Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
When I get to her door, though, I stop short. The room is empty. No papers scattered across the desk, no photos on the shelves. No trusty laptop, which is her life.
Just a blank, sterile space and I’m utterly perplexed. Did she move offices?
“Nash?”
I turn at the sound of Alex’s voice. He’s holding a clipboard, his expression cautious, like he knows something I don’t.
“Where’s Bex?” I ask, my voice clipped.
Alex shifts on his feet, glancing at the empty office. “She resigned. Yesterday.”
“What?” The word comes as a harsh bark of anger, but I don’t care. “She resigned? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Alex winces. “I thought you knew.”
“No, I didn’t know.” I move closer to him and lower my voice. “I can see you know what went down, so spill it.”
Alex looks left and right, but we’re alone for now. His voice is barely a whisper. “The word is that Hendrik went to Luca and demanded she be fired for incompetence. His argument was that neither he nor Matthieu had faith in her. My understanding is that Bex resigned rather than be terminated.”
Fury rolls through me and I’m not sure who I’m going to kill first, Hendrik or Matthieu.
“I also heard that Luca tried to talk her out of it, but… she was adamant. Packed up and left.”
My pulse pounds in my ears. Without another word, I pivot and head straight for Hendrik’s office, my steps echoing down the hallway like gunfire. His door is closed but I don’t care. I barge in, causing two aero engineers sitting there in a meeting with him to jump nearly out of their chairs when the door hits the wall. Hendrik’s eyes widen as he takes in my countenance and says to the other two people in his office, “Can you give me and Nash a moment?”
“Don’t bother,” I growl to the engineers who remain frozen with their digital tablets on their laps, then pin my attention to Hendrik. “I’m headed to Luca’s office right now to rectify this clusterfuck you’ve instigated over Bex. If you want a say in the conversation, because I’m going to be asking for your head to roll right along with hers, then I suggest you follow me.”
I pivot and head out of his office. I hear cursing, scrambling behind me, and if I’m not mistaken, the sound of his chair being knocked over backward in his haste.
I pass people in the hall and they take one look at the rage on my face, backing away slowly to give me room. If it wasn’t so fucking dire, I’d almost laugh at it.
The executive suite is contained to one floor, so it takes me less than a minute to reach Luca’s office. I feel Hendrik on my heels, although he doesn’t say anything.
Our team principal’s office is glass and I see him in there alone, reading something on his computer screen. His secretary starts to protest when I walk by, stating, “He’s busy,” but I ignore her.
I push open the door and Luca looks up in surprise. His expression darkens when he sees the look on my face but then Hendrik pushes past me, practically gasping as he wheezes, “For the record, I object to this meeting.”
“What meeting?” Luca asks.
Hendrik points at me. “He wants to talk about Toliver’s resignation and as the chief engineer of this team, I say it’s not any of his business. He doesn’t make hiring or firing decisions and besides that, there’s nothing to discuss since you accepted her resignation.”
Luca’s looks to me, his mouth pressed into a grim line. I can tell he does not appreciate this drama being laid on his doorstep.
“Why did you let her resign, Luca?” I ask, trying to keep my tone calm. “You should have denied it and worked with her.”
“She was adamant that she could not do the job,” Luca says calmly.
“Only because Hendrik and Matthieu made her job a living hell. She got no support or encouragement from them. What was she supposed to do when Hendrik told her that he was asking she be terminated? She had no choice but to resign so a termination wouldn’t go on her record. You should have stopped it.”
Hendrik throws his arms out. “She resigned because she couldn’t handle the pressure. That’s not on me.”
“Bullshit,” I growl. “She resigned because you and Matthieu made it impossible for her to do her job.”
“She made a bad call,” Hendrik says, his tone cold. “It cost us points. That’s what this is about.”
“It wasn’t a bad call!” I shout. “It was a smart strategy that didn’t work. That’s racing, Hendrik. You’ve been in this sport long enough to know that.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re sleeping with her,” Hendrik says.
I wheel around on him, giving him a slight push in his chest. “I’m only going to give you one warning… don’t go there. It caused Matthieu a sore jaw and it will be the same for you. My personal relationship with Bex has nothing to do with why I’m here now. I’m here for the good of the team.”