Page 12 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

Emma was already at the garage entrance, cutting off a tricked-out Jeep about to exit.

The driver leaned on his horn, but it wasn’t loud enough to drown out Fletcher. He shouted at the two security guards Garrett hadn’t realized were there, waving at the fleeing girl.

“Don’t let her get away!”

This is officially a clusterfuck.

Garrett was a sticky mess, surrounded by people talking at him—Hector, the manager of the coffee shop; Kyle, the skinny barista; the building’s manager, Catherine; and Celeste Myers, his head of HR.

Emma was being held in Celeste’s office under the watchful eyes of the two security guards. He could see her throughthe open door, cowering in a chair while the guards stood like prison wardens on either side of her.

He thrust a hand through his hair, his stomach roiling. Shit, they had dragged Emma inside like some sort of criminal.

“She is a criminal,” Fletcher said, making him aware he’d spoken aloud.

“I assure you Emmaline is nothing of the kind,” Hector said, his hands gesticulating as if he was pouring something, a telling nervous response. “Whatever happened here is a big misunderstanding. She has special needs?—”

“I can’t believe you are dragging her to HR over the spilled coffee,” Kyle interrupted, his face sporting red blotches, either from anger or fear.

“She threw that coffee at him!” Fletcher was irate, his cheeks splotched with red.

He turned to Garrett with an apologetic grimace. “And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you earlier. We’ll get to the bottom of this mess. I promise you it ends today.”

“The bottom of what?” Kyle was near tears. “I thought you were on her side. Did those perverts on twenty-three get to you? Is that what this is about?”

Fletcher scowled at the kid before dismissing him.

“Security is sweeping my car for bugs now,” he told Garrett. “Once we find them, we can have her charged with corporate espionage.”

“Bugs? You think she’s some sort of corporate spy?” Hector asked in confusion. “No, that’s not right.”

Fletcher straightened, patting the man on the back in an awkward this-isn’t-your-fault gesture.

“Rest assured we don’t blame you. Whoever placed her here was very cunning,” he said, his tone implying that Hector was anything but. “However, I think it’s in everyone’s best interests ifDe Ollasteps back right now. We’ll let the authorities handle this.”

Kyle threw up his hands. “This is crazy. How could you even think Emma is a spy?”

Fletcher pointed an accusing finger through the door. “How couldwe not? We see her every day and she just waltzes past like she doesn’t even recognize us.”

Kyle shook his head. “Why would she…”

The kid almost tripped, stumbling in front of Garrett. “Wait. Did you know Emma before her accident?”

Garrett hadn’t been able to tear his eyes from Emma's huddled form, but he jerked to look at Kyle now. The contents of his stomach were trying to crawl back up his throat.

He silenced Fletcher with a slash to the air when he began to speak again.

“What fucking accident?”

Chapter Six

EMMA

She took a deep breath, hating herself when a shudder racked her whole body.

Calm down, she ordered. But the adrenaline coursing through her veins was almost painful. Even her fingertips were tingling. She couldn’t decide if they hurt or if they were just numb.

A tear escaped but she scrubbed it away. Emma needed to be angry now.