“You were over an hour late to work yesterday,” Mr. Grabbar said, making a small black X on the performance review form. “And unfortunately, that wasn’t the only time.”
“It’s my car, Sir,” Brandi said humbly, though the words seemed to stick in her throat. “It’s very old and uh, temperamental. It breaks down a lot.”
Grabbar raised his bushy grayish-brown eyebrows at her.
“And have you considered getting a new one?” he asked, with the air of someone stating the blatantly obvious.
Brandi clenched her jaw. Like there was a new car bush growing outside her front window and she could just go pick a new one any time she wanted!
“Yes Sir, but I can’t afford it at the moment,” she said, careful to keep her tone calm and neutral.
“Mmm-hmm.” Grabbar sounded like he didn’t believe her and he certainly didn’t erase the X he’d made on her form. “Now, unfortunately, that is the least of your worries, Ms. Dixon. “You were also caught last week—by me—violating the company Internet policy which states that no employee will use his or her computer to look at suggestive pornographic websites.”
“We already talked about this,” Brandi pointed out, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. “I explained that it was a spam e-mail I accidentally clicked on. I have no interest in the, uh, products the e-mail was trying to sell.”
In fact the message had been about penis enlargement pills and had featured a bunch of dancing dicks, getting longer and harder as they danced until they filled the screen. It was actually kind of hilarious to watch in a ha-ha-that’s-so-gross kind of way. Unfortunately, her boss had happened to come up behind her just as she was looking at it.
Grabbar had pretended to understand it was a mistake at the time, but now he was making an issue of it. Bastard. Brandi stared at him resentfully.
“Yes, well—I’m afraid that no matter what the circumstances, the fact is that you had pornographic images on your computer screen and I’m afraid I have to mark you in violation of the Bank of Tampa company policy on that.” He made another black X on the form. “Now let’s talk about dress code.”
“Dress code?” Brandi could hardly keep the outrage out of her voice. “Surely you’re not saying I violated that policy too?”
Grabbar sniffed. “Your clothing, while adequate, isn’t really as professional as it could be. I’m afraid I’ll have to mark you down for that too.” And he marked yet another black X on the form.
“My clothes are fine,” Brandi protested. She might not have the prettiest or newest clothes—she got most of her stuff from the thrift store and plus-sizes were hard to come by there—but she always looked neat and clean and she never wore anything that would violate the company dress policy.
“I think you’d do much better in this category if your skirts were a little shorter and a whole lot tighter.” Her boss gave her a lecherous look. “And if you occasionally forgot certain items of clothing—say your underwear or bra…”
A whole year of harassment suddenly seemed to come down on her head and Brandi lost her temper. She forgot how much she needed the job and just saw red.
“That’s it, Mr. Grabbar—I do not have to listen to this!” She got up but he was too fast for her, sliding around the desk as slick as a snake to close his office door and lean his considerable bulk against it.
“Oh, yes you do,” Ms. Dixon. You’ll listen and listen good if you know what’s good for you.” His piggy eyes were glittering greedily and there was a nasty look on his face. “You know, Brandi darlin’, there is a way to make all these ugly little black marks on your review just…go away.”
“Mr. Grabbar—”
“We can have an arrangement,” he went on relentlessly. “A rewards system. Where you let me do so much and you get so much in return, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t know and I don’t want to know,” Brandi said, fuming. “Now open the door right now!”
“Fine,” Grabbar snarled, ignoring her request. “I’ll spell it out for you. You suck my cock right here and now and you’ll get a perfect performance review. Let me fuck you, and I’ll even give you a raise. But deny me again—like you’ve been doing for a solid year now—and you’ll be out on your ass, darlin’. It’s just that simple.”
Brandi heard what he was saying but she still had a hard time believing this was really happening. For an entire year her boss had been harassing her, looking her over like a piece of meat, trying to grab her ass and breasts. But she’d never really believed he would go farther than that…that the harassment would turn into something even uglier.
