The HR office seemed smaller than it had just two hours ago. I was seated across from Patricia Chen, whose unreadable gaze I couldn't bear.
"Katherine, you have to make a choice. You either end your relationship with Mr. Marvin and resume work after your suspension, or you resign effective immediately."
Six years. Six fucking years of sixty-hour work weeks, missed vacations, and forfeited relationships. It all boiled down to an ultimatum on business talks.
"And if I refuse both?"
Patricia remained impassive. "Then we'll have no choice but to terminate your contract. That means you won't get any severance pay nor a reference from us."
I thought of Tony. About how he'd held me earlier that morning, about the urgent need in his eyes. About how I'd chosen him over everything that I'd built.
"I resign." The words came out of me a lot steadier than I was feeling. Patricia slid a pre-printed form across the table - like they'd known in advance what my answers would be. I signed it without reading it, each stroke of the pen feeling like a small death.
"You can take your belongings today. Security will escort you out."
Of course they would.
Susan was waiting when I came out, her eyes red. "Kat-"
"Don't." I couldn't take sympathy at the moment. "Just help me pack."
My desk looked pathetic, stripped of six years of accumulated life. Pictures of Elliot. A coffee cup from my first promotion at work. The plant Susan gave me that managed to stay alive through all of it.
"You can fight this," Susan said quietly, as she wrapped the mug with newspaper. "Wrongful termination, hostile work environment-"
"With what money? What energy?" I shoved files haphazardly into a box. "I'm through, Sus. Done with this place, done with people like Davidson."
"Speaking of which." Susan's voice lowered. "He's heading in our direction. Looking smug as fuck."
"It's a pity to see you go, Katherine," Davidson said as he leaned against my cubicle wall. "However, it's no surprise either. Women like you, who base their decisions upon their hearts rather than their brains, have no business in a field of finance such as this."
"Fuck off, Marcus."
"Tsk. So unprofessional."
He picked up one of my awards - Top Performer, two years running - and set it back down as if it was nothing but trash.
"For what it's worth, I'll take good care of your clients. And your office. Always did like the view from the fortieth floor."
Susan stepped between us. "If you don't walk away this minute, I'm going to forget that I'm a professional and slap you in your arrogant fucking face," she said.
Davidson laughed and left. Susan turned to me, a struggle between fury and anguish mingling across her face. "Tell me that was worth it. Tell me that Tony Marvin is worth your whole career."
Was he? I'd known him for less than three weeks. In that short span of time, I'd been threatened, watched, scared out of my wits, and lost my job.
But when I considered moving out from under him, my chest hurt.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I don't know how to unknow him, Sus. Can't unfeel what I feel."
"Jesus, you're in love with him!" She stated it as if it were a diagnosis.
"Maybe. Probably. I don't know. But I'm all in now. No job, no safety net. Just me and whatever happens next."
I dialed Tony from the elevator. Straight to VM. Tried again from the lobby. Same thing. Sent a text to Marco - I'd programmed his number after Tony gave it to me in case of an emergency, and got a strange message back: "Family meeting. He'll call when he can."
Family meeting. No doubt it's about me. About how I'm messing up everything.
The security guard dropped me off on the sidewalk as if I were garbage. I stood out there clutching my pathetic box of office stuff, watching as my former coworkers walked by as if I were invisible.
"Kat!" Elliot materialized at my side, his backpack slung over his shoulder. "I got your text. I'm here."
"You're supposed to be in class."
"You need me more than class now." He took the box out of my hand. "Come on. Let's go home."
Home. Our tiny Brooklyn apartment, which I may not be able to pay for much longer. Just thinking about it made me sick.
"I fucked up, El." The words broke something in me. "I threw away everything for a man I barely know."
"Did you enjoy your work?"
This question caught me by surprise. "What?"
"Your job. Did you love it? Did you wake up excited to go to work? Did it make you happy?"
I opened my mouth to agree, but stopped. Because honestly? I'd been in it because of the security. The pay. The fact that it proved that I was worth something, not because of the actual work.
"No," I admitted. "I didn't
"Then you didn't blow everything." Elliot adjusted the box in his arms. "You traded something you didn't care about to have a chance at something you might. That's not fucking up. That's making a decision."
