Confessions of a Litigation God

Page 17

  She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly again. “Nothing. Just a little misunderstanding, but it’s solved now. ”

  “Misunderstanding?”

  “Misunderstanding,” she agrees with a nod of her head.

  “Lorraine was screaming at you. Just before I walked in, she called you a f**king screw up. I don’t care what the reason was, but we don’t talk to each other like that at this firm. ”

  “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” she says apologetically, and I feel like my head is going to explode.

  “Fuck, McKayla. Why are you apologizing? She was the one screaming at you. ”

  “And like I said… it was just a misunderstanding. No harm, no foul. ”

  I grit my teeth even further, feeling my blood pressure rise. Why can’t she just admit that Lorraine was on her case unfairly? Why can’t she let me help her fix it?

  And even as I ask those questions, I know the answers. Because she doesn’t need me for anything. She doesn’t want to give me the satisfaction of possibly trying to make things up to her.

  That just pisses me off even more, but now is not the time to battle with Mac. So I pick a piece of imaginary lint off my slacks as if I’m completely nonplused and say, “I’ll just have to talk to Lorraine myself, I guess. Give your degrees to Miss Anders, and she’ll get them fixed for you, at my expense. ”

  “No, thanks,” she says primly. “I can handle it. ”

  Okay, now she’s just being devious, and I glare at her. She looks back at me with a bland expression, but I see it… deep down in her eyes… way down deep… she’s enjoying bucking against me. She’s enjoying the little power trip she has right now by refusing to give me what I want.

  And that just won’t do.

  No, that won’t do at all.

  Mac needs to learn that while I will give her some latitude, she’ll never win the ultimate battle against me. She needs to learn that when I set out to do something, I don’t give up until I get what I want.

  It’s time to show her that.

  Chapter 13

  For the past week, Mac has been tormenting me. Long before this little act of defiance by refusing to tell me what just happened with Lorraine. And she’s doing it on purpose… a little female evil I suppose, to get back at me for refusing to cancel dinner with Lorraine.

  To get back at me for demanding something from her, but refusing to reciprocate in kind.

  It’s bad enough that she’d been dropping the “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” routine all week, making clear to me that she’ll be the dutiful little employee now, but she continued to torment me in other ways.

  This past Thursday, I about flipped my shit. I was sitting in the break room, minding my own business and able to actually get my mind off Mac for a few minutes while I read the paper and had a cup of coffee before I started my workday.

  Mac walked in, looking stunning with her hair all loose and curled so it bounced when she walked, and her makeup a little more pronounced. Whatever she had done to her f**king eyes had made them pop like a star bursting.

  And her dress?

  That f**king dress hugged her br**sts like a second skin, cutting down fairly low. It smoothed over her flat stomach and her hips, and then flared out around her knees. She was wearing another pair of sexy-as-fuck heels, and for a moment… I forgot we weren’t together. Our eyes met, and I started to give her one of those smiles… sexually hot… to show my appreciation.

  Then another staff person walked in, and I hastily averted my gaze. Mac turned away to talk to her, and I had my ear only half on the conversation. But it was open enough that I heard her say she had a “lunch date,” which was why she had dressed up.

  My blood pressure skyrocketed because I knew she was talking about having lunch with Cal. I know she said that out loud, purposely to shove my nose in it. She knew it would get to me.

  She just had no idea how much.

  I had to stand up and walk out of the break room, before I grabbed her and threw her over my shoulder in a testosterone-driven display of ownership. It took me almost an hour to calm down and remind myself that I had no hold over her whatsoever. I certainly had no right to her.

  So, she’s been purposely driving me nuts all week, and even now, this little act of defiance is earning a point in her column. But I’m tired of playing her game, and it’s time to take back control. If she won’t tell me what’s going on with Lorraine, I will find out for myself and I’ll make Mac watch how easy it is to get said information.

  Curling my lips upward, I give Mac a knowing look and turn my smile into an evil grin. She blinks hard and tries to maintain eye contact, but I see the way she nibbles on her lip nervously.

  Standing up, I lean over my desk and press a button on my phone. It chimes once, and then Lorraine’s voice comes through. “Yes, Matt?”

  “Lorraine… can you come into my office for a minute?”

  She pauses just a moment, but I can hear the fear in her voice. “Sure. Be right down. ”

  I disconnect the call and turn back around toward Mac. Leaning my butt back against my desk, I cross my arms over my chest and give her my most conquering look. Because I read body language, I catch the almost imperceptible way Mac sucks in her breath and stiffens her shoulders.

  She’s bracing herself against the unknown and I’m not going to lie, the little bit of unease in her eyes is turning me on.

  My office door opens and Lorraine steps in, but I don’t look at her. I keep my gaze on Mac, waiting to see if she’ll confess what happened with Lorraine but even though I know I’m making her nervous, she lifts her chin up at me in defiance.

  So be it.

  I motion for Lorraine to take the seat I had vacated and push off from my desk, walking around to my big, leather chair on wheels. Taking my seat, I lean back in the chair casually and look over at Lorraine. She’s sitting straight, as if a steel pole was fused to her spine, with her hands tightly clasped on her thighs. I move my gaze over to Mac, and I give her that knowing smile again. I want to laugh when she raises her chin just a bit more, and I hate myself that I find her so adorable and charming.