“Let me go,” she said, looking pointedly at the door. “Let me go right now, Mr. Grabbar and don’t say another word and I won’t report this to HR.”
He laughed nastily. “You know damn good and well all a report to HR will do is get you fired. It’s just you and me back here, my dear—who do you think they’re going to believe? A stupid little trailer trash secretary or the branch manager?”
“How…what makes you think…?” Brandi couldn’t finish. She was surprised at how much his words hurt—how hard they struck home.
“Oh yes, I know where you live,” Grabbar snarled. “I’ve driven out and seen your dirty little trailer park—all the way out in Plant City. And I also know you lied on your job application. You do not have an Associates Degree from HCC at all. You barely graduated from high school because you were pregnant at the time.”
“I…I’m working on my degree,” Brandi protested, feeling blindsided by this latest assault and also deeply creeped out that her boss knew so much about her. Had he been stalking her?
“But you don’t have it—you lied,” he snarled again. “And if you don’t want me to fire you and put a black mark on your record that will follow you wherever you try to get a job, you’ll bend over the desk and give me that ass you’ve been teasing me with for a whole year!”
“I have not been ‘teasing’ you!” In fact, she went out of her way not to wear anything even remotely provocative. Brandi took a step back—she couldn’t believe how quickly this situation was escalating. “I’m just trying to survive and support my daughter! I’m a good employee—you can’t threaten me like this!”
Except she was very much afraid that he could.
“All right, fine.” Abruptly, Grabbar took a step away from the door to his office. “You can leave. But just know that if you walk out of here, you’re walking out of Bank of Tampa for good and I will make sure that no one here gives you any kind of reference. In fact, I’ll be certain to let any prospective employers know what a terrible employee you’ve been.”
“That isn’t true and you know it.” Brandi took a deep breath. “I’ve been trying to put up with your bullshit because I wanted a better life for my daughter, Mr. Grabbar. But I can’t stand this any longer. I’m leaving.”
She put a hand on the doorknob…only to have it knocked away.
“Oh no you don’t, you little slut!” Suddenly her boss had her by the wrists and was pushing her down across his desk. He twisted her arms up painfully behind her back and gripped them in one hand.
“Let me go, you asshole!” Brandi shouted at the top of her lungs—but she knew no one could hear her. She struggled to break free but Grabbar was on her, as heavy as a mattress, breathing hot, stinking breath against the side of her face.
“You don’t get to tease me for a whole year and not give me at least a taste,” he snarled in Brandi’s ear. “You little cock-tease! I’m taking what’s mine before you go.”
He shifted behind her and Brandi heard the purring sound of a zipper going down.
“No! No!” She kicked back and fishtailed under him but Grabbar was determined and very strong. He was just starting to lift her skirt and pull down her underwear when the door to the office banged open.
“Get your fucking hands off my mate, you son-of-a-bitch!” an angry, familiar voice growled.
“Wha—” Grabbar started to tu
rn around but someone yanked him off Brandi before he could even finish the word.
Brandi turned around and saw Slade standing there, holding her boss two feet off the ground by the scruff of his neck like he was a puppy that had piddled on the carpet. Grabbar was gasping and kicking and choking. Slade had him by the back of his expensive charcoal suit and the front of his Egyptian cotton white linen shirt and the red silk tie he wore with it were choking him as a result.
“Let…let me…down,” he managed to gasp out.
“I don’t think so.” The big Kindred’s mismatched eyes roamed over Brandi and her boss, as though taking in the whole situation. Brandi realized that her skirt was still pulled up and her panties were down while Grabbar’s pathetic looking dick was flopping out of his pants like a limp Vienna Sausage.
Seeing all this, Slade’s look grew even darker and his gold and green eyes began to glow red.
“What the fuck, baby?” he growled at Brandi. “Did he hurt you? Did he—”
Somehow Brandi managed to shake her head.
