Ava didn’t hear any more of his rant. She felt suddenly nauseated. And numb. A numbness that coated the painful emotions erupting through her chest, but underneath, she was furious, disgusted, ashamed. She straightened, stepped away from the desk, and shouted over Matthew’s tirade. “Come out.”
“Ava, knock it off.” Matthew swung back toward her. “Get out, go home, and we’ll handle this—”
“Right now.” Her spine turned to steel. “We’ll handle this right fucking now.” She looked at the floor again. “Come out from under the desk. Now. If you make me drag you out, I swear to God you’ll regret it.”
The shuffle of movement sounded before a brunette popped her head out from the shadows. Another project manager in her department. One of Matthew’s employees. A girl Ava liked.
Pain sliced beneath her ribs. “Beth,” she said with disgust. “Really.”
Beth licked her lips and scuttled from beneath the desk, buttoning her blouse and straightening her skirt.
This was one of those moments when Ava wished she had the golden tongue. Wished she could spew everything she wanted to say, everything that needed to be said, all at once with eloquence and passion and persuasion. But she was so furious, so degraded, she could only clench her teeth.
Another shuffle caught her ear. Ava’s gaze darted back to the floor, and her stomach dropped.
No fucking way.
Ava bent and looked beneath the desk. Someone else huddled in the darkened corner.
“Mario?” Her mouth dropped open, and she cut a look at Matthew and Beth. “Mario? Seriously?” Then she told the young man, “Get your ass out here. Now.”
She turned in a circle, throwing her arms out to the side. “How many others do you have hiding around here?”
“Stop it, Ava.” Matthew came toward her, his approach aggressive. “Just stop it.”
She stepped back. “Touch me, and you’ll go to prison. Right now. Tonight. And you won’t have the support of the company lawyers.”
Matthew stopped with his hands fisted by his sides, his body rigid, and his face twisted with hatred and contempt.
Pain and anger ripped at her heart. She turned her gaze from Matthew to Mario. “You’re young and stupid. Grow the fuck up. You’re fired. Get your shit and get out. If I ever see your face around here again, I’ll have you arrested.”
“Ava—” Matthew started.
“Shut. Up,” she told Matthew, then alternated her gaze between Beth and Mario. “You’re both fired.”
“Come on, Ava.” Matthew’s tone softened. He obviously saw the hammer coming for him. “You know you can’t fire them. I’m their boss.”
“And I’m your boss.”
“Hold on.” He held up his hands. “Let’s talk this out. I made a mistake—”
“No, you’re sick and demented. You’re a five-year-old living in a thirty-year-old’s body. You need therapy. Intensive, exhaustive therapy for the depraved. And good luck getting that without your benefit package, because—let me make this very clear since your big brain isn’t working very well right now—you’re fired.”
Matthew wiped a hand down his face and turned to Mario and Beth, still standing there like they were waiting to be dismissed. “Listen, if we stick together, if we deny this, she’s the one who’s going to look insane. Everyone knows the wedding has her batshit crazy.”
“Really.” Ava crossed her arms. “That’s what you’re going with?”
“Charlie won’t believe you,” Matthew said, referencing her father. “You know how much he respects me.”
“I know how instantly that will change the second he reviews the security video of the offices.”
All three of their mouths dropped open. Mario and Beth turned frantic looks on Matthew.
“Those are only in the main areas,” he assured them. “Not the managers’ offices.”
She swiped up the folder on the table, tore it in half, and dumped it in the trash. “You must have been getting a blow job when that memo came across your desk.”
At the door of his office, she turned and purposely looked at each in turn. “You disgust me. Don’t make me take legal action.”