here it is.” I pulled down the covers again to get a better look at the baby. Yeah, it was real. “Has anyone reported a missing baby in the building?”
“I’m afraid not. My apologies, Mr. Noble. Maybe…” He trailed off.
“Go on then.”