“N-no. He tried but he…he didn’t get…didn’t do it.” Her voice sounded shaky in her own ears as the reality of the situation started to hit her.
He almost raped me…oh my God, he was just about to when Slade stopped him!
The thought made her feel weak and she almost couldn’t breathe for a moment. Numbly, she fumbled to pull down her skirt and hide her shame. There were hot tears in her eyes and a ringing in her ears.
Shock, she thought. I’m in shock. How had it all happened so suddenly? How had she been caught so off guard?
“You son of a bitch!” Slade shook her boss—her ex-boss now, Brandi thought to herself. “How dare you touch my mate? How fucking dare you?”
“I…didn’t know…she was…yours…” Grabbar choked out angrily. His face was turning the color of ripe beets and his hands were flailing wildly while his feet kicked the air. “Little…tease…never told me.”
“Tease? You dare to talk that way about my mate?” Abruptly Slade changed his grip and took him by the throat. “I should kill you.” His eyes were completely red now, the green and gold swallowed by a glowing ruby color. “I’ve killed males for a hell of a lot less, you raping bastard!”
And then he was squeezing, his big hands wrapped around Grabbar’s fat throat, choking the life out of him.
“Excuse me, Mr. Grabbar? Is there a problem?” A new voice was calling from the end of the hallway. “Someone saw one of the customers come back here and thought we ought to check it out. We—holy shit, we have a situation here!”
Looking around Slade’s broad shoulder, Brandi saw Gus, the nice old security guard who had been watching over the downtown Bank of Tampa branch for thirty years. He was talking into his walkie-talkie and fumbling in his holster for his gun.
“No! No, wait!” Acting on instinct, Brandi ran out of the office and held out her arms, as though she was trying to stop traffic. “Don’t shoot,” she yelled at Gus. “This is my…my…boyfriend,” she settled on at last, not knowing what else to call Slade.
“I don’t care what he is, girlie—he’s tryin’ to kill Mr. Grabbar,” Gus sputtered, still fumbling for his gun. Thank goodness he didn’t seem to notice that the holster was still fastened but any moment now he might figure it out.
“I’ll stop him!” she told Gus. “Just give me a minute and don’t shoot!’
Rushing back to Slade, she grabbed him by one muscular bicep and tried to get his attention.
“Slade? Slade! Stop it! Stop it right now or they’re going to shoot you!”
The big Kindred didn’t even seem to hear her. His eyes were glowing coal red and he had both big hands wrapped around Grabbar’s thick throat, obviously intent on squeezing the life out of him.
“I’ll fucking kill you for touching her,” Brandi heard him growl. “Twist your head right off your fucking neck like I did to Rabbaz in CellStone. That’ll fucking teach you to touch what’s mine!”
Grabbar’s face was turning black now—his tongue protruding from his mouth grotesquely and Gus had finally gotten his gun out and was pointing it in a shaky way at Slade’s broad back.
“No!” Brandi cried. I have to find a way to get through to him—but how?
Suddenly she realized she could feel some of what Slade was feeling through the strange link they shared. The pure, protective rage, the possessive fury that drove him to kill anyone who dared to hurt her because Brandi was his mate, damn it! He’d claimed her and bonded her and he was damned if anyone else would even lay a finger on her!
The link—I have to use the link! she realized.
“Slade!” she sent as loudly as she could—turning up the mental volume, if you could call it that. “Slade you have to stop or they’re going to shoot you! And they’ll shoot me too because I’m in the way,” she added, realizing it was true. The shaky way Gus was holding his gun didn’t bode well for either of them.
“What?” This finally got the big Kindred’s attention. Turning, he saw the situation, with Brandi standing in front of him and Gus pointing the gun at both of them.
“Drop him,” Brandi urged him. “Drop Grabbar or you’re going to get us both killed!”
With a reluctant growl, Slade dropped her boss like he was a sack of dirty diapers. Grabbar hit the marble floor hard, his bald head making a clunk sound on the expensive flooring.
