Read Online Coming To Reason (A Long Road to Love) by Liza O'Connor - Free Book Online Page B

her
home. And if you do, I will pay your bill.”
    “Oh, you’ll pay my bill,” Dan stated with certainty.
    “Excellent. Fire her at once and be harsh. Tell her she
lacks marketable skills.”
    “Are you insane? I could place her any day of the year.
She’s the most marketable person I’ve ever met.”
    “Coco thought otherwise.”
    “Your source is Coco?”
    “She told me more than once.”
    “And how many other things did she lie to you about while
she almost destroyed your business?”
    “It’s beside the point.”
    “No, Trent. That is the point. Coco saw how much you
depended upon Carrie and did everything in her power to get rid of her. She
knew, if you didn’t have Carrie, you couldn’t turn your business around.”
    “You’re right. And the business is struggling without her.
I need you to fire her so I can bring her back.”
    A sharp burst of angry laughter burst from Dan’s chest.
“You have no intention of rehiring her. You damn well know all your lies and
deceits are about to blow up in your face.”
    “Everything’s fine, if you’ll keep your nose out of it.”
    “Trent, you are a gossip magazine’s wet dream! You’ve got a
mistress in your penthouse, another having your baby in New Jersey, and a whole
damn harem at work. Plus a fiancée on Long Island planning a wedding. I thought
you had discovered a sense of decency and let Carrie go. But no. She shows up outside
my office thinking you two are still engaged.”
    “We aren’t engaged. Carrie has to pretend to keep her
family off her back.”
    “She’s wearing a ring! Are you saying you didn’t give it to
her?”
    “Yeah, but it’s not real. She knows diamonds can’t grow so
big.”
    Dan used the palms of his hands on his temples. “Are you on
drugs? Because diamonds do not grow like some carrot in the ground. They are
mined, and, in fact, diamonds larger than the fake you gave Carrie do exist.”
    “In museums, but not on a middle-class girl’s hand. She has
to know it’s fake. Women can see a knockoff a mile away.”
    “Some women, but not Carrie. She has no interest in
fashion.” Dan doubted she had a clue what such a large diamond cost. If she
did, she would have demanded Trent take it back and buy her a chip instead. “I’ve
wasted enough time on this conversation. If you had an ounce of integrity,
you’d break if off with Carrie and let her get on with her life.”
    Trent growled. “I still love her.”
    The desire to throw his phone across the room overwhelmed
him. “If you do, then stop being a spoiled bastard and, for once, think about
Carrie instead of yourself. You are getting married in two months! A woman in
New Jersey is having your baby.”
    “How do you even know this stuff?” Trent demanded. “Besides,
it may not be mine. She has a husband, you know.”
    Dan didn’t answer his question. He knew the devastated
novelist who was married to Trent’s pregnant mistress. Jon had gotten a
vasectomy after the fourth child they couldn’t afford. Trent had offered to let
the family stay in his penthouse for free and gave Jon a well-paying job as
marketing director so they could earn enough to buy a home in the suburbs of
New Jersey. Unfortunate ly , Trent’s generosity didn’t end there. He kept showing up
at the penthouse to taste Jon’s wife, who evident ly thought she could slide another
baby into the family without Jon being the wiser.
    His stomach ached with disgust. “I want to be clear. I am
not firing Carrie. She’s going to need a safe place to recover when your debacles
blow up. But every day you let this lie continue, the worse it’s going to be
for her.”
    “I’ve got it handled if you’ll just fire her! If she’s
working in New Jersey, she won’t find any of this out.”
    “Well, it’s not happening, because Hell will freeze over
before I let her go.”
    “Then I’m not paying your bill.”
    “Fine. My lawyer will be in touch with yours…no, wait,
yours quit.”
    “Are you