Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 106774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“Yeah. No. I don’t know.” I exhale and shrug, frustration setting up residence in my shoulders. “You good?”
He motions for me to enter the lobby ahead of him. “Better than you, by the looks of it.”
“At this point, it wouldn’t take much.”
The building is quiet with just a few bodies shuffling around this early. The first rays of the sun beam in, illuminating the space with a promise of a bright day. It would be inspiring if my day hadn’t just taken a nosedive into the fiery pits of hell.
“I’m gonna grab a protein shake before we head back,” Jory says. “Want one?”
“I …” My gaze shifts to movement at the elevator bank. Renn is stepping out, his attention focused on his phone. “I’m good. Thanks.”
“See ya back there,” Jory says.
My feet move toward Renn before my brain makes the decision. I clutch the strap of my bag at my shoulder and remind myself to stay calm. It’s probably just a mistake.
“Good morning,” I say, struggling to keep from clenching my teeth.
Renn’s head snaps up. There’s no smile, no offer of a handshake.
Fuck. “Hey, I just got a call from Chuck …” I’m not sure how to explain my question, or what words to use to get the point across.
“Yeah. Why don’t you come up to my office?”
“Sure.”
We stand shoulder to shoulder in the elevator as Renn types away on his phone. His nonchalance about this, like taking thousands of dollars out of my hands is no big deal, makes me want to punch something. Because the longer the ride to the top floor takes, the more panicked I become. He knew what I wanted to talk about without me saying it.
Something is very, very wrong.
He leads me past cubicles and staff members having breakfast at their desks. He’s cordial to everyone who speaks to him—but few do. It’s clear he’s focused on business. What is happening?
“Come in and shut the door,” he says, walking into his office and rounding the corner of his desk.
I shut it softly and drop my bag beside the same chair I sat in the last time I was here.
“Have a seat.” Renn sits behind the stately desk and rocks back in the leather chair. He waits until I get comfortable before speaking. “I invited you up here because I don’t discuss financials in front of players, and I assume that’s what you were talking with Chuck about this morning.”
“Yeah. With all due respect, what the fuck?”
“Hey, the contract conditions were very clear, and you and I went over them together.”
I nod, bewildered. “I agree.”
“You broke the contract, and I’m not in the business of paying out that kind of money for no reason. So the bonus is recalled.”
I grip the armrests, holding myself steady. “You broke the contract.” What?
I’m speechless. Disoriented. I replay the sentence again, like I can roll it over repeatedly, and it’ll eventually be polished and make sense.
“Do I just let this season play out and deal with it at the end?” he asks. “Or do I assign you someone new and hope you can manage to work with them in a respectful manner? These are questions I’m pondering this morning.”
“Whoa, wait a second.” I sit up, finding a break in the fog. “Why would you assign me someone new? Where’s Astrid?”
“She quit.”
Static infiltrates my brain, making every thought fuzzy.
There’s a tug-of-war inside my head. She quit. Why do I have to give up my bonus? But also … why did she walk away?
“Any other questions?” Renn asks. When my gaze shifts to him, it’s met with a pointed stare that feels a lot like I’m to blame for this.
“I guess the first thing I want to understand is why I lose my bonus if she’s the one who quit.”
“She quit with cause.”
I lift a brow as a hot brick burns a hole in my stomach.
“Astrid feels uncomfortable working with you, and I refuse to ask her to continue doing something that makes her feel that way.”
I flinch, struggling to repair the apparent disconnect between my brain and my ears. I hear what he’s saying, but I sure as fuck don’t understand it.
A cold chill snakes lazily down my spine as the memory of how she looked at me last night comes back to me.
Renn leans forward, resting his forearms on his desk. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I will tell you this. Astrid Lawsen is one of the smartest, most capable, and most respectable women I know. It takes a lot to rattle her, Gray. It takes a lot to get under the shield she carries around every day. It’s unfortunate that the first person to do that was you.”
I lean forward and bury my head in my hands.
Renn knows Astrid, so he must know that she’s not a female you have to walk on eggshells around. She’s not exactly a doormat waiting to be trampled. She does the trampling. Sure, things between us may not have been a walk in the park, but she gave as good as she got. And she just quits?