“Should have killed him,” the big Kindred growled. “Should have ripped his fucking head off.”
Like he had with Rabbaz from CellStone—whoever and whatever that was, Brandi thought. But that was for another time—right now she was just trying to defuse the situation.
“Okay, he dropped him,” she yelled at Gus, who was still pointing the gun at them uncertainly. “Put down the gun, Gus. My, uh, boyfriend dropped Mr. Grabbar!”
“But I don’t understand—what’s going on here?” Gus’s voice sounded plaintive and his gray eyebrows were pulled low over his faded blue eyes. “Why in the world would your boyfriend choke Mr. Grabbar in the first place?”
“Because Mr. Grabbar was trying to rape me.” Her voice carried and suddenly Brandi became aware that other people were crowding into the back of the bank too. Some were employees but some were also customers.
“He what?” someone asked.
Brandi bit her lip. Part of her wanted to sink into the ground but she knew if she didn’t get this out in the open now, it would get twisted by other people and she would never be able to get it right.
“He tried to rape me,” she repeated, her voice stronger now. “He’s been harassing me for the entire time I’ve been working for him but I just put up with it. I was afraid HR wouldn’t care and I need this job. But today, during my performance review he…he…pushed me against the desk and he…he tried to…” Her voice was suddenly thick in her throat and then Slade was beside her, putting one massive arm gently around her shoulders. Brandi looked up at him gratefully. “If you hadn’t stopped him—”
“Just glad I got here in time,” he rumbled. He was looking calmer now—at least his eyes were back to their usual colors, she noted.
“He came after me too,” someone spoke up.
Looking up, Brandi saw it was Genine—a girl who used to have a mid-management position at the bank but had suddenly been demoted to teller for some reason.
“Me too,” another teller said. “He told me if I wanted to keep my job I’d better ‘make him happy.’ But when I went to the HR department, nobody seemed to care. They told me to just keep quiet.” She was glaring at Toby Wenton as she spoke, who was the HR representative at the downtown branch.
Toby looked distinctly uncomfortable.
“Company policy is—”
“Fuck your company policy,” Slade snarled at him. “Your company policy nearly got my female raped! What the fuck is wrong with you human males?” he demanded, taking a step towards Toby, who abruptly turned as pale as his shirt collar and took a step back. “Can’t you understand
that females are to be protected and cherished, not abused and violated? Why is that so fucking hard for you to understand?”
Uh-oh, he’s getting worked up again, Brandi thought nervously.
“Slade…honey?” She put a hand on his rock-hard bicep. His entire big body was tensed with anger and she wondered uneasily if he was going to lash out and hurt someone.
“Not gonna hurt anybody, baby,” he sent through their link. “I’ve just been listening to your thoughts about how that fucking scum was harassing you and you couldn’t do anything about it. Makes me fucking angry!”
“Yes, I can see that,” she sent dryly. “But we need to de-escalate this situation. Gus still has a gun, you know.”
“Should I disarm him?” Slade wanted to know.
“No, no!” Brandi sent quickly. “That would only make matters worse. Just try…try to look non-threatening.”
As if there was a way for a seven-and-a-half-foot-tall angry alien warrior to look non-threatening. But at least he could try.
“Fine but get behind me,” Slade ordered. “If that fool with the weapon loses his head and shoots I don’t want you in the line of fire.”
His protectiveness touched her and Brandi moved back as he requested.
Just then the wail of sirens outside caught everyone’s attention. The crowd of people who had been talking loudly suddenly got quieter and someone said,
“It’s the ambulance I called. Everybody make some room.”
As the paramedics ran into the building and were directed to the back, the crowd began to back up and make room. All but one of them retreated to the far end of the room—but a young man with red hair and freckles cautiously approached Brandi.
“Hi, I’m Josh Teagan,” he said, keeping an eye on Slade as he talked. “I run a local news blog—maybe you’ve heard of it? The Bay in Review?”