When did my baby brother become so wise?
We took the subway home in silence. Elliot was playing his puzzle games on his cell phone, while I just stared at nothing, trying not to cry. By the time we got back to our apartment, I was tired to my bones.
My phone buzzed from an unknown number. I almost didn't answer.
"Miss Blaire? This is James Chen of Torcano Financial Group."
I couldn't identify either the name or the firm. "I'm sorry, I believe you have the wrong number."
"No, I don't." "We're a private banking firm that caters to high-net-worth individuals. We've been following your career path and would like you to join us."
The timing was just too perfect. Too convenient. "How did you get my number?"
"Your reputation precedes you, Miss Blaire. We offer double your previous salary, benefits, and a fifty-thousand-dollar signing bonus. You will be our Senior Vice President of Client Relations, handling high-risk investment accounts."
High-risk. The words sent warning bells ringing.
"High-risk clients of what type?"
"The type who value discretion and loyalty above all else. People who appreciate an understanding of finance and its complexities." His voice slid smoothly. "We'd love to have you come in for an interview. Tomorrow, perhaps? Two o'clock?"
"Give me a moment to think about it."
"Of course. But Miss Blaire? The offer expires in forty-eight hours. We move quickly in this industry, I'm sure you understand."
He hung up before I could respond. I looked at my phone, feeling a growing sensation of unease in my stomach.
"What was that?" Elliot asked.
"Job offer. Too good to be true."
"Then it probably is." He set down the box and opened his laptop. "What was the company name?"
"Torcano Financial Group."
Elliot's fingers flew across the keyboard. Three minutes later, his expression vindicated my fears. "Torcano Financial is a subsidiary of Torrino Holdings. The CEO's brother-in-law is Angelo Torrino. Second in command of Torrino's Crime Family."
The room tilted. They were trying to recruit me. Doubled my current pay. Direct access to their group.
They either wanted to use me to get to Tony or make it clear that I could be bought.
Maybe both.
"What are you gonna do?" Elliot asked.
I thought of Tony, unreachable in his family meeting. Thomas Marvin is planning and causing a riot to tear us down. Davidson and Torrino and all those people trying to ruin my life.
"I'm attending the interview," I said slowly. "And I'm also going to find out just what game they are playing at."
"That's dangerous
"Everyone in my life is a danger now." I picked up my laptop. "Might as well gather intelligence while I'm being terrorized."
My phone rang again. Finally, Tony.
"Katherine, where are you?"
"Home. Where were you?"
Family meeting. It's complicated. Are you okay?
"I resigned. Or was forced to resign. Same difference." I heard him curse softly. "But that's not the interesting part. I just got offered a job by a company owned by the Torrino family. At double my old salary."
Silence. "Don't take it."
"I know. But I'm going to the interview."
"Katherine-"
"They're making a move, Tony. Either buy me or use me. Either way, don't you want to know which?" My voice remained steady. "Besides, what are they going to do? I'm already being followed, threatened, and harassed. An interview seems almost quaint."
"I don't like this."
"You don't have to like it. But you do have to trust me." I eased back a bit in my tone. "I'm not running. I'm not hiding. If they want to play games, I'll play. But I'll do it my way."
Another pause. Then, reluctantly, "You're wearing a wire."
"Deal"
After we hung up, Elliot looked at me with respect. "You're seriously doing this? You're actually getting yourself into the Torrino family's office?"
"I really am."
"Then you're either very brave or foolish."
I considered all that I'd lost today.
"Probably both," I admitted.
My cell phone lit up with an incoming email. The subject line had a chilling effect: Interview Confirmation - Torcano Financial Group - 2 PM Tomorrow.
A photo was attached of Tony and I leaving his building this morning. "We're watching. We've always been watching."
I showed Elliot. His face turned pale.
"Kat, this is a trap."
"I know"
"Then why-"
"Because I'm tired of being prey." I deleted the email and turned to my brother. "They want me scared? Well, I'm scared. But I'm done running from threats. So tomorrow, I'm walking into that interview. And I'm going to show them that Katherine Blaire doesn't break that easily."
What I failed to say was that part of me wanted them to try something. At least I'd know who to expect as my enemies.