  But now it’s time to find out what the f**k is going on. Looking back at Lorraine, I lean forward. “Lorraine… I’d like to know exactly what just happened in McKayla’s office. ”

  “It was just a disagreement. No biggie,” she says in an attempt to sound confident, even as the shaking of her hands in her lap give her away.

  “So I’ve heard. But any time you scream at someone and call them… what were the words you used? ‘A f**king screw up’… well, I need to delve a little deeper, you see?”

  Lorraine just nods her head at me and clasps her hands tighter in an attempt to stop the shaking.

  Putting my elbows on my desk, I steeple my fingers in front of me and look at her thoughtfully. I don’t dare look at Mac and take my attention off Lorraine. This has now become a battle between us. “Let me see if I can put this together… you had a hearing this morning?”

  “Yes,” she says hesitantly.

  “And you couldn’t find the Order the judge was supposed to sign?”

  “Yes. ” This time softer.

  “And you assumed that McKayla had failed to draft the Order and put it in the file?”

  “I couldn’t find it while I was in court—”

  I hold my hand up and she’s responsive, snapping her mouth shut.

  “Yet the Order was, in fact, in there?”

  “It appears so,” Lorraine grits out.

  None of this was hard to figure out. I put together Lorraine yelling, papers all over the office, Mac handing an Order to Lorraine, and then Lorraine looking like she was going to puke. This was all a no-brainer but I continue, wanting Mac to understand I will always get someone to spill the beans.

  “So, you went into McKayla’s office and slammed the door shut, causing one of her degrees to
fall and break?”

  “Yes. ”

  “And then you screamed at her for failing to draft the Order?”

  “Yes,” she says, her voice now a whisper.

  “And then yelled that she was a ‘fucking screw up’?”

  “Perhaps I was a bit hasty—”

  I hold my hand up again and on command, she shuts up, which is perfect because I’ve heard enough. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on when I walked into Mac’s office. I had hoped Mac would trust me with the full truth but, in fairness, I’ve given her no reason to, so I’m going to let that slide.

  Standing from my chair, I walk up to Lorraine and look down at her. “I’m going to honor the deal we made with each other Monday night, but I’d like you to go ahead and pack up your stuff and leave now. I don’t condone that type of behavior in my business. ”

  Half expecting Lorraine to blow up, I’m surprised when Mac exclaims, “What? You’re firing her?”

  Turning my back on them, I walk to my office door and open it. Sweeping a hand forward while looking at Lorraine, I say, “That’s right. Effective immediately. ”

  I keep my gaze pinned on Lorraine, because I know this woman operates on a short fuse. I expect her to try to give me a tongue-lashing.

  Instead, she stands from her chair and rather than walk toward the open door and me, she turns on Mac. “You f**king bitch, you just had to rat me out. ”

  Mac rears backward, her eyes confused. “Lorraine… I never said a word. ”

  “Save it,” she hisses at Mac, and then leans in just a little closer to her. “You’re f**king him, and you have him wrapped around your finger. All he talked about Monday night was ‘McKayla this and McKayla that’. And now you have him doing your dirty work for you. ”

  Fucking bitch. Throwing that shit at Mac. It’s true we were f**king, yes, but she really doesn’t know that for sure. She’s taking a wild stab in the dark and only saying it to hurt Mac.

  And I’m not liking that at all. Try to hurt me all you want, but stay the f**k away from Mac.

  There’s no mistaking the vehemence in my voice. “You need to leave right now, Lorraine, before I change my mind about sticking to our deal. ”

  Spinning away from Mac and glaring daggers at me, she sneers, “Try to go back on your word, and I’ll sue you. ”

  I’ve learned a long time ago that people like Lorraine are happiest when you sink down to fight on their level. So I rise above and speak calmly. “I’d like to see you try that, but I’m giving you to the count of three to get out of this office… or I’ll have security escort you out. ”

  Lorraine looks at Mac, issues a deep-throated snarl, and then stomps past me to leave. I don’t spare Mac a glance, closing the door and walking to my desk. Picking up my phone, I dial Karen, who I know is still here. She never leaves before I do. “Please go to Miss Cummings’ office and watch her pack up. Do not let her on her computer and escort her out of the building. Get her key before she leaves. ”

  I disconnect the call and drop down into my chair with a heavy sigh. Raising my eyes to Mac, I say, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. ”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “Sorry I had to go through that? You just fired someone because we had a little fight. You’re an ass**le. ”

  What. The. Fuck?

  I can’t win with this woman, so I decide to just shut this conversation down. But before I can get a word out, Mac looks at me suspiciously, “Wait… you didn’t fire her out of some misplaced sense of obligation to me because we were h**ing s*x, did you?”

  “Absolutely not,” I tell her firmly, and because I’m still halfway pissed at her, I add, “While I enjoyed your charms immensely, I don’t make business decisions based on how good my last f**k was. And watch who you call an ‘asshole’. I just fired someone for practically the same thing. ”